Fans of the eco-conscious 1 Hotel chain will now have yet another reason for visiting Japan, with the latest addition to the brand’s portfolio in Tokyo’s Akasaka neighbourhood. Featuring 211 rooms, including 24 suites and three penthouse suites, a gorgeous pool and hammam, a dedicated gin bar and delicious Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, guests might find it hard to actually leave and go explore the city, though.

Wallpaper* checks in at 1 Hotel Tokyo, Japan

What's on your doorstep?

Located right in the heart of the city, 1 Hotel is within walking distance of fun-loving Roppongi, shopping in Azabudai Hills and a 20min stroll to the Imperial Palace Gardens, but with the pool, Hamman, excellent coffee at the Neighbors coffee shop adjacent to the reception, you might find it hard to leave the hotel altogether.

Who is behind the design?

Housed on the upper floors of the Akasaka Trust Tower, the interior design has been put in the very capable hands of Jun Aizaki of Crème. A stunning stone wall at the entrance on the ground floor sets the tone of the natural and eclectic palette of materials used throughout the space; distinctly Japanese Oya stone, reclaimed wood, handblown glass and hemp cord lamps. With a carefully selected variety of lamps and bespoke furniture, the design never gets repetitive, and there is a clear reference to the local setting (moss, bonsai, earthen walls) without the design being overly Japanese.

The room to book

Even the standard rooms feel spacious and inviting with ample use of subdued colours, wooden furniture and carefully selected lighting fixtures. The rawness of, for instance, the rough edges of the bathroom vanity, marble counters, reclaimed wood furniture and wood panelling adds an honesty to the sophisticated design that renders the rooms very cosy.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The hotel’s main dining room, NiNi (a name meaning ‘two-two’ in Japanese), takes its inspiration from Mediterranean cuisine, while making abundant use of local Japanese ingredients, and is headed by Nikko Policarpio. Dinner offers fresh seafood dishes such as botan shrimp carpaccio, hamaguri clams (served with cucumber mignonette, yuzu kosho and olive oil Caviar), roasted scallops, homemade pasta (the zucchini ravioli being our favourite), simple charcoal grilled meat dishes (including chicken confit from Iwate Prefecture, pork chop from Yamagata and Tajima Wagyu) and a selection of vegetable side dishes.

Breakfast is the perfect blend of made-to-order mains (perfectly cooked omelettes, mushroom tartines, waffles, French toast, etc) and a carefully selected, but not overly complicated buffet.

Where to switch off

Guests can indulge in various treatments and massages (including hard-to-find in Tokyo couples massages) at The Bamford Wellness Spa, and are also given free use of the small but gorgeous pool and adjacent Hamman steam rooms.

The verdict

We love the stylish, honest and natural design throughout the hotel. Dining at NiNi is a treat, and with a well-selected wine and impressive non-alcoholic selection too, a new favourite addition to Tokyo’s vibrant dining scene. The rooms come with a well-stocked minibar and the pool and Hammam onsite, and delicious coffee at the hotel’s own coffee bar Neighbors, makes it hard to actually leave the hotel.

Book 1 Hotel Tokyo, 2 Chome-17-22 Akasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan. Rates from $550

Italian fashion house Miu Miu has never limited itself to the field of fashion – of simply adorning women in pretty clothes. Through schemes like Women’s Tales (a platform for commissioning female-led short films) and various artistic collaborations, it has championed women’s empowerment and supported those expressing themselves in other fields.

And, while the house recently organised the Miu Miu Literary Club during Milan Design Week – encouraging attendees to read books and discover more about female authors – on 13 May 2026, the house arrived in Tokyo, and turned to music, to mark the reopening of its store in the city’s Ginza neighbourhood with a one-night-only jazz club.

Inside the Miu Miu Jazz Club, Tokyo

Indeed, Miu Miu has always embraced the diverse cultures of the various countries where it has a retail base. When its London store reopened in late 2025, the brand celebrated the occasion at Koko, the iconic music club in Camden that recently marked its 125th anniversary. In honouring the reopening of the Ginza store, Miu Miu paid tribute to Japan’s distinctive jazz culture.

Originating in the United States, jazz was brought to Japan as early as the 1920s by Japanese people who had travelled to America via the Pacific, and has been a part of the country's culture ever since. With the opening of Japan’s first dance halls during the same period, jazz took root in Japanese society, alongside ballroom dancing. It also spawned a distinctive local listening culture, what is known as the ‘jazz kissa’ – a café to listen to jazz.

Following the unveiling of the renewed Ginza store, which houses Miu Miu’s first VIP salon in the country – aligned with the brand's philosophy to be tailored to Japanese customers who appreciate intimate hospitality – the venue for the one-night-only jazz club was the Dance Hall Shinseiki, which opened in 1948, shortly after the Second World War. Located near Ueno, a cultural district in Tokyo where Japan’s first public art museum (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum) and art university (Tokyo University of the Arts) are still based. It is now the only remaining dance hall in Japan.

It was an apt location for the jazz club, with the evening unfolding against the backdrop of a nostalgic dance hall, where the original interior from some 80 years ago remains intact – complete with velvet stage curtains and Victoriana-style damask wall coverings. Performances included young Japanese trumpeter Reiya Terakubo and jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara, the latter acclaimed worldwide. A Grammy Award winner, Uehara is a fearless artist who, at the age of 17, was invited by the late jazz pianist and composer (and legend in his field) Chick Corea to join him on stage.

Immersed in the rich and versatile melodies, it felt as if Uehara was playing in a quartet rather than solo. Incorporating elements of Latin, rock and classical music, she nonetheless encapsulated the unique character of Japanese jazz. Her performance also saw her use her body as if dancing, the smoky stage lighting only adding to the atmosphere. A revelation, the pianist transfixed even Miu Miu’s younger fans, who might not usually be drawn to jazz.

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Launched in 1984 as an upscale addition to the multifaceted Marriott hotel group, the JW Marriott brand delivers a relevant kind of luxury for each country it’s operating in (currently 130 hotels across more than 40 countries and regions). In Japan, the brand’s tally stands at two – the first opened in Nara in 2020, while its Tokyo incarnation opened in October 2025 – and the relevant kind of luxury here is that soothingly quiet minimalism that the Japanese so excel at.

In the quaint and compact city of Nara – the capital of Nara Prefecture and about an hour from Kyoto – the star attraction is the 1,000-odd docile deer that roam freely around a park in the city’s east. It’s hard to resist a deer that bows at you for a cracker, so, understandably, the tourists flock here and this part of the city can feel pretty congested at times.

The JW Marriott Nara, the first international luxury hotel to open in the city, is a low-rise six-storey building located west of the main train station and feels like a calm oasis from the hullabaloo, peppered as it is with subtle Japanese elements and deer motifs. The ground floor, open-plan reception, lobby and piano bar feel welcoming and spacious, as do the 158 guest rooms, with their noiseless views across the city. A particular highlight is the hotel restaurant, Azekura, which offers a refined Japanese experience through three different styles of Japanese cuisine – teppanyaki, sushi and kaiseki. A series of beautifully presented, carefully composed little plates of food with a strong focus on seasonal, local ingredients introduced such delights as firefly squid and the wagyu sakura leaf sushi.

Also opened in 2020, nearly 300 miles away in Tokyo, the Takanawa Gateway station is the main transport hub of a spankingly shiny, mixed-use, ‘smart city’ redevelopment project. Featuring a mix of high-rise office towers, shopping malls, dining options, residential spaces and cultural hubs (including the Kengo Kuma-designed Museum of Narratives, which opened in March 2026), this futuristic new district is not unlike a traffic-free Canary Wharf, but with robots that do everything from cleaning to delivering drinks and transporting pedestrians around the site.

The station is incredibly well connected, with Tokyo station, Shibuya and Shinjuku a few stops away, while the nearby Shingawa station is the future terminus for the next-generation magnetic bullet trains that will eventually connect Tokyo with Osaka in around an hour.

A hop and a skip from the station is the brand new JW Marriott, which occupies the uppermost floors of a 30-storey high-rise. Designed by Yabu Pushelberg, with a creative narrative driven by Zen philosophy and classical Japanese minimalism, it’s a tranquil space that cocoons you the moment you emerge from the lifts. Moody, low-lit public spaces with wood panelling, muted fabrics and warm copper finishes create a cosiness, while a flickering fireplace, the seductive, ever-present scent by Flamingo Estate, and Lasvit’s luminous glass centrepiece add to the serenity.

Guest rooms are spacious, well-accessorised and peaceful, soundproofed from the traffic and trains zipping around many floors below, while those looking for an extra hit of Zen can book a room in the Mindful wing (located on the same floor as the spa and fitness centre, it allows guests to bypass the reception check-in/check-out procedure).

The biggest draw, however, is the view. Jaw-dropping panoramic vistas catch the eye on every floor, at every angle. And it doesn’t really matter which side your room is on, the views are equally far-reaching and time-absorbing. From one side, you can see Tokyo Tower and as far as Mount Fuji (on a clearish day), while from another, there are sweeping views across the railyards and train tracks to Tokyo Bay and the Rainbow Bridge. And no matter what you are doing – taking a bath, tucking into the voluminous breakfast buffet or doing laps in the Instagrammable pool – it’s hard not to keep staring at it.

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The ‘Dior Bamboo Pavilion’ opened its doors in Tokyo earlier this year, on 12 February, the very same date that the maison’s founder, Christian Dior, inaugurated his neo-classical boutique at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris in 1947. Tucked away in the quiet residential area in Daikanyama – different from the traditional shopping areas of Omotesando and Ginza – the dramatic new address serves as a stage to celebrate the long-standing relationship between the Parisian house and Japan, which dates back to the first fashion show held in the country in 1953, six years after Dior’s first haute couture show in 1947.

The 2,465 sq m site features a traditional Japanese strolling garden, crafted by Sora Botanical Gardens, helmed by Japanese planter Seijun Nishihata, with pine, cherry and plum trees – each symbolic of Japan – alongside more verdant planting. At the end of a meandering promenade stands the Bamboo Pavilion, which recalls 30 Avenue Montaigne and is clad in a golden bamboo façade made from recycled Japanese aluminium. This 740 sq m pavilion features Dior’s latest collections by Jonathan Anderson, alongside furniture and fittings made in Japan (Monsieur Dior’s own homes were influenced by Japanese interior decoration and art, one which also filtered into his collections).

Passing through the bamboo grove façade, you enter the inner garden, created by floral artist Azuma Makoto, which evokes an orangery where shrub flowers such as lily of the valley, reeves spirea, sweet alyssum and marguerite bloom season by season, paying homage to Monsieur Dior’s love of the botanical world. Inside, the circular central space feels as though one has stepped inside a giant lantern; it is seamlessly covered from floor to ceiling in Awa washi, a handmade paper from Tokushima prefecture, while lighting embedded within the walls softly envelops the space. From this central atrium, six separate rooms can be accessed: the Timeless Room, the Small Leather and Accessory Bar, the Leather Goods Room, the Men’s Collection Room, Café Dior, and the Women’s Collection Room.

In the white-clad ‘Timeless Room’, you are drawn into the world of Dior’s 30 Avenue Montaigne store, with white wall coverings replicating the spiral staircase, neo-classical wall panelling, and French windows of 30 Avenue Montaigne, but here, realised with Echizen Washi paper made by Osada washi. At the far end of the room is a fitting room where the walls are embroidered with another leitmotif of Dior – Toile de Jouy – but realised here through the hands of designer Hana Mitsui in collaboration with a long-established embroidery purveyor Sun Look, in Fukui prefecture.

The menswear room, meanwhile, is adorned with Dior’s signature blue, with fitting rooms where the walls have been replaced with blue tatami mats designed by Hana Mitsui and woven by a tatami manufacturer Ikehiko from Fukuoka Prefecture – a novel concept, it overturns the conventional notion of using tatami mats on the floor to walk upon. But it is not just a new perspective that stands out; the manufacturing process also differs from traditional tatami-making. By exploring new techniques such as weaving Toile de Jouy motifs into the surface of the tatami, the fitting room gives a new look to traditional craft.

Other pieces are more futuristic in their innovations, like a series of stools and tables by the Tokyo-based design duo We+, created by melting down styrofoam boxes used in fish markets and recasting them into new forms. In addition, benches made using algae also feature in the space. This furniture is part of We+’s project exploring new possibilities for sustainable colour coating, whereby a material combining algae powder and naturally derived resin is applied to the pieces’ surfaces.

The space is completed with a new outpost of Café Dior, led by three-Michelin-star French chef Anne-Sophie Pic. The whimsical creations feature interpretations of the house’s quilted cannage motif, as well as those recalling flowers, four-leaved clover and ladybugs, motifs in Anderson’s early collections for the house.

Together, the ‘Dior Bamboo Pavilion’ is a love letter from Paris to Japan – a country which, despite its influence on the couturier, Monsieur Dior was ever able to visit in his lifetime.

Dior Bamboo Pavilion, 8-1 Sarugakucho, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0033, Japan.

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The Japanese tearoom, in its purest form, is a place to fully enjoy a cup of green tea. Traditionally measuring only four and a half tatami mats (slightly more than 7 sq m), the room is intentionally small to allow focus on one thing only: the preparation and drinking of tea.

Devon Turnbull, artist and founder of the audio brand OJAS, has taken this basic idea, given it an audiophile twist and, in collaboration with Japanese furniture maker Karimoku, designed an intimate space he calls Sound House for his ‘Between Space and Sound’ exhibition in Tokyo (on view until 5 June 5 2026).

'I’ve been wanting to make the Sound House for some time. The foundation of my “Listening Room” practice [a series of audiophile installations] is intention, and every time I’ve had the pleasure of visiting a tearoom, I think about how they are one of the best examples of pure intention. The function is very much the same as my listening rooms: a singular-focus room for contemplation,' Turnbull explains.

Beyond the space's small round doors (a reference to the nijiriguchi of a traditional tea house), an oversized matte black turntable takes centre stage. At one end of the small room sit two speakers, and at the other end, three low chairs invite guests to focus their attention on listening.

Everything within the Sound House has been custom-made, from the light grey tatami mats to a modern interpretation of Japanese sliding screens adapted as sound-absorbing panels.

‘The Sound House also solves a major issue with exhibiting high-fidelity audio. Most spaces are not suitable without substantial buildout to optimise the acoustics,’ notes Turnbull, but here, thanks to the production capabilities of Karimoku, a long-held dream comes true for the designer.

In the basement of the Karimoku Research Center, where the exhibition takes place, the full line-up of collaborative speakers and seating is on display. The speakers come in three sizes (Sanjo, Rokujo, and Nurikabe) and two colours: Turnbull’s signature pewter grey and natural oak. There are also two variations of acoustic panels and a modular seating system designed by Turnbull for intentional listening.

'I am a big chair and furniture collector, and never thought I had the authority to design a chair myself,' he confesses. The resulting system looks extraordinarily light with its open base (perfect for storing vinyl or books) and also comes in an ultra-low traditional Japanese version without the base, meant to be used for tatami room seating.

At the top floor of the exhibition, it is clear that Turnbull has had free use of Karimoku’s superior production facilities. An over-dimensioned subwoofer is flanked by two huge speakers, with a row of chairs arranged for optimal listening. The multi-cell horns on top of the two speakers are a one-of-a-kind rendition of Turnbull's horn speaker design, usually made of metal. 'I sent Karimoku the drawings for the horns, and next time I visited the factory, a prototype was ready,' he says. Wood gives a special warmth to the sound, its use made possible by Karimoku’s advanced 3D-machining technology.

'Music is the closest thing to magic that I’ve experienced. Listening with intention, on a hi-fi system, is like tapping directly into that magic current,' Turnbull reflects, describing his obsession with sound. Listening either in the Sound House or in the top-floor listening room can only enhance that feeling of magic.

The exhibition runs until 5 June 2026 at Karimoku Research Center 2-24-2 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo. @karimoku_research

Devon Turnbull also has a listening room installation on show as part of ‘Art of Noise’ at Cooper Hewitt, New York, until 19 July 2026 – one of our must-see design exhibitions of 2026

Umi Ishihara has had a lifelong fascination with nightlife. During the film director’s childhood, her dad was a party promoter in Tokyo. He was also a free rave pioneer in Japan in the 1990s. Her mum worked nights in a gentlemen’s bar. 'When I was a kid, I didn’t know people woke up in the morning as all my family got up really late,' she laughs, when we speak ahead of her solo show ‘Nocturnal Animals’, currently on at Gasworks in London.

'I was really familiar with this lifestyle. I grew up surrounded by drug dealers, dancers and DJs. It strongly affected my being.' In 2024, she graduated from Goldsmiths with an MA in Artist’s Film & Moving Image. In her films and art installations, she rejects a purely euphoric view of nightlife, also capturing its dark side. At the same time, she is interested in offering alternative queer or female perspectives and celebrating the communities that define club culture.

‘Nocturnal Animals’ draws upon Tokyo’s strip club scene. It includes a looped film with documentary and staged elements, as well as an installation. The film follows two Tokyo strippers who at times take on creature-like form, inspired by a recent spate of bears finding their way into Japan’s towns and cities at night. These roaming animals are at risk within an ever-expanding human world, but also a threat to individual lives. 'It’s a massive issue at the moment,' she tells me. 'I wanted to use that as a metaphor. These girls working in the strip club become nocturnal animals running around and eating men on the street.'

She tells me she had 'always wanted to make a film about women working in the night surrounded by alcohol and music' but until recently had not 'found the right girls' to cast. Around the time Gasworks approached her to commission a new work, she met a woman in a Tokyo nightclub who also works as a stripper. 'Her character stuck in my mind,' she tells me. Soon after, she went to visit the strip club, but her contact hadn’t arrived yet. While waiting, a line of dancers stood in front of the artist, and she was invited to choose one.

'From a female perspective, I felt it was rude to pick based on the women’s appearance,' she tells me. 'I asked a staff member ‘Can you introduce the craziest woman in the place?’' She was connected with a dancer who was ultimately cast as the second woman in the film. 'She is super crazy, but she’s also super organised. Both women are very special; they are really independent and very interested in culture.'

Ishihara is drawn to the nuances that run through nightlife, and stripping in particular. The exhibition explores a fine line between vulnerability and pleasure. 'They use their bodies, dance in really high heels, and drink. They are physically strong. During filming I realised it’s less about vulnerability and more about independence. They have both had tough lives but they’re very positive. In Japan they have ‘gyaru’ culture with crazy long eyelashes, sexy clothes, and lots of makeup. This culture is well known for positive identities.'

Alienation is a long-running theme for the artist, whose previous works have tapped into rave culture. She also organises parties in Tokyo and London and founded ‘Flatline City’ in 2022, an art project that brings together rave, education and community. 'Alienation is key for this work,' she says. 'These girls are alienated in a way but it’s also an entire community of women working in strip clubs. I have a similar approach to raving. I’m always interested in communities that are alienated by society.'

Umi Ishihara at Gasworks, London until 22 March

Freediving in Dahab

Tianna Williams, staff writer

Back in November, I jumped on a jet for a spontaneous trip to Egypt, specifically the very bohemian town of Dahab, to see an old friend. The trip revolved around diving – freediving specifically – as the area is known for its water sinkhole, the ‘Blue Hole’, which is over 100 metres deep and perhaps the world's most dangerous dive site, hence its nickname the ‘Diver's Cemetery’. It filled my heart to see such a healthy reef in a world where this is now a rare find. The trip began with a quick visit to a small art festival run by local freedivers in the area, who showcased creative pieces and short films inspired by the sea. The following days were spent exploring the desert and spending most of the time in the Red Sea alongside grazing turtles, shoals of fish and vibrant corals.

A year in architecture

Ellie Stathaki, architecture & environment director

I had too many 'best moments' last year to even try to pick, but any trips I take are always up there for me. Among the places and people I visited were Bas Smets' exhibition in the striking site of LUMA Arles – a true eye-opener for how he approaches landscape architecture and the beginning of endless discussions around our relationship to nature; my first visit to the States in quite a few years, which, among other things, allowed me to attend the summer gala at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, MA; and, of course, the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale vernissage – the biggest and busiest festival of its kind in the architecture world and always a highlight. All trips leave me feeling energised and full of excitement for the industry, but these three truly enhanced my world.

Culinary art in Bilbao

Bill Prince, editor-in-chief

My most memorable ‘OOO’ experience last year was also the shortest: a day trip to Bilbao (with a stop at the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim to take in the monumental Richard Serra sculptures there) for lunch at Europe’s best restaurant, Asador Etxebarri. I won’t attempt to relay the bemusement that met my announcement that I could only join my friends' weekend sojourn to the culinary capital of Europe – San Sebastian – for a fleeting appearance at the first part – but they were kind enough to keep me on the manifest, meaning I got to spend a day in the company of true bon vivants, dining on one of the most incredible set menus I’ve ever had the opportunity to experience.

As with new-school haute cuisine of this kind, it’s not about the elevated status of a world-renowned restaurant, or even the environment (spectacular as it is – Google the village if you’ve never been to this part of Spain) – but the experience: a serene yet satisfying ‘in-the-know’ vibe among its patrons that doesn’t countenance pontification or pseudery. Yes, the food was spectacular (I’ll leave it to the critics to pontificate on that part), but the most important ingredient – the memory – remains the taste of tiny, sea-fresh elvers (baby eels) that were served, and the supremely elegant way in which my companions offered their farewells as I stepped away from the table with several once-in-a-lifetime courses to go, and headed back to the airport. More fool me.

Fashion in Tokyo

Sofia de la Cruz, travel editor

When I’m not working as a travel editor, I’m often found supporting my partner’s design studio, Savvas Alexander. In 2025, a trip to Tokyo became the catalyst for a collaboration with Garden Shibuya, a platform for emerging design, culminating in a weekend-long installation and the release of a limited-run reinterpretation of the British duffle coat.

The project brought together the store team, brand supporters and curious passersby interested in process as much as product, which was very exciting to see. We work at the intersection of technology and manufacture, using laser-driven techniques to produce crisp, architectural forms in modern materials. The installation distilled this approach: a miniature laser machine set beside the outerwear number, fabric suspended to throw graphic shadows across the space. We also took the opportunity to shoot with a local group of talent, anchoring the project firmly in its Tokyo context.

The joy of slowing down

Anna Fixsen, US editor

Last year I set a goal for myself: to make time for a hobby. I’ve long enjoyed drawing (I hold a minor in studio art) but, amid high-octane New York living, my skills have gotten, well, rusty. So I signed up for a virtual botanical illustration class through the New York Botanical Garden. I figured, within a couple of sessions, I’d be well on my way to creating colourful renderings of orchids, fungi and seed pods. Not so: under the tutelage of my instructor, Scott Rawlins, we got back to basics, reacquainting ourselves with the fundamental principles of art, like line, shape, value and texture. Each week, we’d layer on a new technique, drawing everything from store-bought pears to, ultimately, a fully-rendered branch. I learned how to look – to really look – an exercise that revealed the mind-boggling amount of detail to be found in a single, delicate leaf vein. I was overjoyed to rediscover my love of drawing – and in the process learn to slow down.

A full circle moment

Anna Solomon, digital staff writer

I visited some fantastic places in 2025, mainly in the States, but one of my most meaningful experiences happened closer to home, in Edinburgh. I went to see an exhibition on Ikea textiles at the Dovecot Gallery and stayed at the lovely The Hoxton hotel, but the trip resonated particularly because I lived in Edinburgh for four years while at university. In the near-decade since graduating, I’ve visited sporadically, but returning in my capacity as a journalist – after having studied English literature here harbouring those very ambitions – felt different.

I spent an afternoon retracing old routes and revisiting favourite haunts – from places I can confidently recommend (Black Medicine Coffee, 10 to 10 in Delhi, Surgeons’ Hall Museum, the Meadows, and the cobbled passageways of Old Town), to the scruffier student spots best left unendorsed – struck by the quiet sense of having come full circle.

The trip of a lifetime

Nick Vinson, contributing editor

Last November, I visited Lebanon for the second time. We spent time in Beirut, visited the mountains in Ghineh to stay at Biet Trad – the most idyllic small guest house – went higher up to the ski zone of Faraya to visit a house that will soon appear in a magazine, journeyed to Baalbek to see the Roman ruins, and dined on the terrace of the fabled Palmyra Hotel.

Back in Beirut, we visited design studios, ate twice at the fabulous Tawlet restaurant, the charming Sô Beirut designed by Ask Deco’s Nisrine Karagula, and Em Sherif au Musée, with the best hummus I have ever tasted (the trick, apparently, is to peel the chickpeas). We shopped at the Souk El Tayeb Farmers’ Market, ate cream and Lokum from Oslo Made in Heaven, went crazy buying kilos of pistachios, walnuts and almonds, visited the Sursock Museum and the National Museum of Beirut, discovered Inaash and their fabulous Palestinian embroideries, and drank white coffee (orange blossom water tea) with couturier Maison Rabih Kayrouz. We also discovered the best reconditioned and restyled Porsche, which will appear shortly in the pages of Wallpaper*.

We are fortunate to have some extremely special Lebanese friends, who created the best schedule possible, welcomed us warmly and fed us homemade Lebanese food. I am overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the Lebanese people, as well as their resilience. This was a trip of a lifetime – I can’t recommend it more.

Following a meticulous 19-month renovation, Park Hyatt Tokyo reopened its doors in December 2025. Yet some things never change, not even here: the timeless unfolding of cinematic city views, Mount Fuji hovering beyond the skyscrapers, lingering jazz notes drifting through the air. Forever celebrated as ‘that hotel’ from Lost in Translation (2003), Park Hyatt Tokyo remains one of the world's most iconic urban retreats.

When it first opened in 1994 as Asia’s first Park Hyatt, it rewrote the rules of city hospitality as one of the earliest skyscraper hotels – a new expression of vertical living occupying the apex of Kenzo Tange’s Shinjuku Park Tower. Balancing Tange’s steel lines and soaring atria was an interior no less distinctive: designer John Morford evoked the atmosphere of a private residence through an intimate sequence of spaces, using an elegant material palette of dark woods, natural stone and the hotel’s signature green. More than three decades on, visitors still lose their breath over its sweeping views, whether watching the late-afternoon sun sink into peach-tinged skies or gazing across a nocturnal sea of lights.

Wallpaper* checks into Park Hyatt Tokyo

What’s on your doorstep?

While the hotel feels removed from the city’s intensity, it sits within easy reach of some of Tokyo’s most exciting districts and cultural landmarks, from the tree-lined paths of Yoyogi Park and the forested grounds of Meiji Shrine to the eccentric fashion boutiques of Harajuku, the luxury shopping avenues of Omotesando and the neon-lit energy of central Shinjuku. A short distance away, Golden Gai is an unmissable stop: a labyrinth of narrow alleyways packed with tiny bars, such as Open Book and Albatross G, many seating little more than a handful of guests.

Who is behind the design?

Paris-based Studio Jouin Manku helmed a top-to-toe renovation following four years of planning, exploring a sensitive ‘tightrope’ between original essence and contemporary touch. ‘The hotel is only 30 years old, but it’s precious,’ Patrick Jouin tells Wallpaper. ‘This was the first modern hotel in Japan, and it became even more mythical with the movie. People always ask us to be careful with the DNA, the charm, and the presence of a place. Here, they asked us to keep the soul.’

With most materials replaced and updated, new touches slowly shift into focus, subtly softening and warming the spatial experience – from circular patterns cast by Cristallerie Saint-Louis lights on Peak Lounge tables, to the veined burgundy of a new Rosso Levanto marble counter at Girandole by Alain Ducasse. Even the hotel’s signature green, in corridors and guestrooms, has been updated with Tai Ping carpets. ‘It used to be a bit dusty, silvery,’ explains Manku, with Jouin adding: ‘We warmed it up, softened it and desaturated it.’

‘Before, it was a bit stiff, cold, a little run-down, technologically out of time,’ says Jouin. ‘It was very pure and modern, but the level of luxury has risen in everything around us. We introduced warmth, centrality, colour, refinement – a sense of pleasure. We kept things clean, minimal, pure and beautifully proportioned, but with details you can touch through objects and openings.’ Manku adds: ‘This is our take on a recipe that was already written. It’s always connected to the original recipe, but adds a different flavour – renewed with new energy.’

The room to book

It is inside the guest rooms – 171 in total, spanning floors 42 to 51 – that the most significant interventions are revealed. Morford’s strong lines have been softened, the material palette warmed, and the sense of luxury subtly recalibrated. ‘Generosity’ is a word the designers return to frequently while showing Wallpaper* around Deluxe Room 4514, where Manku was staying. A defining detail is a new black cabinet, a contemporary interpretation of an original Morford piece.

A softly curved leather headboard – with original magnolia-leaf artworks suspended above – wraps around the bed and extends into integrated side tables, seamlessly concealing technology alongside floating tubular lanterns: hovering coils of light-filtering white textile. Bathrooms, meanwhile, have evolved into expansive wet rooms, where bathtub and shower are united in an onsen-inspired arrangement. Blown-glass ‘moon’ lamps illuminate the walls, while double vanities are carved from a single block of Serpe stone.

Throughout, straight lines have given way to smooth curves and concealed layers, creating discreet new homes for the television, minibar, coffee machine and lacquered-red niches containing drawers of porcelain and glassware. ‘It is function, material and ritual,’ says Jouin. Elsewhere, a new Park Suite category frames sweeping views across Yoyogi Park, Meiji Shrine and Shibuya.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Some places reside in the imagination with a vividness that precedes any real visit. The New York Bar at Park Hyatt Tokyo is one of them: an atmospheric perch on the 52nd floor where Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray drift into a tender, transient friendship high above the neon-washed city in Sofia Coppola’s magnum opus. It is difficult to claim you've truly experienced the hotel without lingering over a martini while live jazz carries late into the night. Look out, too, for the indigo-toned bowl used for serving wasabi nuts. Created by Japanese glassmaker Toyo-Sasaki, the design was discontinued more than a decade ago but continues to be produced exclusively for the hotel.

The New York Grill also remains untouched, still clad in John Morford’s original black-ebony-and-walnut palette. Soaring windows pull the skyline indoors, while intimate tables are offset by Valerio Adami’s riotous murals depicting New York landmarks. Window seats once again frame vertiginous views: Mount Fuji on one side on a clear day, Shinjuku’s skyscrapers on the other. In the kitchen, chef de cuisine Ben Wheeler continues to serve longstanding favourites, including the signature Caesar salad and Hokkaido seared scallops.

Girandole, the hotel’s brasserie-style restaurant (where breakfast and afternoon tea are served), has also returned, now operating in partnership with Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse. Equally rejuvenated is The Peak Lounge & Bar, whose soaring two-storey glass atrium and surrounding bamboo grove have regained their distinctive glow.

Where to switch off?

Among the hotel’s most compelling spaces is Club on the Park, whose cathedral-like pool hall remains as striking as ever. Solid green-marble baths, minimalist steel-and-black-leather loungers and soaring volumes lend the space a serene sense of grandeur, while a double-height layout extends into the energetic fitness studio and gym beyond.

Wellness unfolds on the 45th floor, where dry saunas, thermal baths, cold plunge pools, whirlpools and 360-degree body showers are arranged within separate men's and women's facilities. Drawing inspiration from Japan’s shifting seasons, the treatment menu ranges from full-body rituals incorporating stretching, acupressure and seasonal botanical oils to the Tokyo Elixir Facial by Omorovicza, where rhythmic massage techniques and rose quartz tools work to sculpt, restore and revitalise the skin.

The verdict

With visitors returning to discover what has changed – and what has remained untouched – one constant continues to define Park Hyatt Tokyo: the sweeping views, still among the city’s most breathtaking, whether watching the late-afternoon sun sink into peach-tinged skies or gazing across a nocturnal sea of lights, and the inimitable energy that has long set it apart.

And this iconic outlook will continue to shape the spirit of Park Hyatt Tokyo, both old and new – as Manku puts it: ‘It feels like we’re in a Zeppelin floating over the city. We see these little cars below but don’t feel any pressure – everything becomes a sense of wonder, looking out at the city, seeing Mount Fuji and the twinkling lights. What can you do with this view? You can’t battle it or obscure it, so you work with it. That feeling is so strong when you’re here.’

Park Hyatt Tokyo is located at 2, 3 Chome-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 163-1055, Japan

At Wallpaper*, movement is second nature, and savouring it is an art. Whether on assignment or off-duty, our editorial team is perpetually combing the globe, visiting places that are mind-expanding and spirit-lifting. This year, we paused to gather the places that truly stayed with us. Consider this selection of travel highlights, handpicked by our staff, as a starting point for the year ahead, compiled to spark curiosity and fuel your future travel plans.

As such, follow the sun to Mexico, Greece, Spain and Italy, or embrace the stark beauty of Finland and Iceland. Looking for adventure? Uzbekistan, Egypt and Kenya deliver. For a spiritual reset, Japan and South Korea offer ritual and depth. From European mainstays such as Vienna and Lisbon to American icons including Miami and Joshua Tree, let’s get globetrotting.

Amanohashidate, Japan

‘Last April, adding a few days to a long-haul work trip felt like the responsible thing to do, particularly when long-haul now extends to a 16-hour dog-leg to Osaka via Doha, which is how I came to visit one of Japan’s most revered destinations, Amanohashidate, site of a 3.6km sidebar known as ‘the staircase to heaven’ that cuts across Miayazu Bay in Kyoto prefecture. Amanohashidate itself is a quiet village with a national landmark at its heart and a well-run ryokan (Monjusou) to relax in, but the surrounding area is blessed with no less significant points of interest. Ine is a ‘floating village’ of 230 fishing cottages, protected as a heritage site, that offers good walking with splendid sea views and great coffee in one of its repurposed properties. Sometimes all you need is sea air, the odd stroll and the chance to indulge in something as silly as matanozoki, or peering between your legs atop Kasamatsu Park, at which point the now-inverted sandbar appears as a bridge across the sky.’

– Bill Prince, editor-in-chief

Athens, Greece

‘This past autumn, I celebrated a milestone birthday in Athens. The city feels as though it was shaped by accumulation rather than careful urban planning, its layers of typeface, texture and attitude stacked across eras, politics and glitzy inconsistencies. Visually, Athens is unrelenting: everything speaks loudly and constantly, and nothing is treated as too precious. Even the Acropolis feels unresolved, its original fragments scattered between the exquisitely built Acropolis Museum and far beyond Greece’s borders. I enjoyed long lunches with generous pours of Assyrtiko from aluminium jugs, and late nights drifting into hot spots like SMUT, where Athens’ spontaneity really kicks in. I chose Athens as my favourite of the year because it thrives in chaos, offering moments of beauty and excitement, and rewarding those who stay longer, pay attention and arrive hungry.’

– Gabriel Annouka, senior designer

Brittany, France

‘On something of a nostalgia trip to the south coast of Brittany, France – the destination of my first-ever trip abroad – now with my own teenagers in tow, I was relieved to find it a still-lovely, laidback and low-key escape with none of the hussle or hassle a beach break during the summer holidays can entail. The sea was utterly clear – too freezing for me, even in July, for more than one cold plunge, but perfect for kayaking or admiring endlessly from coastal walking paths. Bike hire in this cycling-obsessed nation was ubiquitous and the paths plentiful and well sign-posted; they even continued across estuaries, courtesy of short ferry hops on which bikes were not just bienvenue but (bafflingly for a Brit used to transport-network shortfalls) positively encouraged. And a day’s hire extended through to the evening, allowing ample time for a thoroughly civilised French lunch break en route with (savoury) galettes and (sweet) crêpes galore. Pancakes for all courses is a concept close to my heart.’

– Bridget Downing, executive editor

Cairo, Egypt

‘In November, I visited Cairo and spent a few warm, autumnal days watching the light shift over the Art D’Égypte installations, set in the sand beneath the pyramids of Giza. I was particularly drawn to SolidNature and Studio PROBA’s organically shaped, naturally coloured stone sculptures. Seeing them positioned against the pyramids was both wondrous and surreal: two forms of stone, prehistoric in material yet composed millennia apart, held in quiet dialogue with one another. The experience was utterly mesmerising, leaving me feeling incredibly small in the face of such magnificence and scale. Other highlights across the city included losing track of time in the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) and wandering through the calming gardens of Adam Henein’s gallery house.’

– Olly Mason, head of interiors

Évora, Portugal

‘When my sister moved to Lisbon in 2024, I dreamily imagined endless weekends of wandering, but life got in the way and it never quite happened; until this summer, when we managed to bring both our families together for ten scorching days in Alentejo, a more off-the-beaten-path part of Portugal, around 90 minutes east of Lisbon. We stayed in gloriously serene countryside, awash with olive groves and vineyards, occasionally popping into the medieval, walled UNESCO city of Évora for ice cream (Pezagno, delicious!). On one visit, we explored the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), a 16th-century chapel within the Church of St Francis, built by Franciscan monks as a memento mori to inspire reflection on the transience of life. Its walls and columns are clad with thousands of strikingly arranged human skulls and bones, previously buried in Évora’s medieval cemeteries. Above the door, an inscription reads: “We bones are here, waiting for yours.” At the entrance to this macabre chapel is a simple modern mural by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira – a counterpoint to its meditation on mortality.’

– Anne Soward, production editor

Helsinki, Finland

‘While others escaped to hotter climes, last February, I decided to embrace the cold and wintry feel of Europe and headed further north, to Helsinki. It was one of the best travel decisions I ever made. The day was short, but the city was fun, and the cultural offerings were plentiful and welcoming. Helsinki was frozen – not that you would be bothered with the right clothes and shoes, especially in the city centre, where pavements are heated so that the snow doesn’t build up. A short ferry ride, breaking through the icy waters, took me to the magical Suomenlinna sea fortress - thank you, Laura Iloniemi, for the tip! I also explored the numerous art offerings the city has to offer, from the Amos Rex museum to the Temppeliaukio church of the rock. I stayed at a timber-framed hotel by the water, Solo Sokos Pier 4, paid a visit to the renovated Finlandia Hall, and enjoyed sticky Korvapuusti (Finnish cinnamon rolls) and warm and creamy salmon soup. As travel reviews often conclude, “would definitely recommend.”’

– Ellie Stathaki, architecture and environment director

Hydra, Greece

‘This year I’ve been lucky to visit great European capitals including Vienna, Paris and Athens, but somehow it’s my day on the small Greek island of Hydra that was most memorable. Big cities are filled with great things to do and see, but Hydra offers an escape from it all, with no cars, no museums, and practically no phone reception. And yet it still has everything you might possibly need on a nice autumn day: a lunch at a taverna followed by a dip in the sea, and a walk along the coastal path, suspended between the blue sky and the Mediterranean.’

– Léa Teuscher, sub-editor

Joshua Tree, USA

‘In May, I made the three-hour journey from Los Angeles into the Mojave Desert to Joshua Tree. It had long been on my list to visit, likely prompted by endless interviews with musicians who enthused about the desert’s mystical energy. There are no shortage of incredible architectural stays to book in the area, but after much deliberation, I settled on this geodesic dome, far enough away from civilisation to get the full experience (the drive back from dinner in the pitch black was a little hairy) but just twenty minutes from Joshua Tree National Park and the must-sees of the Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms. I loved every single thing about this trip. From the weird roadside stops along the route – a desert crochet museum? A shrine to fifties hairdressing? A park filled with many, many statues of Christ? – to dinner at The Copper Room, drinks at Mas o Menos and obligatory live music at Pioneertown institution, Pappy & Harriet’s (the nearby Red Dog Saloon was a little quieter when Pappy’s is packed). I can’t wait to return.’

– Charlotte Gunn, director of digital content

Kyoto, Japan

‘I loved visiting Kyoto this year, and discovering its rich history, gorgeous food and beautiful surroundings. The highlight, though, was being able to get to know some of the locals, who were as generous with their time as they are cultured, intelligent, and extremely kind.’

– Hannah Silver, art, culture, watches and jewellery editor

Lake Como, Italy

‘Until last year, I had never been to Italy; now, I can say I’ve been three times. A run of good fortune took me to Milan for Salone de Mobile, and Venice for an immersive exhibition hosted by Golden Goose. In addition, to mark the beginning of the summer season, I was invited to Lake Como to stay at Il Sereno’s new listening suite, designed by Patricia Urquiola. The lake in the foothills of the Alps took my breath away. It was scenery I had not seen before, and I was captivated by its beauty. There was an effortless air of Old Hollywood glamour and relaxed sophistication coupled with the calming nature of the lake, which makes the location entirely unique. I cannot wait to go back.’

– Tianna Williams, staff writer

Menorca, Spain

‘The Menorca Experimental hotel had been on my bucket list for years, and I finally made it there for a short break in September. Designed by Dorothée Meilichzon, the interiors strike a balance between playful colour and subtle Art Deco references, incorporating local designers and materials. It felt considered yet relaxed. The weather was still warm enough for sea swims in some of the clearest water I’ve seen in Europe, and it was easy to find quieter spots that felt untouched. There’s a quiet, understated rhythm to the island that encourages you to slow down, making it a perfect mid-season reset.’

– Cindy Parthonnaud, acting photography editor

Mérida, Mexico

‘I spent 10 days in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula this summer and enjoyed soaking up Mérida’s rich history, intense summer heat and xtabentún, the local firewater. The city is about 30 miles inland, meaning those craving a swim-up bar or large beach resort won’t find it here. Instead, they’ll discover a mix of unhurried streets, bustling markets, pretty boutiques and innovative cuisine that spotlights traditional Yucatec cooking. My husband and I checked in at Hotel Cigno, an elegant boutique property located in Mérida’s historic heart, before hiring a local guide to take us to Uxmal, one of the Mayan world’s most important sites, and an azure blue cenote, a naturally occurring limestone sinkhole that peppers the area. There was still an opportunity to hit the beach, though: an hour-ride taxi will take you straight to the coast, where you can take in tranquil waters, white sand beaches, bright-pink salt lakes and – my favourite – droves of flamingos.’

– Anna Fixsen, U.S. editor

Miami, USA

‘I came to Miami for the Grand Prix – where Lego had built ten fully drivable cars – but stayed for the art deco architecture, palm-lined boulevards and viscerally cinematic sunsets. Miami’s expansion in the 1920s and 30s left it with a remarkable concentration of art deco buildings, which I completely fell in love with. A stroll down Ocean Drive – one of the finest showcases of the style – took me hours, slowed by pastel façades and kitsch vintage cars that demanded to be photographed. Little Havana, shaped by Cuban émigrés after the 1959 revolution, is home to cigar shops, graffiti tributes to Celia Cruz and Old’s Havana Cuban Bar & Cocina, which, with its yellow walls and mojito production line, is an institution. So, too, is Delilah – swathed in pink velvet and favoured by A-listers – though in an entirely different vein. Miami is a place I’d return to in a heartbeat.’

– Anna Solomon, digital writer

Nesjavellir, Iceland

‘My yearly travel mainly comprises the movement between Milan, Paris and New York for fashion week (and the freneticism and overstimulation these trips bring), so when I’m not working I seem to be attracted towards the vast and the desolate – Lanzarote has become my go-to escape, and this spring I loved losing myself in its strange, moonlike landscapes once again. Though it was another otherworldly (and volcanic) island that was my favourite trip of 2025: Iceland, which I visited with 66 North last month (the outerwear brand was founded on the island a century ago). I have been a couple of times before, though each time it is surprising in its vastness and scale: speeding across the snow-covered mountain ridge Thórsmörk – named after the Norse god Thor – on off-roading buggies was a truly cinematic experience (and the perfect release). We spent the second night at the Ion Adventure Hotel, a Brutalist box on stilts that looks out over the geothermal fields of Nesjavellir – in the silence, it was my best night’s sleep of the year.’

– Jack Moss, fashion and beauty features director

Seoul, South Korea

‘About two hours from Seoul, in the mountains of Wonju, Museum SAN (Space Art Nature) heralds an architectural feat by Tadao Ando: a 25-metre-wide subterranean dome beneath the museum’s flower garden, topped with an oculus rising more than seven metres high. Titled Ground, it was commissioned to accompany Antony Gormley’s exhibition Drawing on Space.’

– Jason Hughes, creative director

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

‘I spend much of my year bouncing around beautiful design-led hotels. But at least once a year, I make it my mission to step out of this bubble as a reminder of why I love to travel in the first place. And this year, my trip to Uzbekistan was a welcome reset. It’s not a destination known for luxury, but with tourism on the rise, you can feel the energy in Tashkent’s creative pockets and across Samarkand and Bukhara, which just hosted its inaugural biennale. From the staggering detail of the Islamic architecture to the small, genuinely local boutique hotels, there’s an incredible history and a rawness that was not just compelling, but a reminder that stepping away from the familiar is not just refreshing, but important to keep your curiosity alive.’

– Lauren Ho, travel director

Tokyo, Japan

‘Tokyo had been calling for some time, and this October I was finally able to answer. Japan’s capital is an urban sprawl of ritual, contrast, beauty and tradition, where even the smallest details feel deliberate and meaningful. It was my first visit, and I tried to stay fully present, absorbing as much of the city’s energy as possible; yet I still feel I barely scratched the surface. There are countless moments I hold onto, but one stands out: waking to a bright, clear morning and, from my hotel room on the 34th floor of Fairmont Tokyo, spotting Mount Fuji in the distance. It appeared as a majestic presence on the horizon, wishing the city a good day.’

– Sofia de la Cruz, travel editor

Vienna, Austria

‘Vienna is a really great city for a short getaway, especially for those interested in design. The city is filled with hidden gems, such as the interiors and ambience of Café Prückel, located just across the street from the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). Be sure to check out the numerous storefronts designed by Hans Hollein throughout the city, including the iconic façade of the Retti candle shop. One of the highlights for me was the Roman Catholic church depicted above, built in the late 1970s by architect Viktor Hufnagl.’

– Sebastian Jordahn, head of video

Watamu, Kenya

‘Earlier this year, I travelled to Kenya and spent time in Watamu, a coastal town known for stunning white-sand beaches, coral reefs, mangroves and a large marine life. I was there for a private yoga retreat with a yoga company called Pana and stayed in a one-of-a-kind treehouse, Watamu Tree House, near Watamu Beach. Our treehouse retreat, built by the family who runs it, rises through the landscape, from the ground to the top floor, with shimmering coloured glass mosaics. Each day in Watamu began with yoga in the studio at the top of the building, which offered quiet and perspective. Practising yoga above the ground, with the sea nearby and trees in the distance, felt grounding. Fresh vegetarian meals formed the core of each day, as each meal came with coconut water and juices made fresh each morning.’

– Jamilah Rose-Roberts, social media editor

Fukasawa, a residential area in south-west Tokyo, is quietly known for its architectural charm, with typically small buildings lining narrow-fronted deep plots..

Tour a contemporary Fukasawa house

The atmosphere is quaint, considering this is one of the world's biggest metropoles, and echoes the character of an older shopping street. It is here that you’ll find the newest completed residence by Japanese architecture firm MIDW, nestled into its narrow street-facing plot.

This Fukasawa house, which spans 2,73m in width and 13,65m in depth, is identified by its six truss-shaped load-bearing walls, with beams that span the length between the evenly spaced columns.

‘Our architectural work often draws inspiration from local construction techniques. The traditional Japanese timber post-and-beam system – formed through the assembly of linear wooden members – combines flexibility and structural aesthetics, and remains one of the most prevalent building methods today,’ says Daisuke Hattori, co-chairman and managing architect of MIDW.

‘In this project, too, the structural framework plays a defining role. In this sense, it can be seen as a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional wooden architecture, such as that found in historic shrines and temples.’

Stepping inside the house, the floor is slightly sunken. From here, a sequence of spaces unfolds, playing with shadow and light. The straight staircase leads up into a broad, open space on the upper level, animated by the calming rhythm of the beams.

The project, which is situated in a typically dense inner Tokyo neighbourhood, left limited space for manoeuvring – both in terms of design gestures and materiality. ‘Rather than treating this configuration as a mere constraint, we explored design approaches that could lead to a more universal solution while expressing an identity shaped by these site conditions,’ explains Hattori.

The architects aimed to create a space that feels unique, yet also familiar. ‘“Specificity” and “universality” may seem like opposing concepts, but we believe they can coexist,’ says Hattori. The residence showcases different spatial conditions, such as the dark, high-ceiling ground floor, and the open and 'lighter' second floor, yet its integration within a single structural system allows for a harmonious contrast.

‘One of the key qualities of the project is that, despite its compact overall volume, the interior conveys a sense of spaciousness that exceeds its actual volume,’ shares the architect.

‘To achieve this, we collaborated closely with the structural engineer and furniture designer to treat materials that usually exist at very different scales – from columns and beams to countertops and interior fittings – as elements within a continuous spectrum. By avoiding shifts in scale inside the building, all materials connect seamlessly, producing an effect of spatial continuity and a generous sense of expansion.’

midw.jp

Many old school motor shows have rebranded in recent years from out-and-out car events to ones that would purport to cover other forms of transport too, usually with the word ‘mobility’ somewhere within the new naming strategy.

The reasons are many, but have something to do with motor shows being perceived by the industry as lacking marketing innovation, costing too much and creating too much competitive noise (compared to separate brand and model launches elsewhere).

There’s also a wider public perception that motor shows are societally outdated – too closely associated with 20th Century petrolheads, shiny metal and show girls for a post-COVID, climate change-alert 21st Century world now halfway into its second decade.

But too often, these new ‘mobility exhibitions’ are still basically car shows in disguise, perhaps with a few e-bikes thrown in. Thankfully, the Japan Mobility Show (JMS) is different. Changing its name from the Tokyo Motor Show two years ago for its inaugural exhibition in 2023, the biennial event really does show original thinking in (private) transportation of many forms.

The 2025 expo still featured a lot of concept cars – from large and high-sided, six-wheeler luxury MPVs (Lexus LS) to stylish micro mini vans (Daihatsu Kayoibako-K) but also flying vehicles (Toyota x Joby eVTOL), sustainable rockets and electric motorbikes (Honda) and even a four-legged mobile chair (Toyota Walk Me).

And while the Japan Mobility Show now has a wider transport remit than the Tokyo Motor Show it replaces, it still upholds its forebear’s refreshingly concept-heavy emphasis. More than a million visitors – including this correspondent – attended this year’s 11-day event in late October and early November, suggesting the new format is still attractive and relevant.

Read on for the Top Ten 2025 Japan Mobility Show stars, curated by Wallpaper*.

Lexus LS Concepts

Toyota’s pre-existing luxury marque Lexus had a busy show with a quartet of vehicular ideas suggesting a future family of cars based on its former singular LS model which used to stand for ‘Luxury Sedan’ back at its launch in 1989 but has now been rebranded ‘Luxury Space’.

This neatly allowed Lexus designers wriggle room to think up all manner of luxury vehicle concepts, from a one-seater mobile private throne (the LS Micro Concept); a two-seater Sports Concept, signalling continued, if somewhat conventionally designed dynamic driving intent; a more roomy four-seater LS Coupe Concept and the ‘king of the castle’ LS Concept, notable for its highly unusual six-wheeler format.

The reason? 'The idea came from [group chairman] Akio Toyoda’s request to have this serene space while going through Tokyo to a business meeting,' president of Toyota’s Californian CALTY Design Research studio, Ian Cartabiano explained on the sidelines of the Lexus stand.

'As this concept’s rear wheels are small, there’s a lot less intrusion into the cabin, so we can maximise interior volume. From a design point of view, not only does it allow us to have this more avant-garde exterior, but it creates a new sense of interior space dynamically.' A very distinctive concept.

Lexus.jp

Century Coupé Concept

Century is also a well-established Toyota model name – associated with the brand’s flagship limousine since the late 1960s – but was launched as a luxury brand in its own right at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show.

The large and shapely Century Coupé channels a little Polestar 4 in terms of rearward exterior metal enveloping its rump and replacing its rear window for a cosier cabin. Further inside the Coupé is notable for its First Class aviation-style reclinable seating and a classy and original ‘harp-string’ divider between its ceiling and centre armrest. One to watch.

Century-100.com

Toyota Kids Mobi

The designers of the Kids Mobi concept were clearly carefully listening to the brief when Koji Sato, president and CEO of Toyota Group said he wanted 'to make cars even more beloved and fun.'

The kid car with a difference has pixel eyes that can wink embedded in a curved smoked glass canopy surrounded by a smooth and simple shell covering four, small wheels. Autonomously driven, any child luckily enough to ride inside still has agency on the school run though, with an AI-powered ‘UX Friend’ to chat and converse with.

Global.Toyota

Mini Paul Smith Edition

Mini was one of the few non-Japanese brands to exhibit at JMS but there was good logic in the global unveil of its Paul Smith Edition in Tokyo. The British fashion label is a massive overachiever in Japan with circa 150 stores – compared to 15 in its home market in the UK – and after previous limited production runs and concept cars, the 2025 Mini Paul Smith Edition has become a permanent trim level for the Cooper range.

Successfully featuring the veteran designer’s unusual exterior colour combinations paired with non-automotive interior design material and finish choices, the car also unsurprisingly includes a few signature stripes.

But beyond the two British brand’s synergies and shared history, the considered final execution makes this vehicle line a rare example of a credible car x fashion collaboration you can actually buy. You can read our interview with Sir Paul here.

Mini.co.uk

Mazda Vision X-Coupe

Elegant and smooth exterior surfacing have become givens at Mazda since its Kodo Design philosophy was introduced more than a decade ago. The plug-in hybrid 2025 X-Coupe concept continues that visual direction – with a particularly interesting rear three-quarter bodywork and rear light integration.

In addition, Mazda says, the car is designed to use carbon-neutral fuel refined from microalgae and can also capture CO2 emissions directly from its exhaust to be recycled to boost crop growth or help make high-performance carbon materials.

InsideMazda.co.uk

Mitsubishi Elevance

The Mitsubishi Group makes so many things – across huge sectors from chemical and mining, to electronics and metallurgy – that it sometimes appears less than bothered by its automotive arm’s fortunes and indeed has pulled back or even out of vehicle sales in many significant countries in recent years.

Against that backdrop, the brand’s quietness in terms of advanced concept cars comes as no surprise, but the unveiling of the Mitsubishi Elevance in Tokyo suggests its design team still has ambition, when allowed to flex its creative muscles. The chunky plug-in hybrid SUV concept sports see-through doors to better see more of the surrounding outdoors and the shapely trailer attached should mean leisure adventurers in a Mitsubishi can go further.

Mitubishi-Motors.com

Toyota IMV Origin

Conceived for customers in rural Africa whose everyday life could do with being less adventurous (or at least arduous), Toyota proposed the self-assembly and customisable IMV Origin vehicle.

Designed to be straightforward enough to construct locally without the need for an expensive factory or training, the utilitarian and stripped-out buggy-cum-cargo carrier has also been developed to be modular enough to be repeatedly adapted for varied customers’ use cases, channelling what Toyota calls 'the concept of deliberate incompleteness'.

Global.Toyota

Daihatsu Midget X

At only 2.2-metres long and under 1.3 metres wide, this one-plus-two-seater concept – channelling the super-compact form of its late 1950s forebear – is spot-on as a short-mile electric vehicle solution. Its round LED headlamps on stalks are ‘digital cute’ personified too. But if Daihatsu wants to market it further than Japan it might want to reconsider its 21st Century model naming strategy.

Daihatsu.com

Honda EV Outlier concept bike

Electric-powered motorbikes are giving designers new packaging possibilities and the Honda EV Outlier – featuring in-wheel motors on both front and rear wheels – provides such a showcase. And with its dynamic and clear front canopy looks epic with it.

Global.Honda

Toyota Corolla

Surpassing the VW Beetle as the best-selling vehicle nameplate of all time since 1997, the Toyota Corolla has proved successful as a reliable if slightly unexciting global mainstream smash hit across 12 generations since the mid-1960s, variously in saloon, estate and latterly hatchback formats.

So the Corolla concept at the Japan Mobility Show represented something of a surprise with its more interesting exterior body work – note the downward-dropping front door shoulder line detail just behind the A-pillar for one – as well as a more spacious-feeling interior. It seems plenty of this saloon’s essence could make production too, with next-gen models expected very late 2026.

Global.Toyota

Slipping into the upper tiers of the Maki & Associates-designed Blue Front Shibaura South Tower, the Fairmont Tokyo hotel (the brand’s debut in Japan) settles at a height where the skyline begins to blur into the horizon. Spanning levels 35 to 43, it sits just far enough above the streets for the city’s noise to fade away and the views to take over. Inside, the lines stay clean, the palette restrained, and every room is attuned to Tokyo’s shifting light. The journey starts in the street-level lobby, where Serene, the resident Labrador and chief happiness officer, offers a gentle welcome before your ascent skyward. Conceived as a place for both locals and travellers, the hotel leans into the city’s contrasts.

Wallpaper* checks in at Fairmont Tokyo

What’s on your doorstep?

The stately hotel sits within Blue Front Shibaura, a new waterfront development in a district that isn’t always the obvious choice for a Tokyo stay, yet offers a surprising sense of calm and a clear vantage point on the bay. Once a fishing village and a transport hub, Shibaura still carries an industrial undertone, but remains well-connected and atmospheric. The Edo-period Kyu-Shiba-rikyū Gardens are a short walk away, with Hamarikyu Gardens further along the waterfront. Hamamatsucho Station on the Yamanote Line provides quick access to Shibuya, Harajuku and the city’s livelier quarters, while the nearby Zojo-ji Temple, which stands next to Tokyo Tower, further anchors the area with a dose of history.

Who is behind the design?

Conceived by Melbourne-based boutique practice Bar Studio, the design embraces the area’s bayfront calm, dissolving the line between interior and exterior with wide, double-height glazing that pulls the landscape straight into the room. On level 35, the lobby lounge flows onto a landscaped terrace where you can catch a salty hint of the bay.

‘We sought to create a link in the design between Tokyo’s contrasts of traditional and contemporary, calm and energy, modern culture and the intrinsic connection with nature that has a rich heritage in Japan. We also wanted to capture a sense of ritual,’ explains Lucas Chirnside, design director at Bar Studio. The design language throughout focuses on intimacy, harnessing warm tones, tactile materials and atmospheric lighting, prioritising the natural richness of materials and plush finishes throughout the hotel.

Most furnishings and lighting are bespoke Bar Studio creations, complemented by pieces from Giopato & Coombes, Lasvit, B&B Italia, Minotti and Molteni&C. As a special touch, the lifts feature a delicate installation developed with Wanda Barcelona, reimagining Japanese botanicals through intricate paper-cutting. Artistic gestures continue in the Vue Mer lobby lounge, where a vibrant suspended work by Berlin-based artist Tomislav Topić nods to the translucency of washi paper. Meanwhile, custom carpets in corridors and guest rooms incorporate the graphic lines of Japanese Zen gardens.

The room to book

Fairmont Tokyo offers 217 rooms, ranging from 52 to 278 sq m, situated on the 36th to 42nd floors. The Fairmont Gold suites have access to a private lounge serving gourmet breakfasts, afternoon tea, evening canapés and all-day drinks. The Fairmont Gold Tokyo Tower View King Suite keeps the city’s hum in frame, with the crimson glow of the tower at night and Le Labo Santal 33 amenities in the bathroom.

Interiors nod to traditional Japanese architecture – the genkan-style entry, engawa-inspired seating – and feature karakami (woodblock) prints from printmaking duo Aiko and Takuma Noda and hand-drawn calligraphy by Shun-Yo, who uses crushed shell for luminous pearl pigments. ‘We’ve incorporated the calm, natural shades of Japanese sen timber, cloud-white quartzite stone and brass. Guestroom bathrooms feature textured granite, evoking tranquil onsen rituals,’ explains Chirnside.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The hotel runs five distinct culinary rooms, from Mediterranean to French and modern Japanese. Afternoon tea anchors café Vue Mer; next door, Kiln & Tonic serves pizzas, grills and charred seafood. Migiwa, a six-seat counter, focuses on seasonal seafood, while Totsuji handles Wagyu and a Parmigiano-crisped take on okonomiyaki via teppanyaki.

Driftwood turns Yōshoku (a Japanese style of Western-influenced cuisine) into a luxe affair; think scallops shoyu-yaki with edamame purée and caviar beurre blanc, or Kagoshima Megumi Black Pork Katsu in a house sauce. Its bar, Off Record, feels like a cocooned listening room of vinyl, rare spirits and soulful bites. Here, Bar Studio designed a custom chandelier, which incorporates illuminated bubble-texture resin, making for a soft glow.

Where to switch off

The spa on the 35th floor extends the hotel’s altitude-induced calm. ‘At Fairmont Spa, expect a soothing urban retreat, drawing on warm tones and elemental, natural stone. The spa’s atelier centres on a monolithic quartzite island bench,’ says Chirnside. Treatments begin with choosing your scent blend from seeds and spices.

The ‘self-love’ magnesium ritual is the post-Tokyo antidote: dry brushing, warm basalt stones charged under the full moon, and a slow, restorative massage. A 24-hour Technogym space offers full free weights and there are private studios for yoga and Pilates. Afterwards, drift into the 20m indoor infinity pool, pause on the outdoor sundeck or reset in the heat of the sauna.

The verdict

Japan is famously exacting in its approach to hospitality, yet Fairmont Tokyo (five months in) feels determined and confident. Service is attentive without theatrics; the Fairmont Gold lounge is a standout, letting guests graze, decompress and recalibrate all day. The balance of serenity and city energy is deftly handled, so much so that staying indoors becomes its own temptation.

Fairmont Tokyo is located at Blue Front Shibaura Tower S, 1 Chome-1-1 Shibaura, Minato City, Tokyo 105-0023, Japan. Rates: from JPY 127,600

It is 1925, and Paris is in the midst of an art deco love affair. The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, uniting 15,000 exhibitors from more than 20 countries, is in full swing on the banks of the Seine. The avant-garde showcase of jewellery, art and design is the pinnacle of art deco, championing a movement heavily inspired by African art and defined by a stylised geometry. For French jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels, which scooped a Grand Prize for innovative jewellery design, it was a recognition of its mastering of the decorative arts.

Marking the event’s 100th anniversary, the maison is revisiting this watershed moment with an exhibition held at the former residence of Prince Asaka, now the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. The epitome of art deco style, the palace was built in 1933 in Tokyo’s Shirokanedai district for Prince and Princess Asaka, who had recently returned from three years in Paris. They had visited the 1925 art deco exhibition; inspired by what they saw, they asked Henri Rapin, who had overseen the interior design of the event’s pavilions, to bring his characteristic style back to their main residence. Among the artists he employed to bring his vision to life was glassmaker René Lalique,whose beautiful light fittings can still be admired in the building today. After the war, the palace became the official residence for Japan’s prime minister and foreign minister, before becoming an art museum in 1983.

An elegant marriage of French art deco and minimalist Japanese design, the space was named after the lush gardens that surround it. Faithfully maintained, in 2014 the museum gained a new annexe, designed by architect and photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, which encompasses modern exhibition spaces, as well as a café and shop.

The current exhibition, ‘Timeless Art Deco with Van Cleef & Arpels High Jewelry’, unites 250 pieces of historical jewellery, watches and precious objects, including the Grand Prize-winning ‘Entwined Flowers, Red and White Roses’ bracelet. Many of the pieces on display, some for the first time, were crafted between 1910-1930, uniting distinctive design details, such as sharp geometrical lines, intricate openwork, sculpted gold and luscious enamel. The emergence of an aesthetic can be traced throughout the displays, from the stylised floral motifs paying homage to Asian influences, through to the graphic diamond three-dimensional forms, designed to snake their way fluidly around the wearer. In other pieces, functionality rules, such as in a sleek minaudière vanity case created in 1933, or in the ‘Zip’ necklace, an innovative design, patented in 1938, that celebrated the usually hidden inner workings.

The design of the exhibition itself is also crucial to a story that marries form and function. It was something that preoccupied architect Tezzo Nishizawa, founder of his eponymous Tokyo-based practice, who oversaw the scenography. ‘Consider the scale between the architecture of the museum and the small jewellery pieces,’ he says, on the challenges of creating an immersive and enjoyable environment. ‘We have to eliminate this gap naturally, so we were thinking about how we can harmonise the two. There was a wish to have the exhibition cases neutral, but that usually becomes white or black. Here, there are so many colourful and decorative pieces, monotone would distract from the beauty of the jewellery. It became a very good opportunity for me to think about the new definition of neutrality, and it resulted in the main theme of this scenography and of the exhibition itself.’

Nishizawa draws parallels between the worlds of jewellery and architecture, creating forms and shapes that emphasise both but without distracting from the experience. ‘The team at Van Cleef & Arpels all follow the same philosophy and have the same mission. Working with them has greatly inspired my own work. I have discovered that art deco is very accessible to everyone, even today, and it is flexible enough to accept different perspectives and different definitions of beauty.’

‘Timeless Art Deco with Van Cleef & Arpels High Jewelry’ is on show until 18 January at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, teien-art-museum.ne.jp, vancleefarpels.com

This article appears in the December 2025 Entertaining Issue of Wallpaper* , available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News + from 6 November. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

A temple of textiles

Anna Solomon, digital staff writer

What started as a coffee meeting at Farm Shop turned into a morning of mentally reconfiguring my home when we popped over to nearby Mount Street to visit Nordic Knots’ showroom. My colleague Ali Morris covered this impeccably curated space, which is open until March, for Wallpaper*; still, I couldn’t resist immersing myself in the world of a brand whose exquisitely tasteful yet (somewhat) accessible rugs I’ve long admired. Nordic Knots’ London debut is tucked inside a discreet Mayfair townhouse, showcasing its textiles – from bed linen and curtains to rugs and throws – alongside sleek industrial touches and a mix of antique and contemporary pieces including a 1920s desk and Swedish glass lamps. Pure heaven – and members of the public can drop in anytime.

Dreaming of Accra

Ellie Stathaki, architecture & environment director

Architect Glenn DeRoche was in town this week, so we met for a coffee and a catch-up near the Wallpaper* HQ in west London. We talked about travels and cultural destinations, as well as his recent project in Accra – the tennis court at the Backyard Community Club – and how its earth-building methods give it a unique feel (and even aroma). (I also hear there are potential future expansion plans in the works, all to be confirmed.) We talked about living in Accra, the art scene, and his own work there, from upcoming projects to developments within his studio, which has been expanding healthily in both space and numbers. It was so exciting to hear about the buzzing capital of Ghana; it made me want to go even more.

Life lessons from Tilda

Anna Fixsen, US editor

Monday, packed like a sardine among an impeccably-dressed horde at Dover Street Market New York, I eagerly awaited for Tilda Swinton to enter the room. The actor was in Manhattan to celebrate the launch of her first-ever book, Tilda Swinton: Ongoing which is a reflection on a life lived creatively and an homage to friends past and present. Swinton (dressed in a chunky ‘Stay Faithfull to Marianne’ jumper by S.S. Daley) treated us to a reading, which included an intimate letter to her late friend and collaborator Derek Jarman, as well as a list of dictums for radical living. On Swinton’s list? ‘Grow plants’ and ‘feel your courage’. My houseplants, unfortunately, are all dead. So, book in tow, I made a beeline to the autograph table for a giddy fangirl moment.

A seasonal spread

Ailis Bickford, digital project manager

This week, I revelled in the ever-grey London skies and enjoyed lunch at Toklas, a Mediterranean restaurant tucked away near the Strand in a matching grey brutalist building. Founded by Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover – the creators of Frieze magazine and art fair – the restaurant is far warmer than its exterior suggests. Inside, concrete walls are softened by wooden accents and autumnal hues from a patchwork of assorted posters, all complemented by a fully adorned bar. The menu is seasonal, so don’t miss their ricotta and sage casoncelli (a type of stuffed pasta) or the beetroots with stracciatella, pomegranate and mint. Next time, I’ll be sure to stop by the bakery conveniently located next door.

Memories of Japan

Sofia de la Cruz, travel editor

I’m easing myself out of what I’ve decided to call the post-Tokyo trip blues. The timing helps: I’ve just had all my film developed, and the scans have become a portal back to the city’s contrasts. It was my first time trying a Candido 800 roll, and the night frames in particular surprised me: moody, cinematic, washed in a soft electric glow.

A showroom summit

Rosa Bertoli, global design director

This week the Wallpaper* team braved the chilly London temperatures and visited the Minotti showroom to look at the new launches from 2025. It always feels like a privilege to be able to stop and discover new designs away from the fast pace of fairs and design weeks, and this week also marked an opportunity to sit down with architect Hannes Peer, who has authored several pieces for Minotti (including the Yves sofa, pictured). Over coffee with Peer and the Minotti team from Milan, we had the opportunity to chat about design and much more – a perfect reminder of the power of design connections.

A festive foreword

Jamilah Rose-Roberts, social media editor

This week, I took a trip into town that turned out to be far more enchanting than anticipated. Annabel's has revealed its annual festive façade, The Wardrobe: A World of Wonder, and approaching Berkeley Square felt a little like walking into a whispered secret. The installation appears suddenly: an ornate wardrobe tall enough to challenge the trees, its doors opening onto a wintry dreamscape of snow-dusted branches, shimmering icicles and a porcelain lion poised with a kind of gentle majesty.

Designed by Tatiana Kharchylava, creative director of The Birley Clubs, the façade draws on childhood imagination and the quiet bravery tucked inside small hearts. Tatiana describes it as a ‘celebration of light in the darkness’. I found myself thinking of it as a meeting point between Narnia, a couture fairytale and the kind of guardian figure you might have invented as a child. It is theatrical in the most tender way.

Inside Annabel’s, Johnnie Walker Black Ruby cocktails and small, carefully crafted canapés brought a gentle warmth back into the room. It was the sort of night when the city feels briefly transformed, and where celebration finds its own gentle swing.

A soul-stirring show

Charlotte Gunn, director of digital content

On Monday evening, I saw Lorde bring her ‘Ultrasound’ tour to the O2. I consider her 2017 album, Melodrama, to be amongst the finest pop records of the last decade, so discovering that her new album, Virgin, dives even deeper into club culture was a joy. The show played out like a sleek, industrial rave: hard white light, lasers, and Lorde dressed in a T-shirt and jeans – climbing a ladder, writhing around on the floor, even running on a treadmill. All in all, it was a truly euphoric start to the week.

A Spanish sojourn

Nick Vinson, contributing editor

This week I flew to Galicia for a few days of winter sun, design and local food. My first stop was Inditex for a tour of the mind-bogglingly large Zara Campus in A Coruña. I visited the design teams of Zara, Zara Man and Zara Home; their sample-cutting ateliers, photo studios, and an entire floor of mock-up stores showcasing all the latest merchandise.

Then I headed to Santiago de Compostela to visit Casa RIA, the headquarters of Fundación RIA. The historic building houses the independent non-profit think tank and agency founded by David Chipperfield in 2017 to promote sustainable development and quality of life in Galicia. It also includes restaurant and café A Cantina, an office for David Chipperfield Architects, and accommodation for visitors.

That night, David, Evelyn and Celeste Chipperfield took us to one of their local restaurants, hidden behind an unassuming door, for a sensational meal that included life-changing Cantabrian anchovies and three desserts. The next morning, we visited the local market and stocked up on some artisan cheeses (also sensational).

Then it was back to A Coruña for the opening of Wonderland, the first major retrospective of Annie Leibovitz’s work in Spain, at the Marta Ortega Pérez Foundation. MOP is housed in a former industrial area of the port of A Coruña, repurposed by architect Elsa Urquijo. Guests included directors Pedro Almodóvar and Luca Guadagnino, Linda Evangelista, Karen Elson and other stars of Leibovitz’s photography, as well as many independent creatives who collaborate with Zara.

I loved revisiting Leibovitz’s work, especially her portfolios for Vanity Fair during Graydon Carter's golden era. And of course, we ate really, really well this time, with meals prepared by chefs Albert Adrià and Marcelo Tejedor.

Ichio Matsuzawa has spent his career questioning what architecture can be when it stops trying to be solid, permanent, or even entirely visible. Since establishing his independent practice, the Tokyo-based architect has cultivated a reputation for projects that exist at the threshold of perception, from temporary installations at Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion to the Art Houses on Inujima. His recent installation for Art Week Tokyo’s bar offered a concentrated expression of this ongoing enquiry: a work of what he calls formless architecture, defined not by walls or volume but by the changing relationships between people, light, motion, and the city itself.

Ichio Matsuzawa: Architecture at the edge of perception

He created the bar with a series of curved, three-millimetre acrylic sheets, each a two-by-four-metre panel with 94 per cent transparency. They hovered at the edge of consciousness, present only when they caught the light, distorted a likeness or, momentarily, eclipsed a moving body.

The panels were heat-formed in an industrial oven using steel moulds, a process as delicate as it was unpredictable, as the acrylic became almost liquid when heated, making the ultimate curves impossible to control. Matsuzawa embraced the risk, allowing ‘beautiful accidents’ to shape the final forms, discarding everything that felt too rigid, precise, or artificial. What remained was a series of ephemeral thresholds that appeared and dissolved as visitors moved through the space.

This is where Matsuzawa drew a line between architecture and sculpture. Objects, he commented, are static. Architecture is perpetual: it changes with people, climate, sound, and time. In the bar, nothing stayed still. From the street, shadows of trees rippled across the acrylic, and echoes bent and multiplied. The breeze pushed both surfaces and images out of alignment. ‘New, mirage-like spaces are constantly being generated,’ he explained.

The transparency also blurred the divide between inside and out, a deliberate strategy given the bar’s street-level site in central Tokyo, which became part of the architecture, not merely the backdrop. Nature, too, entered the framework: wind, branches, sunlight, passing cyclists, and the casual choreography of pedestrians.

To counter the coolness of the acrylic, Matsuzawa designed stools and tables wrapped in richly coloured Afghan textiles, introducing tactility, warmth, and cultural layering. A soundscape by composer Yusuke Nakano completed the multisensory environment.

Matsuzawa, who has quietly built up a reputation for projects that question material presence and spatial perception, saw the AWT Bar as part of a philosophical enquiry into architecture as experience rather than form. ‘Each visitor encounters a different space, depending on their movements, their timing, their sensitivity,’ he said. ‘The work isn’t complete until someone inhabits it.’

The bar served cocktails designed by artists, including Chim↑Pom from Smappa!Group and Tsuyoshi Ozawa, and snacks by chef Shinobu Namae, including Seaweed Jambon Beurre made with Suji-Aonori seaweed butter and two kinds of seaweed pickles, but the bar’s real takeaway was spatial. In creating architecture that existed only through perception rather than solidity, Matsuzawa inverted conventional notions of what a building should be.

Rather than defining space, his near-invisible acrylic panels dissolved it – making the architectural experience something visitors sensed rather than saw, felt rather than touched. For an architect committed to spaces that emerge from sensation rather than structure, the AWT Bar wasn’t simply a commission. It was a manifesto.

imoffice.net

Soil Nihombashi is the third hotel in community-centred developer Staple’s portfolio. With just 14 rooms spread over nine floors, this is by no means a big hotel. Nor can Soil Nihombashi be described as a luxury hotel, but it is drawing attention for its simple yet carefully executed design and friendly staff that make you feel right at home.

Wallpaper* checks in at Soil Nihonbashi Hotel, Tokyo

What's on your doorstep?

Located in a predominantly small wholesalers and office area of Tokyo, the location might not be an obvious choice for staying in the capital, but with multiple train stations close by, access is easy and with most buildings emptying out at night actually makes for a very quiet location to call home in the metropolis.

Staple’s signature approach to developing whole neighbourhoods and not just a standalone hotel also means that within walking distance, you have the amazing sourdough Parklet Bakery and cafe, and the Hong Kong-inspired Chinese wine bar Timsum serving natural wines by the glass or bottle. There are also plenty of small Izakayas and restaurants frequented by after-hours salarymen to be explored.

Who is behind the design?

This is architect Kiyoaki Takeda’s first time working with Staple, and also his first time designing a hotel. ‘We spent a long time walking around the neighbourhood interviewing locals and researching the many potted plants found outside people’s homes.’ Takeda explains. The greenery is a big part of the design and something that Takeda says was inspired by the conversations with the locals during his research. ‘We used more than 100 different plants on the balconies. We received many cuttings from neighbours.’ The consistent use of red-brick exterior tiles throughout the design, bespoke natural stone door handles and dyed paper lamps add personality to the rooms.

The room to book

The 14 rooms come in three basic types: small but cosy doubles (with or without bathtubs) at 16-18m2, larger studio queens (again, with or without bathtubs and the 50m2 top floor Park View Loft (our favourite) with a huge bathtub, serene living area and vintage tape deck (complete with an eclectic selection of mix-tapes). Common for all rooms are floor-to-ceiling windows offering plenty of natural sunlight, greenery both outside the windows and inside, brick tiles and custom-dyed paper lamps. Amenities are basic; free coffee and tea, original shampoo, conditioner and body-wash, but showers are spacious, beds are comfortable, and the rooftop garden offers a quiet place to hang out and enjoy a quiet moment outside the rooms.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Breakfast is offered at the ground floor Pizza Tane. Guests choose between a sourdough hot dog or a mortadella-topped single-serve pizza. Both come with salad, a choice of drinks and fruit for dessert. While it’s perfectly ok, we recommend you skip breakfast at the hotel and instead head across the street to the Parklet Bakery for a much wider choice of baked goods and delicious coffee. If you crave Pizza for lunch or dinner, Tane is definitely worth a visit, but the nearby Timsum is a more fun and unique option to enjoy dim sum-inspired cuisine paired with an impressive selection of natural wines.

The verdict

We loved the local feel of Soil Nihonbashi and the super-friendly staff, both at the hotel and the restaurants/bakeries run by Staple nearby. The rooms are well designed and, while simple, offer a great refuge from the busy metropolis.

Soil Nihonbashi is located at 3-2-4 Nihonbashi-ningyocho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0013, Japan.

If there’s one thing that Wallpaper* does well, it’s houses – spotlighting architecturally arresting gems from around the globe and spanning the spectrum of modern design. Our inboxes are overflowing with news of the world’s most boundary-pushing architectural projects, and we strive to bring you the very best.

To ensure you don’t miss a thing – and to showcase the scope of residential architecture today – we’ve launched a new monthly series: The Architecture Edit. Each instalment will highlight our favourite houses of the month: buildings that demonstrate creative planning, innovative methods and, of course, aesthetic excellence.

A Neutra landmark

Perched in the Pacific Palisades, this landmark of Californian modernism went on the market in September. It was designed by Richard Neutra in 1948 for Arts & Architecture magazine’s Case Study Houses programme – an experimental post-war housing initiative. Neutra’s only contribution to the series embodies midcentury ideals with natural materials like birchwood and mahogany, and encompasses forward-thinking features including a prefabricated utility core for plumbing and heating. The original owners lived here for over five decades, commissioning additions such as a guest house, but the property retains its original finishes, integrated glazing and indoor-outdoor flow. Located near Will Rogers Beach and the Eames Foundation, Case Study House #20 presents a rare opportunity to own an authentic piece of Neutra’s legacy and California’s architectural history.

A midcentury gem

The Norton House by Buff, Straub & Hensman – key figures in Southern California’s postwar residential boom – has also come on the market. Built in a wooded gully in Pasadena in 1954, the house exemplifies the era’s lightweight, nature-integrated architecture: it features terraces, decks and bridges suspended over a central stream, while a post-and-beam Douglas fir structure enables open-plan living. Finally, large glass panels flood the space with light and frame woodland views. Still-present original details include cork flooring, built-in seating, and a concrete block fireplace that separates living spaces. While the kitchen has been updated, the home retains its authentic midcentury character.

A cottage transformation

The Black and Stone project by London-based Mallett reimagines a derelict 1930s farmer’s cottage in Perthshire, combining heritage conservation with contemporary design. Rather than demolish, the team restored the stone shell before inserting a new timber-framed structure inspired by Norwegian hytter (cabins). The dark-stained larch exterior contrasts with the pale original stone, while salvaged material has been repurposed – most notably in a kitchen feature wall – and existing window openings realigned to frame key views. The former three-room cottage has been transformed into a four-bedroom family home, blending rugged Scottish charm with modern architectural sensibilities.

A clifftop retreat

Casa Piscina del Cielo, a dramatic coastal retreat by Zozaya Arquitectos, is perched high above the Pacific near Zihuatanejo. The private residence includes two bedrooms, a guest wing, and multiple indoor-outdoor living zones – from a cinema and gym to breezy lounges. The showstopper is a 27m-long pool that extends over the cliff edge, with a transparent floor panel giving swimmers the surreal experience of floating above the ocean. The home is carved into native rock, with a palapa-thatched roof and lush landscaping. Inside, the open-plan layout connects directly to the pool terrace, offering sweeping sea views and a profound sense of place.

A Le Corbusier icon

Though it was snapped up quickly, a duplex apartment in Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse in Marseille recently hit the market – offering a rare glimpse inside one of the 20th century’s most important Brutalist buildings, now a Unesco World Heritage site (Wallpaper* was also recently invited to meet residents in their homes). Completed between 1947 and 1952, the building is based on Le Corbusier’s 'modulor' system – a scale of proportions derived from the human body and the golden ratio. This 100 sq m, two-bedroom unit spans two levels, with an open-plan living and dining space illuminated by a glazed façade. The current owners have embraced Le Corbusier’s signature palette, using primary-coloured panels on walls and doors.

A concrete sanctuary

Stealth House by Apollo Architects is an enigmatic residence in Tokyo defined by its monolithic concrete exterior – which conceals a surprisingly lush and luxurious retreat. Designed with privacy and security in mind, the home features an expansive infinity pool and terrace that flow from the main living area. Inside, the design embraces Japanese minimalism with airy volumes and refined materials. A built-in garage accommodates eight cars, with a dedicated car lounge that doubles as a gallery, while the basement is home to a gym, golf room and karaoke lounge, all lit by a sunken courtyard.

A coastal monolith

Designed by McLean Quinlan, Bay House is a robust and elegant modern home nestled into the North Devon coastline. Curving gently along the site’s natural contours, the structure blends into its landscape with a resilient, monolithic presence. Clad in Dorset Purbeck stone, the 550 sq m residence unfolds over three levels, with expansive windows and balconies framing views of sea and farmland. The design prioritises energy efficiency, featuring high-performance insulation, airtight construction, a ground source heat pump, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, and photovoltaic solar panels. The result is a rugged yet refined residence, blending environmental consciousness with contemporary design.

Craft, concentration and curiosity: these are some of the codes embedded in Chanel’s DNA, and the same applies to the workshops that help create the house’s collections. A new exhibition in Tokyo sees le19M – the Parisian hub that brings together the house’s craft métiers and their workshops under one roof – travel to the city, creating a dialogue between Parisian savoir-faire and traditional Japanese craft.

Amid increasing moves in the fashion industry to outsource production, le19M is doing the opposite. Since 1985, Chanel has integrated its maisons d’art – workshops and companies producing fabrics, embroidery, buttons, and accessories, some with histories dating back to 1853 – under its umbrella, securing production in-house. ‘To ensure that the maisons d’art innovate and perpetuate their crafts, and to usher them to work with as many clients as possible, in a way for their creativity to be challenged, [as well as] to foster dialogue between different crafts to nurture new ideas,’ Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel SAS and president of le19M, tells Wallpaper* of the importance of bringing these craftpeople into the fold.

Chanel’s le19M lands in Tokyo with new exhibition

Today, a network of approximately 60 manufacturers, including maisons d’art, forms Chanel’s ecosystem of savoir-faire. Within this, 11 workshops specialising in tweed, embroidery, featherwork and other crafts have become resident at le19M: the cultural complex founded by Chanel in northeast Paris in 2021. Amid challenging conditions for craftsmanship, such as the mechanisation of production and an ageing artisan population, le19M aims to preserve traditional crafts while enabling their evolution. Currently, around 700 embroiderers, feather workers, goldsmiths, pleaters, bootmakers, hatmakers, and milliners work in the building. The name le19M derives from its location in Paris' 19th arrondissement, as well as the day of house founder Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel's birth, while the letter M represents ‘mode, mains, maison, manufactures, and métiers d’art‘.

This month, le19M has temporarily relocated to Tokyo. The purpose is to exhibit creations developed in collaboration with Japanese artisans and other creatives. In the light of the works of le19M's artisans – characterised by an inherent intricacy, caution, and perseverance – there is a resonance with Japan's own meticulous dedication to craftsmanship. The collaboration between the two was natural.

The Tokyo exhibition, ‘Chanel presents la Galerie du 19M Tokyo’ – staged on the 52nd floor of the 53-storey Mori Tower, offering 360-degree views of Tokyo – unfolds in three sections. The first section, ‘Le Festival’, introduces the specialised techniques of each of le19M’s 11 workshops, conveying the richness and breadth of their craftsmanship through an immersive installation. Objects that are distinct to each workshop – wooden hat moulds, pleating templates, embroidery components – hang suspended from the ceiling, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of wandering into the ateliers of le19M. Tools used daily by the craftspeople in their respective workshops and fabric samples are displayed, allowing visitors to observe up close how the raw materials gradually metamorphose into works of art.

The highlight of the exhibition is the second section, ‘Beyond Our Horizons’, which showcases collaborations between le19M's craftspeople and nearly 30 creators and artisans from Japan and around the world, curated by five editorial members: film director and writer Momoko Ando; Casa Brutus magazine editor Yoichi Nishio; Shinichiro Ogata, founder and creative director of multidisciplinary design studio Simplicity; curator Kayo Tokuda; and Aska Yamashita, artistic director of Chanel-owned embroiderer Montex. Its scenography, much like le19M in Paris, evokes the image of a creative village – a gathering place for numerous craftspeople – and is inspired by natural elements such as wind, water, fire, and earth. This resonates with Japan's traditional craftsmanship, which has long embraced the local natural environment, creating works in harmony with their individual locales.

Don't expect typical fashion here. The collaborations between le19M and the various artists and artisans push the boundaries of their craft, opening up new horizons. For instance, a hat becomes a chochin Japanese paper lantern, a collaboration between Kojima Shoten, which has crafted lanterns in Kyoto for over 200 years, and le19M's hat workshop, Maison Michel. ‘The hat moulds are elliptical, not perfectly circular, making it challenging. We had to devise solutions like connecting bamboo rods with both curved and straight sections,’ says Ryo Kojima, head of Kojima Shoten’s tenth generation, which has produced countless diverse lanterns over its centuries in operation.

A noren curtain – a Japanese textile divider – on display is also a collaborative work, seeing Akiko Ishigaki, a dyeing and weaving artisan from Iriomote Island in Okinawa, unite with maison d’art Lesage, known for its embroidery and tweed. For over 40 years in Okinawa, Ishigaki has cultivated bashofu, a fabric made from fibres of the Japanese banana plant basho. Her process begins with growing the plant, peeling its trunk bark, boiling it in lye to extract the fibres, and then splitting these fibres by hand into fine strands, making the textile from the material itself. Ishigaki sent her bashofu thread to Lesage, where it was woven into the noren. Here, Lesage tweed became a noren curtain.

A take on traditional sukiya-style architecture is also on display, evoking traditional Japanese townhouses that feature tatami mats, shōji screens, and transoms. Created in collaboration between Kamisoe, which crafts karakami Japanese paper in Kyoto, and Lemarié, workshops for corsage, feather work and haute couture tailoring, a series of paper corsages are applied over sukiya-style interior walls – just like applying corsage over the clothes. Elsewhere, artisans at the bronze workshop Desrues created the fusuma sliding door handles, while jewellery workshop Goossens crafted the traditional shoe-removing platform. While it may defy the rules of what constitutes sukiya-style architecture, such radical challenges are precisely how you innovate tradition to open the door to the future. These posed a challenge for the Japanese artisans, who had to devise new methods different from their usual practices.

So what can we expect from this cross-continental collaboration? ‘The immateriality of the collaboration is what makes the project beautiful and magical, [and that is] significant,’ says Pavlovsky.

The final, third section of the exhibition traces the century-long history of embroidery workshop Lesage – probably the most well known of le19M’s maisons d’art – during which it has underpinned fashion history. The exhibition conveys how Lesage’s history, beginning in 1924, has integrated embroidery into fashion not as an add-on or embellishment but interwoven into the designs, while also using their skills on interior design projects, stage costumes, and textiles for historical furniture. Like this rest of the display, it demonstrates le19M’s effusive approach to craft – one seductive enough to make you want to become an artisan yourself.

‘La Galerie du 19M Tokyo’ runs from 30 September to 20 October 2025 at Mori Tower 52nd, Tokyo, Japan, then travels to la Galerie du 19M in Paris early in 2026.

la Galerie du 19M — le19M

Some places reside in the mind with a vividness that precedes any real visit. The New York Grill and Bar at Park Hyatt Tokyo is one of them: an atmospheric perch on the 52nd floor of Dr Kenzo Tange’s Shinjuku Park Tower, forever immortalised in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (2003), where Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray drift into a tender, transient friendship high above the neon-washed city of contrasts.

As Park Hyatt Tokyo readies for its grand reopening – following an extensive transformation that began with its temporary closure in early 2024 – a question lingers for film fans: will the hotel keep its cinematic soul? The fortunate news is that the New York Grill and Bar will remain untouched, still clad in John Morford’s original black-ebony-and-walnut palette, its soaring windows pulling the skyline inside, its intimate tables offset by Valerio Adami’s riotous murals of New York landmarks. Window tables will again frame vertiginous views: Mount Fuji to one side on a clear day, Shinjuku’s skyscrapers to the other. In the kitchen, new chef de cuisine Ben Wheeler will continue the serving of beloved classics, including the signature Caesar salad and Hokkaido seared scallops.

Elsewhere, change at Park Hyatt Tokyo is afoot, courtesy of Paris-based Studio Jouin Manku. Guest rooms and suites are being reimagined, with a layout designed for a more fluid flow, while a new Park Suite category will frame views of Yoyogi Park, Meiji Shrine and Shibuya. In addition, Girandole, the brasserie-style restaurant, will return, this time, in partnership with Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse. Also, resuming operations with a renewed glow is The Peak Lounge and Bar, with its two-storey soaring glass atrium and surrounding lush bamboo grove.

While the easiest way to enjoy a soft, honeyed Coppola moment is by indulging in the New York Bar’s signature Lost in Translation cocktail – a sweet mix of Kikuizumi Daiginjo sake, sakura liqueur, Peachtree schnapps and cranberry juice – we hereby propose a more subtle, insider approach. First, stay in the Diplomat Suite or a Deluxe Room, where much of the film was shot. Next, seek out the indigo-toned bowl used for wasabi nuts – the very design that Johansson holds in a scene. Made by Japanese glassmaker Toyo-Sasaki, it was discontinued a decade ago but is still produced exclusively for the hotel. Finally, for a Suntory moment, order Hibiki 17 Year Old Whisky neat or on the rocks.

hyatt.com

A version of this article appears in the October 2025 Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

This Tokyo home sits mysteriously behind a monolithic concrete façade, designed to hide a secret urban retreat. The new project, designed by Apollo Architects and aptly named ‘Stealth’. For all the boldness of its brutalist architecture exterior, inside, the house's Japanese minimalism and refined materiality make for a truly elevated, yet discreet private residence.

Tour this mysterious Tokyo home

‘True to the title, the initial inspiration was to create an urban hideaway where one can relax discreetly,’ says Satoshi Kurosaki, founder of Apollo Architects. ‘To ensure comfortable living amid [a busy lifestyle], the client requested an infinity pool and terrace adjoining the family living area; and an eight-car-sized built-in car lounge. However, the design had to conceal these features from the exterior at first glance.’

To respond to the wishlist, the closed-off façade prioritises security and privacy, while the interior opens up to reveal an urban villa with expansive views.

Challenges included overcoming ‘stringent urban regulations such as height restrictions’, and the size of that garage. ‘To accommodate eight parking spaces,’ says Kurosaki, ‘we created an unusually large garage by installing only the minimum-diameter steel bars [as structural supports] – a feat typically difficult to accomplish.’

Upon entering the property, visitors are greeted by the generous garage, showcasing the client’s impressive car collection. An open-tread staircase beyond the double-height entrance hall provides access to the upper and lower floors.

In the basement, there is a gym, a golf room and space for karaoke, all of which are filled with natural light from a sunken courtyard. The second floor of the residence hosts private bedrooms. The primary suite connects to a walk-in wardrobe and a family bathroom. From the study, a glass wall offers a view down into the entrance hall.

Kurosaki says: ‘The visitor's anticipation begins in the double-height entrance hall and the car museum-like garage.’ There follows the soothing space of the private rooms and bathrooms on the second floor, and then, ‘the top floor offers an exciting escape from the ordinary – a resort hotel-like space with a spacious terrace and pool. Here, I hope they can savour the feeling of a hideaway or retreat.’

The louvres positioned at the top of a double-height space are the architect's favourite feature. He says: ‘[They cast] beautiful patterns of light and shadow onto the north wall, [taking] changing forms throughout the day.

'The shadows and light that emerge depending on the weather lend the architecture diverse expressions while also imparting a sense of wonder to its inhabitants, as if the building itself were breathing like a living creature.'

apollo-aa.jp

Afternoon sun cuts across minimalist lines of textured stone, angular display cases and hovering seats, all in very modern shades of pink. There is no mistaking the presence of Swedish fashion label Acne Studios and the telltale cool of its signature shade in the heart of Tokyo’s Aoyama district, where it recently opened its new Japanese flagship.

Clean-lined, monolithic, flooded with light – and instantly recognisable as part of the Acne Studios cosmos – the new store spans a prime corner spot on Omotesando, a longtime architectural playground (it’s next to Prada’s bubble façade, designed by Herzog & de Meuron). Here, Acne Studios expresses its playful, modern philosophy through a three-level space brought to life by the company’s founder and creative director, Jonny Johansson, alongside regular collaborator, Stockholm-based studio Halleroed.

Inside Acne Studios’ Tokyo flagship

The word ‘garage’ doesn’t often feature in the Omotesando luxury lexicon, yet this was the conceptual starting point for Johansson, who was inspired by the idea of a structurally open space with a technical edge. ‘I loved the idea of a little house in Aoyama,’ says Johansson. ‘When they tore down the original building, I looked at its skeleton and thought, actually, let’s turn it inside out – like when you see a garage. I wanted to keep the empty skeleton and have as much glass as possible, so you feel that you’re both inside and outside in Aoyama.’

This idea is mirrored in the stone and glass façade that allows passers-by to see in to the interiors, plus the vast basement level space, with its original lift shaft feature and Japanese plaster walls. Not to forget the softly-textured pink granite stone, which connects spaces both inside and out, flowing seamlessly across floors, walls and – a highlight – two staircases, high and airy, with cleanly minimalist structural lines and smoothly indented handrails.

The aim was to evoke a sense of pink that was not ‘banal’ or ‘naïve’, according to Halleroed co-founder Ruxandra Halleröd. ‘Pink, when painted on the wall, can be quite flat; it’s easy to get tired of it,’ she says. ‘So we started looking at pink as texture and material. That’s how we ended up, after lots of tries, with a granite that becomes more pink when you flame it. People can be quite sensitive to the meaning of pink. It can be girlish or it can be very mature. But the Acne Studios pink is a little vague, which makes it better – I see it more as a pop colour than feminine.’

The store’s atmosphere is rooted further in reflective metal accents, angled mirrors and the dynamism of stainless steel clothing hangers sharply suspended from the ceiling. Deepening the mix is a playful scattering of one-of-a-kind creative touches by longstanding Acne Studios collaborators, including a series of pieces by British designer Max Lamb, ranging from shiny soft leather seats that appear to grow out of walls to tufted carpets and ‘Blob’ chairs in hand-dyed yarns.

Dozens of sharply poetic custom strip-lighting are scattered across ceilings, alongside lit lines cut into metal displays and hangers, as imagined by designer Benoit Lalloz. Surrealist mannequins created by artist Daniel Silver add a further creative layer. According to Ruxandra, key to the atmosphere is the idea of contrasts. ‘Tokyo has a lot of contrasts – the very high tech with the old, and so on,’ she says. ‘This is something we tried to evoke here. The building is very straight with hard materials, and the furniture is very irregular and shiny and a big contrast with the space. It’s also all a little bit unexpected.’ Halleroed co-founder Christian Halleröd adds, ‘Japan is a huge inspiration for us – the quality level and the craftsmanship. Everything starts in Japan.’

One standout Japanese presence is a series of candy-bright ceramic vessels created by artist Takuro Kuwata to mark the store’s opening. An accompanying series of inventive products designed in collaboration with Kuwata includes rainbow reimaginings of the brand’s ‘Camero’ bag and trompe l’œil denim jeans. For Johansson, the new Aoyama store (which replaces their former shop on a nearby backstreet) marks the culmination of a long love affair with Japan, a source of creative inspiration, as well as a key business hub for the brand.

‘I first visited when I was about 18 and I’ve probably been here about 30 times,’ he says. ‘My dad also sailed from Sweden to Japan in the 1960s. It was almost a myth in our family, everything that he told us about Japan, so I have a long relationship with it.’ He adds, ‘We are from a minimalist country, but we are maximalist in the sense that we like to play. Fashion is supposed to be fun. Sometimes luxury can be very excluding. That is what we don’t want to be.’

A version of this story appears in the September 2025 Style Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Design has long derived inspiration from nature, but one of the most eccentric and captivating examples took the form of a 13-storey skyscraper in Tokyo composed of 140 prefabricated, 100 sq ft pods jigsawed around a concrete-and-steel structure. The Nakagin Capsule Tower, completed by the Metabolist architect Kishō Kurokawa in 1972, was meant to grow, adapt and evolve – just like a living organism.

‘If you replace the capsules every 25 years, it could last 200 years,’ Kurokawa said in a 2007 interview. ‘It’s recyclable. I designed it as sustainable architecture.’ Until 2022, when it was demolished, the tower’s distinctive interlocking grey cubes with porthole windows were iconic elements of the local skyline, drawing architecture buffs and Instagrammers alike to admire its form.

Now, the tower is the subject of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Organised by assistant curator Evangelos Kotsioris and curatorial associate Paula Vilaplana de Miguel, ‘The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower’ (until July 2026) celebrates the building’s inventive design and the impact it had on the people who lived in it. It is an exhibition about innovative ideas as well as post-occupancy. It includes a fully restored pod, an original display model, architectural drawings, archival marketing materials, films and photographs of residents showing how they inhabited their pods, as well as an interactive virtual tour of the building, showing the state of the structure in the twilight of its life.

‘We knew about the history of the project, but the more the two of us looked into the specifics, the reality of how things unfolded was a much more interesting story to tell than just the intentions of the architect,’ Kotsioris says.

Kurokawa’s building represented a new form of urban living during a time of rapid cultural, technological and economic change in Japan. As Kotsioris writes in a book accompanying the show, Kurokawa ‘envisioned the tower as the habitat of Homo movens, the modern individual in an increasingly mobile society’.

While the project was built over 50 years ago, the ideas still feel resonant for today. Cities around the world are contending with a worsening housing shortage and are struggling to build units that meet their changing demographics, including a rising rate of single people. Kurokawa’s idea anticipated the micro apartment, a type of building that today’s architects are exploring to solve the crisis.

The Nakagin Capsule Tower was originally billed as a pied-à-terre for businessmen who commuted to Tokyo for work and whose families lived elsewhere. The tiny pods, measuring just 8ft x 13ft, featured a bed; a wall unit with a built-in desk, television, closet and sink; and a bathroom. ‘In a way, it's also a showcase of Japanese technology: a Sony TV, Pioneer headphones, a Sharp calculator, a Sanyo refrigerator,’ Kostriosis says. ‘So it was this kind of combination between a device and a product and an architectural enclosure.’

The experience is ship-like efficiency. Nobuo Abe, an architect in Kurokawa’s firm who led the design and construction of the capsules, was also a sailor and came up with the idea to have all the furniture on the periphery.

Because the building was the first of its kind, Kurokawa also took great care in how it was positioned in the real estate market. The Nakagin company, with support from the firm, created pamphlets and instruction manuals that borrowed from automotive sales and even offered ‘deluxe’ versions of the pods that featured optional amenities, like a stereo system.

‘The capsule being a single-occupancy space was really meant to reinforce your personal perspective, which in the Japanese societal context was seen as an aberration,’ Kotsioris says. ‘They use language and graphics to construct a lifestyle; it’s not just about a building in the conventional sense.’ The curators digitised this ephemera so that visitors to the exhibition can flip through.

The tower is ‘a product of its time’, Vilaplana de Miguel adds. ‘When consumerism, TV and commercials started to circulate more widely, architects like Kurokawa decided to be part of it. He was a great businessman himself and he really embraced the commercial aspect.’

When the building’s units hit the market in 1972, they sold out in two days. Initially, businessmen moved in. Then in the 1980s, when Japan’s economy crashed, the prices plummeted and younger residents, students and artists moved in. Later, when the building’s demolition seemed imminent, it attracted people who were fans of the building and Kurokawa’s work. ‘All kinds of quirky people start to move in and become obsessed with actually preserving its memory or legacy or afterlife,’ Kotsioris says. ‘And it’s thanks to them that we, and other institutions, have fragments of its history.’ (The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama also acquired pods.)

Some recent residents included an anime cosplay DJ, who used her pod as a streaming booth for her shows; Kurokawa's own son, Mikio, who transformed one into a library; and an interior designer who renovated his space to have an industrial, Steampunk aesthetic. And, naturally, the last cohort who lived there included preservationists who restored units to Kurokawa’s original vision, down to the light switches. These various shifts reflect the core idea of the building: it can be refashioned again and again.

‘Metabolists have this idea of buildings evolving over time and reshaping as society changes,’ Vilaplana de Miguel explains. ‘Kurokawa based his project on Buddhist and Zen philosophies of cycles of life.’

Sadly, the building deteriorated. Kurokawa envisioned replacing the pods every 25 years, which did not occur. Their flat roofs collected water, making the units vulnerable to leaks and moisture damage. The bright pink and orange stairwells in the tower (which informed the hues of the exhibition’s gallery walls) were eventually painted over in grey. And there were asbestos concerns. It would have been cost-prohibitive to try to fully restore the building due to the deferred maintenance. But the residents who rallied for its preservation managed to save 23 capsules and fully restore 14 of them.

Normally, when a building is demolished, especially one with as rich a history as the Nakagin Capsule Tower, it is perceived as a tragic loss. But Kotsioris notes that the dismantling of the pods, their distribution to museums around the world, and reincarnation as the subject of exhibitions, aligns with the lifecycle concept that Kurokawa imagined for his tower – even if he didn’t predict its eventual outcome. In a 1972 promotional film for the tower that screens in the gallery, we see a pod loaded onto a ship with the narrator explaining a vision the architect had in which the pod’s resident could remove their unit from the building and have it travel with them.

Twelve of the tower’s former residents journeyed to MoMA to celebrate the exhibition’s opening last week. In remarks, Tatsuyuki Maeda, a former resident who led preservation efforts, said that he was ‘very grateful to everyone involved for allowing us to exhibit our beloved capsule’.

That Kurokawa was able to create a building that so many people cherished and felt deep personal connections to is perhaps his most enduring achievement, and one that will live on indefinitely.

‘The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower’ is on view at MoMA through 12 July 2026.

moma.org

Two years ago, we reported on the announcement of Aston Martin’s first residential project in Japan, a Tokyo townhouse called N°001 Minami Aoyama. This week, the British luxury manufacturer announced the project’s completion, marking yet another milestone on its slow transition to an all-encompassing luxury brand and not simply a maker of high-end sports cars and grand tourers.

The focus will remain on four wheels, of course, but projects like this new townhouse, demonstrate that Aston Martin’s in-house design team’s core competence goes far beyond automotive. It’s a talent ably demonstrated by these images of the completed building. Compare and contrast with the original renders and you’ll see that the company has simply translated its design process into the architectural realm.

The townhouse is a single private residence, spanning four storeys on a sloping site in Tokyo’s Omotesandō neighbourhood. With a total floor area of 724 sq m, it offers a generous amount of living space, especially in a city like Tokyo. All that floor area offered scope for signature elements such as the automotive gallery, seen here housing a Vantage and a Vanquish, a garage space that backs onto one of the living areas to provide a view of the cars from within.

The project was undertaken in partnership with luxury real estate developer Vibroa Inc and continues the firm’s ongoing dabbling in architectural design, most notably at the Aston Martin Residences in Miami. Other projects are underway around the world, including an interior design scheme for The Astera on Al Marjan Island in the UAE.

According to Marek Reichman, executive vice president and chief creative officer of Aston Martin, the collaborative project is about celebrating ‘the influence of Tokyo’s culture, history and style. The city has always held an important creative space within our design studio, and Aston Martin’s increased presence in Japan and Asia has provided fertile ground for inspiration and collaboration,’ he adds.

Behind the vertical metal louvres of the façade, which provide a combination of shade, privacy and ever-shifting light, intriguing glimpses of the interior are offered up, including the secluded first-floor terrace, complete with traditional onsen bath and rippling mirrored ceiling.

‘The clean lines, seamless boundaries and far-reaching views allow the residents to connect with and experience this unique location,’ says Reichman, ‘Inside, we’ve catered to the senses, using a holistic combination of elements and materials to create a calm and relaxing space for them to retreat.’ In addition to the spa there’s also a substantial new basement containing a gym, wine cellar and golf simulator system.

At the rear of the property, the sloping site provides excellent urban views from the balconies, culminating in a rooftop terrace complete with sunset views and kitchen facilities. The basement and ground floor are linked by a bespoke folded steel staircase, an origami-inspired structure lit by a custom-designed pendant chandelier. Upstairs, the accommodation consists of three en-suite bedrooms.

Fixtures and fittings combine craft know-how with Aston Martin’s contact book of partners and like-minded brands. The house contains an integrated Bowers & Wilkins Audio System and wardrobes and cabinets are by Molteni&C, while materials include black lava kitchen surfaces, nebula steel and hinoki wood cladding.

‘Vibroa is delighted to be working with such an iconic ultra-luxury brand as Aston Martin,’ says Toshiyuki Yoshida, CEO of Vibroa. ‘Their renowned design philosophy and expertise brings a unique dimension not just to this home, but the wider world of real estate in Japan.’

AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin, Vibroa.com

Tokyo is a city where a beauty obsessive, such as me, can thrive. Whether this is achieved through trying its local treatments, dipping into a sento or stocking up on the best products J-Beauty has to offer, I’ve compiled a list of tested spots and recommended locations to look out for if you’re travelling there this summer. (Also see my guide to the Shiseido Corporate Museum, visited in part 1 of this series.)

Tokyo’s best beauty destinations

Hair

The first recommendation I received was for scalp massage. Several people name-checked Ritts, a headspa in Shibuya that provides both wet and dry scalp massage, but I was tempted by the offering at Junka Dry Head Spa (also in Shibuya), a stone’s throw from where I was staying. The massage here had a keen focus on the scalp and back of the neck, inducing an immediate need for sleep to an otherwise very jet-lagged brain.

I’d also heard from those in the know that a haircut from Tokyo is the haircut to have. Local favourite Stoop, in Setagaya, combines a hair salon with a coffee shop. Having trained in NYC, the hairdressers there welcome non-Japanese speaking clientele and are deft at cuts, colours and treatments. Salon LAND also came highly recommended, as a spot with excellent technicians able to quickly achieve slick styles in just as slick a space.

Bathing

Unlike onsen baths, which normally exist outside the city built around hot springs, sento are public bathhouses with different kinds of bathing pools. Said pools can range from herbal baths or jacuzzi-style pulse baths, or saunas, and sometimes incorporate exercise equipment. (Some sento take a strict no tattoos policy and most are split by gender.) The two recommended to me were Bunka Yokusen, in Meguro, and Daikoku-yu, in Sumida City. A third is Yoshino-Yu, which is a little way out of the city. But its interiors – by Kentaro Imai Architectural Office – are well worth the trip.

Nails

Personally, I couldn’t imagine leaving Tokyo without a manicure, and quickly got four amazing recommendations. An editor friend shared her go-to, Disco, founded by Nagisa Kaneko and located in Shibuya. Also in Shibuya, Nail Maison crafts designs with all the rosettes, pearls, gems, bows and plaid I was looking for, executed by supremely talented nail technicians. Another friend who lives locally also recommended Naononails, whose hand-painted designs are expertly achieved, taking inspiration from Hello Kitty or Japanese calligraphy alike. One I’ve bookmarked for the next visit is atelier Sucre, in Shinjuku. Whichever nails you choose, I would advise knowing exactly what you want on arrival and providing your technician with a visual reference.

Shopping

Shopping

The store of all Japanese beauty stores is @cosme, in Harajuku. Seasoned shoppers head there before nipping over to Matsumoto Kiyoshi, the drugstore next door. Since the massive Shiseido flagship store in Ginza has now closed (though I did make a trip over to the Shiseido Corporate Museum – read my review), I stocked up on Shiseido sunscreen and their Eudermine Activating Essence, a hero product since its debut in 1897.

Another destination with a storied past is LISN incense. Established in Kyoto in 1705, it stocks a 150-stick selection of incense in a rainbow array of colours and scents, with sleek contemporary holders on offer too. The retail experience was beautiful, and the winding down after a big day out in the city with citrus-scented incense certainly brought bliss. Last – but no means least – Shu Uemura’s first global flagship store in Omotosando is not to be missed; the building itself is shaped like a giant make-up box (inspired by one owned by Mr Uemura himself) and contains a wealth of products, tools and services unlike any other in the world.

Visiting a corporate museum might not sound like Tokyo’s most compelling tourist activity. But in this instance, I would be inclined to disagree. For any beauty lover – or those with an interest in photography, graphic design, architecture, art direction or fashion, for that matter – Shiseido’s Corporate Museum is a must-see if you happen to be visiting the city this June and July.

The cosmetic company’s influence permeates the fabric of Japanese culture, both past and present. Every second person I met while in Tokyo recently had an affiliation with Shiseido in one way or another; from the creative consultant eating at Shibuya’s Narukiyo Izakaya to the video editor scream-singing Natasha Bedingfield’s ‘Unwritten’ in a karaoke parlour after a long day producing Shiseido’s social assets. Nowhere is this more felt than in the local beauty stores and pharmacies, such as Harajuku’s @cosme flagship or the chain drugstore Matsumoto Kiyoshi, where Shiseido’s offering dominates.

Founded in 1872 by Arinobu Fukuhara, Shiseido broke boundaries as Japan's first private, Western-style pharmacy. The consideration of scientific formulation combined with beautifully designed packaging is what first distinguished the brand, and is an equation that has stood the test of time. The founders were interested in using Western science, basing their products on pharmacological prescriptions. Japanese integrity and excellence in scientific formulations are consistently at the forefront of the beauty industry; it was the marriage between these approaches that propelled Shiseido from a local Japanese brand to a globally recognisable name.

‘Whether it is in the way a formula is created by our researchers, our editorial vision for a campaign or who we collaborate with to materialise dreams and ideas, Shiseido has been a pioneer in the beauty scene since 1872,’ says Valeria Baker, PR and social media group manager for Shiseido. The company marked its 150 years in 2022 by commissioning Neville Brody's creative agency Brody Associates to design a new Shiseido brand ‘code’, or identity, that reflected its past while looking to the future.

Situated in Kakegawa, a 90-minute Shinkansen ride out of Tokyo, the Shiseido Corporate Museum and Art House was originally built to mark the 120th anniversary of the company. When you arrive at JT Kakegawa station, I’d advise you to head to Komeda Coffee for an iced takeaway to sip on the 25-minute walk to the museum. The route itself is lovely, and very straightforward. But, if you’re pressed for time, a taxi will take under five minutes to get you there.

The museum is divided into two parts: to the left, the building curves round into a section that houses an art collection that the company has accumulated over the years. There is a permanent collection here as well as regularly changing exhibits. This award-winning space is called the Shiseido Art House, which first opened in 1978, built by architects Takamiya Shinsuke and Taniguchi Yoshio. It will be closed from 7 June to 4 September 2025, as it prepares for the second part of a special exhibition. But the sculpture park is open all year round and makes for a lovely meander, with works by the likes of Lee U-Fan. Plus, during the summer months, the garden’s horse chestnut and olive trees are in bloom.

To the right, the Shiseido Corporate Museum’s permanent collection charts the brand’s history with blown-up campaign posters, historical ephemera and a rolling film with adverts and archive footage, alongside antique and contemporary bottles of skincare and make-up. There’s a focus on the art nouveau and art deco styles that Shiseido is influenced by, plus the design and redesign of the logos, packaging and typography.

It’s particularly incredible to see how styles of calligraphy and imagery have evolved in Japan over the decades. The earliest advertising images used by Shiseido are on show, dating back to when the brand functioned as a local apothecary. Featuring kanji, katakana and hiragana calligraphy, the elegance of some of the fashion illustration within these 19th-century flyers is still visually appealing, as is the invitational style.

Highlights also include the midcentury section of the exhibition, a look at how the globalisation of the 1960s and 1970s brought new styles of fashion imagery into the beauty sphere. This leads seamlessly on to Serge Lutens’ tenure as creative director at Shiseido, between 1980 and 2000. Lutens’ advertising campaigns are known for their unique blend of avant-garde imagery with Eastern and Western aesthetics, and the library at the Shiseido Corporate Museum holds many of the finest examples of this.

The curation of items and images on display forms an archive of the visual representation of women and beauty in Japan, both as perceived by a local audience and as marketed to global audiences through shifting eras. An example of this is shown in Shiseido’s campaigns from 2015, when Lady Gaga fronted the visuals for the brand, capturing 50 selfies, which were then used as the major advertisements in various Japanese newspapers.

The displays of products – a chance to explore their provenance, dates and stories – are interesting as well as visually striking. In pride of place is Shiseido’s first product, Eudermine. Popular with geishas from its conception in 1897, the hyaluronic acid-based solution is still available to buy today. Seeing the evolution of the serum, with its packaging through the eras, from glass, bow-topped bottle to futurist vessel, well… after getting back into central Tokyo, I simply had to go and buy it for myself.

The Shiseido Corporate Museum is located at 751-1 Shimomata, Kakegawa, Shizuoka 436-0025, Japan. Opening hours are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays in June and July, 10am - 4.30pm (last entry at 4pm). The museum closes mid-August for summer holidays.

‘Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes; that is all we offer you,’ says Ramdane Touhami, the maverick creative director, who has recently opened a retail store of the same name in Tokyo. The name refers to printed media, music, colourful products and meticulously designed fashion collections and this is Touhami’s first outpost, following the opening of a mothership ‘Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes’ in October 2024 in Le Marais district of Paris, the city where Touhami’s creative agency Art Recherche Industrie is also based.

Located in the cosy Nakameguro neighbourhood near the Meguro River, with small boutiques, cafés and restaurants dotted around, the store is nestled among verdant American Sycamores. Spanning 45 sq m, it occupies the ground floor of a three-storey building painted in light green, with plans to open a café on the first floor and a gallery on the second floor. ‘My favourite brands, Mountain Research and The Nonnative, have stores nearby and many of my friends are around here, so when I spotted the vacant building while I was cycling I decided to become their neighbour,’ Touhami says with a smile.

Stepping into the store, visitors are greeted by a hut-like space surrounded with walls made from various types of wood veneer sourced from a lumberyard in Japan. Two massive audio speakers from Altec Lansing (renowned for their use in The Beatles' recordings) are mounted on the 4.5-metre-high ceiling. Music is a signature part of Touhami's spaces: ‘Most audio speakers are placed on the floor,’ he says. ‘But I wanted the sound to shower down like in a cinema.’

The store features Touhami’s original outdoor garments line Dei Drei Berge and rugs he designed for the Hotel Drei Berge, which opened in the Swiss mountains in 2023, alongside tableware used at the hotel, magazines by Touhami's publishing company Permanent Files and the Radical Media Archive-magazine documenting political graphics and propagandas. The curation is united by Touhami himself; he has poured his heart and soul into creating or selecting everything.

Touhami is a champion of Japanese craftsmanship and to credit the quality and provenance, he invests great attention in how his staff tell the stories behind the works for sale. ‘All our garments already have tags explaining in detail where the yarns are sourced, from which area and how the garments are made,’ he explains. ‘The store staff need to offer customers more, bringing to life why we are passionate about the items we sell, just as you talk to your friends about your favourite things,’ Touhami says. Among the 200 items on offer are a cashmere/cotton maximal button hoodie woven in Wakayama Prefecture with a 100-year-old balthazar loopwheel machine; and a multi-pocket blue shirt with intricate stitching made in Gifu Prefecture.

People often credit Touhami with creating a ‘new’ paradigm of shopping experience, but he shakes his head: ‘I'm not trying to create a new shopping experience. I wanted to do a cute little store in my favourite area. Did I need to do something spectacular to wow people? NO! I just wanted to do it perfectly.’ Accordingly, almost everything in the store is designed by Touhami with his office Art Recherche Industrie and made in Japan, from sweatshirts to shoes, and cups to trousers. ‘All the items are the result of tireless discussions and collaborations with Japanese factories,’ he says. ‘The store is a “gallery” for what we can achieve with Japanese people.’ Beyond a place to sell things; Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes feels like a communal space where Touhami's friends and neighbours gather. ‘Welcome to my room,’ Touhami says.

Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes

2-16-7, Aobadai Meguroku, Tokyo

Wcpj.jp

Kameari, in Tokyo’s east, is not one of the city’s most well-known districts, but the Skwat Kameari Art Centre (SKAC), led by architect Keisuke Nakamura, is hoping to rewrite this narrative. At its heart is Vinyl Delivery Service (VDS), a record store founded by Rintaro Sekizuka, whose interest in music, sustainability and community is reshaping vinyl culture as a vehicle for local renewal and ecological consciousness.

Track star: Skwat Kameari Art Centre

When Sekizuka opened VDS in its former central location at Shinjuku Gyoen in 2018, he envisioned a space that went beyond the traditional record store model. ‘I wanted to make something different. I wanted a store that was more free, with more crossing of cultures,’ he says. This ethos was further fuelled by a trip to London in 2019, where he found inspiration in the city’s rich, genre-fluid musical landscape, leading him to open a VDS outpost at Idle Moments. This Bethnal Green listening bar and record shop took inspiration from Japanese jazz kissa (cafés dedicated to jazz music played on high-end audio systems), quickly becoming a vital hub for audiophiles and DJs alike. ‘I got very good feedback from everyone,’ says Sekizuka. ‘They had never seen the records I’d brought and hadn’t connected with Japanese music much because they couldn’t easily get hold of it.’

Last November, Sekizuka took another step closer to realising his ambitions when he moved into SKAC. While central and west Tokyo are dotted with legacy record stores catering to collectors and purists, SKAC’s east location provided the opportunity for something more collaborative, less transactional. ‘Most record shops in central Tokyo are small and packed, with no space to breathe,’ he says. ‘I wanted a place that wasn’t just for record nerds but for everyone.’

SKAC is an airy, 3,000 sq m industrial warehouse that has been reimagined as a multidisciplinary space where art, design, music and community intersect. The lack of tangible culture in east Tokyo consciously affected the decision to locate here in order to give the locals something to be proud of and plant the seeds of reinvigoration. ‘The SKAC team aren’t just architects, they design communities,’ says Sekizuka. ‘The idea isn’t just to build something, it’s to change the way people interact with the city.’

The space’s high ceilings, industrial finishes and flexible layouts allow for constant reinvention, while a rotation of artists, designers, students and thinkers cycle through its doors, with different installations and activations every month. Twelvebooks, an art book distributor, sits adjacent to VDS, while other areas host pop-ups, exhibitions and experimental fashion projects. The materiality is equally fluid: the adjoining café’s interiors are repurposed from past installations, a concept spearheaded by SKAC’s Material Matters project.

For Sekizuka, vinyl is an ecological statement. ‘The records we have here are mostly secondhand. They were made maybe 40, 50 or 60 years ago. In the context of the environment, this is quite an unnatural thing to do, but human beings create a lot of things we don’t need to make.’ His vision is a closed-loop system, whereby old records are repurposed into new ones. ‘Right now, vinyl waste is barely recyclable. It ends up in landfill or gets downcycled into things like cheap chairs. We need to innovate, either by developing recyclable records or inventing a record we can clean up and press again.’

This ethos extends to urban farming initiatives. ‘We plant seeds in repurposed record shelves, but we’re imagining ways to make that bigger. It’s a utopian idea, but we could have fruit trees on the street and families harvesting food for dinner.’ His plans are still a work in progress, but he sells organic edible plant seeds alongside records as a first step towards his vision.

Every element of the store is linked back to his concept of music as a catalyst for a better future. A key facet of the VDS experience is its functional, built-to-last furniture, which customers are welcome to buy for their own homes. ‘Most record shelves are cheap, mass produced and break easily,’ Sekizuka says. ‘We wanted to create something that could last a hundred years and survive earthquakes.’ Designed by Luka Yasukawa, a Tokyo-based furniture maker, the shelves are crafted exclusively from Japanese hinoki wood, sourced from a small factory in Tokushima. The design process was deeply immersive. ‘We climbed Mount Tsurugi with the artisans and stayed in a mountain hut alongside the trees,’ he says.

Sekizuka’s dedication to local, self-sufficient production extends to clothing. ‘We wanted to create workwear that was functional for both digging for records and farming,’ says Sekizuka. Inspired by Japanese countryside labourers and London’s upcycling community, the project sources deadstock fabric from a textile factory in Shizuoka, giving new life to materials that would otherwise go to waste. ‘Everything is made in Japan, there’s no unnecessary shipping, no mass production. It’s slow fashion, designed to last.’

His ambitions stretch far beyond retail. ‘We’re in ongoing talks to start a vinyl plant. But it has to align with our ethics, either fully recycled or using an alternative material.’

This pocket of east Tokyo may be an unlikely location for a budding utopia, but the SKAC team are planting the seeds that could redefine this community and create larger ripples beyond. With VDS, Sekizuka wants to rethink the way culture, commerce and sustainability intersect. ‘Music is always at the centre,’ says Sekizuka. ‘It’s not just about records, it’s about the way we live.’

Skwat Kameari Art Centre is Located at 3 Chome-26-4 Nishikameari, Katsushika City, Tokyo 125-0002, Japan; @skwat.site

A version of this article appears in the June 2025 Travel Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Yellows, greens, reds, purples, blues: a distinctly vivid palette of colours has been brought to life using an unusual ingredient: microalgae.

'SO-Colored' is a Japanese research project spearheaded by the Tokyo design studio We+, which taps into the potential of microalgae as an unexpected and sustainable new source of pigment.

Renewable, fast-growing, carbon-absorbing, and low-impact, Microalgae – microscopic single cell organisms that thrive everywhere from rocks to roadsides – have long been researched within the food and biofuel industries, but their potential as a source of pigment has largely gone unnoticed, until now.

SO-Colored presented its findings in an installation at Galleria Rubin during Milan Design Week. Centre stage was a series of sharply-lined sculptures with deeply-toned surfaces that resembled glazed ceramic tiles, in a spectrum of shades, from greens and reds to yellows.

The project was based on the discovery that laboratory-grown microalgae change colour when exposed to environmental stresses such as light, humidity and heat. A microalgae powder developed by Algal Bio Co. was mixed with dammar, a resin from Indonesia, creating a material that appears to retain its colour over time. As Hokuto Ando, co-founder of We+, explains, this process also gives the pigment a 'remarkable depth' that has a glazed, ceramic-like quality.

'We believe that micro-algae is an exceptionally promising material for humanity,' Ando tells Wallpaper*.

'While it is already being explored for applications such as carbon dioxide absorption, alternative energy to petroleum, pharmaceuticals and functional foods, our project focuses on its aesthetic potential – specifically, its natural pigmentation.'

'In the future, there is potential to use this microalgae pigment anywhere in the world. We can also use local vernacular. Everything in the process is from nature.'

We+ – a studio co-founded by Ando and Toshiya Hayashi in 2013 – showcased further innovations with a second project in the same gallery: a collaboration with Heiwa Gokin, a century-old metal casting company in Takaoka, a city with 400 years of history as a traditional copper crafts hub in Toyama Prefecture.

In 'Unseen Objects', We+ explored the beauty of the 'mistakes' or 'leftovers' of the metal casting manufacturing process – a patchwork of burrs along the lines where where moulds are joined; the unremoved residual sand stuck on surfaces; the geometric imprints of reinforcement bars; iron rods used to secure rods bundled together like an offering of metallic twigs.

The end result is a collection of six sculptural objects with an otherworldly beauty, organically formed and uniquely imperfect in a spectrum of unexpected shapes and textural surfaces.

weplus.jp

An illuminated façade with neon mushrooms. A paper flower garden. A rainbow library of leathers. A grey silk 'car dress'. A whipped cream-like swirl of stoneware. And a staircase waiting to be covered in stickers.

These are among a cornucopia of creations, large and small, recently unveiled in Crafted World, the first major brand exhibition by the Spanish luxury brand Loewe, which is now open in Tokyo’s Harajuku district.

Step inside Loewe's Crafted World

Innovative, crafted, rooted in heritage and unwaveringly playful – these are all qualities that underpin the exhibition, which explores Loewe’s progressive approach to fashion, craft and culture since its 1846 establishment as a leather-making collective in Madrid.

The spatial journey was brought to life by Dutch studio OMA, spanning 1,300 square metres across two levels and expressed through a layered unfolding of spaces, corridors, staircases and immersive installations.

Crafted World initially debuted in Shanghai last year, before being modified for its new Tokyo home, complete with a sharpened focus on the brand’s deep ties with Japan, which began when Loewe opened its first retail space outside Europe in Tokyo in 1973.

It’s a journey that carefully unravels the DNA of Loewe – from its historical roots as leather-making specialists and the fruits of its respected Loewe Foundation Crafts Award through to its fashion collaborations and the imaginative imprint of the brand’s recently-departed creative director Jonathan Anderson.

Giulio Margheri, associate architect at OMA, tells Wallpaper*: 'When Loewe approached OMA in 2024, it was the brand’s first time working on an exhibition of this scale. They outlined a series of themes they wanted to explore, but these needed to be transformed into a cohesive experience and the content was yet to be defined.

'The exhibition is a journey into the world of Loewe. We worked on scripting a sequence that allows visitors to encounter all the key aspects of the brand through a series of distinct spatial experience.'

The experience begins before crossing the threshold: an illuminated block-like façade is transformed into an urban dialogue with Tokyo, with iconic Loewe objects, including floating red and white mushrooms, lit up in neon against a black backdrop.

Inside, the spatial experience flows through seven chapters, each with a different identity, texture and atmosphere. It kicks off with Born from the Hand, a space filled with visual stories exploring the history of the brand, through heritage objects, archive photography, architectural models and contemporary creations.

Early tools dating back to 1846 (awls, bevelers, burnishers, gougers, groovers, mauls) sit alongside century-old calfskin travel vanity cases and monochrome photography from around 1910 of the Madrid store and workshop on Calle del Principe.

As the timelines moves forward, there are replicated elements of the 1959 Madrid store designed by architect Javier Carvajal (from woven leather chairs to logos), sculptural 1980s perfume bottles and costumes worn by Rihanna and Beyoncé.

This segues smoothly into the Welcome to Spain section, passing through a terracotta-filled casa typical of Galicia, whose traditional weaving is applied to Loewe’s Bucket bags, and the playas of southern Spain, where seashells inspired raffia leaf bags.

Next up is The Atelier, with maze-like behind-the scenes glimpses of craftsmanship, including a library of tactile leathers, the geometry of deconstructed bags and explorations into the technology that underpins innovations such as leather marquetry, origami modelling and 3D printing.

The atmosphere tilts in the next space: The Castle Room has a softly-textured cartoon-like scenography of green hills, blue skies and white skies, with a 2m-high Howl’s Moving Castle bag, inspired by the iconic Studio Ghibli film and featured in a 2023 capsule collection.

Downstairs, United in Craft spans a serenely minimalist space with angular concrete-covered surfaces, showcasing a curated collection of craftsmanship (in clay, textiles, metal, grasses, lacquer), including works by Loewe Foundation Craft Prize winners.

Exhibits include the gentle lines and textured surfaces of British artist Jennifer Lee’s stoneware; the airy swirling ceramic abstractions of Japanese artist Takayuki Sakiyama; and the rich surface depth and organic curves of Kyoto-based Genta Ishizuka’s contemporary reimaginings of lacquer.

'I have been producing work with the desire to turn the transparency, depth and allure of the ‘gloss’ that lies within urushi (Japanese lacquer) into artworks,' explains Ishizuka, who won the 2019 prize. 'I was inspired to make this work when I saw oranges being sold in mesh bags at the supermarket. I believe that the sense of touch and sensibility of artists and craftsmen can permeate the gaps in modern standardised society.'

The exhibition shifts into the fashion cosmos in the next room, a bright white space with 54 looks from across the decades displayed on mannequins, alongside Loewe art collection works plus buzzy screens framing catwalk footage.

It concludes with Unexpected Dialogues, an immersive exploration into the creative worlds of five collaborators, each with their own room – from the dizzying scenescape of the New Mexico studio of potter Ken Price to a dreamy foray into the magical animal-dancing world of Japanese ceramicist duo Suna Fujita, culminating in a suspended flower garden, crafted from paper, inspired by the Arts & Crafts Movement tile and textile designs of British architect C.F.A Voysey, expressed in a collaboration with Tokyo-based studio edenworks.

For Sheila Loewe, president of the Loewe Foundation and fifth generation of the luxury house, the exhibition can be summed up in three words: heritage, playfulness and beauty.

'Every room brings me such joy and so many memories,' she tells Wallpaper*. 'The first room, which explores the history of Loewe, humbled me as I reflected on all my grandfather’s achieved in the early days of the company.'

Highlighting the timeless value of the handmade in the modern world, she adds: 'Craft is a universal language, it’s part of our collective history, it tells us where we come from and gives us a sense of belonging. By providing a global platform for these crafts at risk of extinction, we’re able to raise awareness and inspire a new generation to safeguard craft’s future.'

Crafted World Tokyo runs until 11 May craftedworld.loewe.com

At first glance, the newly opened Ginza Sony Park looks like anything but a park in the usual sense. There are no trees and not even a tiny patch of grass. Yet, to Daisuke Nagano, the project leader of the Ginza Sony Park project, the most important feature of a park isn’t the greenery. 'For me, more than anything else, parks are about openness,' he explains. 'The freedom to use a part of the city in any way you like; have a coffee, have a nap, read a book.'

Explore Tokyo's new Ginza Sony Park

Through this lens, the naming of the concrete, brutalist architecture structure makes sense. Of the more than 4,000 sq m of space, spanning eight levels (three of them below ground), roughly 40 per cent is free, open space that locals are already using to eat their bentos, have a quiet coffee or finish the last bit of a client presentation on a laptop. The ground floor, in particular, is almost completely empty and flexible, save for a couple of in-situ concrete benches and the beginning of a large spiral staircase that continues all the way to the roof.

The architecture was a collaborative effort of the whole project team. 'We didn’t want to hire a famous architect to build us a new building. Like all Sony products, the Ginza Sony Park is made by Sony,' Nagano explains.

The remaining 60 per cent of the space is divided into different sections, which, except for the restaurant on the lowest floor, all can be turned into exhibitions or event spaces. 'My vision for the project was to create a platform for various activities. The building is the platform, and the various activities are like apps on a smartphone,' explains Nagano.

The first set of apps to be loaded onto the platform is a series of exhibitions exploring the diverse range of businesses (music, gaming, cinema, entertainment technology, finance and semiconductors) that Sony is currently involved in.

Nagano’s team have curated and produced tech-heavy exhibitions that showcase some of Sony’s latest technology, such as haptic floor tiles that simulate the feeling of walking on water. With about 12,000 visitors to the current exhibition a day, Ginza Sony Park is off to a good start.

Nagano hopes that the park will attract outside collaborators too. With rent in Ginza being among the highest in Tokyo, Ginza Sony Park offers an interesting opportunity for short-term leasing at what is poised to become one of the city’s most iconic locations.

sonypark.com

Explorations through Japan in the wintertime are inflected with postcard-perfect scenes – triangular minka houses laden with snow, light-as-air powder trails on Niseko slopes, and steaming onsen baths. While matsuri festivals pack the summer social calendar, once the mercury drops, the communal onsen (hot spring) tradition comes to the fore. A cornerstone of Japanese wellness rituals, the geothermal bathing activity is rooted in ancient times and is believed to cure illness and imbalances in the body. Here’s the Wallpaper* edit of the best design-led onsen hotels in Japan to check into, so you can feel the stress of the year melt away.

Dip into the best design-led onsen hotels in Japan

Aman Kyoto

Aman properties have the magical ability to transport guests to an otherworldly environment, and the Aman Kyoto resort does it with panache. Set amidst lush woodland, a moss-dominated plot that was once slated to become a private textile museum now offers a tasteful and elegant architectural response to the cultural richness of its host city. Kerry Hill Architects, a long-time Aman collaborator, deftly incorporated local influences, surroundings, and culture into the design identity; the property’s homage to native tradition and craft is encapsulated in the choice of materials and handmade decorative items.

Aman Kyoto’s pared-back, remarkably minimal, and pleasantly geometrical interiors across its 26 guestrooms exude tranquillity and evoke contemplation. Ryokan elements like tatami mats and tokonoma alcoves are preserved. In the Aman Spa, luxurious indoor and outdoor onsens await, the perfect precursor to a transformative spa treatment featuring natural apothecary.

Aman Kyoto is located at 1 Okitayama Washimine-Cho Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8458, Japan; aman.com

Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto

For the first Banyan Tree hotel in Japan, the international hospitality group could not have chosen a better location: the Higashiyama outpost neighbours the venerated Kiyomizu-dera temple, and sweeping views of the city are part and parcel of its hilltop perch. Kengo Kuma mapped the architectural vision for this 2024 addition to Kyoto’s onsen resort scene, harmoniously blending the property’s bamboo-forest surroundings with traditional building techniques and open spaces to underscore the tranquil nature of the hotel.

Designer Yukio Hashimoto translates the ethereal concept of yugen – meaning ‘mysterious beauty’ – into elegantly minimalist interiors, elevated by clean lines, natural materials, and soft earth tones. Private onsen baths, drawn from natural hot springs, are found in the upper-tier rooms; communal facilities are available on-site as well. Save time for a traditional dance-drama theatrical performance at the Noh stage and a kaiseki meal at Ryozen.

Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto is located at 7 Seikanji Ryozan-Cho, Higashiyama-Ward, Kyoto 605-0861, Japan; banyantree.com

Fufu Kyoto

Part of the growing Fufu boutique hotel group – with sister properties in Nara, Hakone, and Karuizawa, among others – Fufu Kyoto’s idiosyncratic charm stems from its dedication to the Japanese hospitality concept of omotenashi, embodied as a time-honoured ryokan experience with modern infusions. Hidden in plain sight, this modest retreat follows a natural-palette-driven aesthetic blueprinted by Saiun Design, allowing subtle detailing like washi-papered screens, lattice partitions, and ikebana arrangements to take the lead.

Fufu Kyoto channels simple alkaline hot-spring water from the Nose Art Lake onsen source to the 40 Hinoki cypress bathtubs across the hotel, one for each room. Luxuriate in your private onsen till the sun goes down, then head to restaurant Ioto for a multi-course meal amid bonsai and maki-e lacquer art, and bar Yae Hitoe for exquisite saké recommendations.

Fufu Kyoto is located at 41-41 Nanzenji Kusakawacho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto 606-8437, Japan; fufukyoto.jp

Hoshinoya Tokyo

Japanese onsen inns typically evoke imagery of serene sanctuaries, nestled in the depths of the great outdoors, off the beaten track, serenaded by the whisper of nature. Hoshinoya Tokyo turns that notion completely on its head. Located in Otemachi, in the heart of the capital, the 84-key hotel brings ryokan hospitality into the cosmopolitan modern age. Designed by Rie Azuma of Azuma Architect & Associates – whose signature can be found on many a Hoshinoya resort – the property’s old-meets-new essence is impressed upon all available surfaces.

Hoshinoya Tokyo’s metal-lattice façade imitates a classic asa-no-ha hemp-leaf pattern found on kimonos; woven tatami flooring is standard across the rooms; walls in the shared spaces are elegantly textured and carved. An outdoor bath on the top floor provides a unique view of the sky through a skylight. Water is piped up from the Otemachi onsen, a subterranean hot spring with high salt content and seaweed minerals with healing properties to help alleviate fatigue and retain heat in the body.

Hoshinoya Tokyo is located at 1 Chome-9-1 Ōtemachi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 100-0004, Japan; hoshinoresorts.com

Kai Okuhida

Burrowed within the northern Japanese Alps, Kai Okuhida adds striking contemporary flair to the Okuhida-Onsengo villages in the Gifu prefecture, celebrating the region’s long-standing onsen heritage. Developed by the Sakakura Building Research Institute and Kanade Design Office, the timber-and-stone resort, centred around a courtyard, is landscaped to emulate the meandering paths and alleyways of traditional onsen towns. Hida artisanry is at the heart of the interior design; details like Hida-shunkei lacquer, Hida-zome fabric-dyeing techniques, and the art of mageki wood-bending are showcased throughout the rooms in furnishings and decoration.

Of the 49 guestrooms, 28 are furnished with private outdoor baths, fed from the flow of the restorative Hirayu onsen. Communal facilities, including a footbath and a hot-spring river, are dotted across the property, backed by lush mountainscapes and changing foliage. Post-thermal relaxation, head to the restaurant: One of the most famous exports of the area, Hida beef, is heavily featured on the seasonal menu.

Kai Okuhida is located at 138 Okuhida Onsengo Hirayu, Takayama, Gifu 506-1433, Japan; hoshinoresorts.com

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

In the upper reaches of Tochigi Prefecture’s mountainous landscape sits Ritz-Carlton, Nikko, a stoic nature retreat engulfed by swathes of forests, the imposing shadow of the next-door Nantai stratovolcano, and the scenic Chuzenji lake. Nikken Sekkei and Melbourne-based studio Layan Architects + Designers worked in tandem to create a minimal and modern aesthetic, embedded with artisanal craftsmanship and local materials, keeping traditional Japanese architectural features like genkan entryways and Nikko-bori woodcarvings.

Slip on a yukata robe, provided by the hotel, and pad down to the bathing facilities, where the indoor and outdoor onsen gurgles sulphurous water piped in from the Yumoto hot springs – a thorough soak is said to combat fatigue and pain, with the added benefit of rejuvenating and moisturising skin. After, indulge in a feast of seasonal ingredients at the Japanese Restaurant, prepared sukiyaki-, shabu-shabu-, or kaiseki-style.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko is located at 2482 Chugushi, Nikko, Tochigi 321-1661, Japan; ritzcarlton.com

Zaborin

Complement a ski trip to Hokkaido with a luxurious ryokan stay. Comprising just 15 villas in Hanazono, one of Niseko’s prime ski areas, Zaborin’s exclusivity translates to an intimate, secluded experience; each room offers its own private indoor and outdoor onsen, fuelled by mineral-rich gensen kakenagashi – free-flowing natural volcanic waters, unadulterated and not reused – from the property’s own hot-spring source, drawn from underground.

Architect Makoto Nakayama and designer Shouya Grigg applied deft touches to blend contemporary comforts with the meditative, introspective design so oft found in Japanese interiors, bolstered by wide-open spaces to frame the outside: views of the snow-capped Mount Yotei and the Hanazono forest. Birch-like details in the rooms echo the texture and character of the surrounding woods. Choose between washitsu or yoshitsu sleeping arrangements to rest your head on a tatami futon or Western-style bed, respectively.

Zaborin is located at 76-4 Hanazono, Kutchan, Abuta District, Hokkaido 044-0084, Japan; zaborin.com

The Tokyo Auto Salon is not to be confused with the Tokyo Motor Show, a long-running biennial event that has run since 1954 and was rebranded as the Japan Mobility Show following cancellation of the 2021 event due to the pandemic. You can check our past reporting on the TMS / JMS here: 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2023.

Instead, Tokyo Auto Salon was set up in 1983 with a focus on custom cars (the show was initially called the ‘Tokyo Exciting Car Show’). It’s a delightful cavalcade of the weird and wonderful, from ultra-compact campers to restomods, student projects, and eccentric custom jobs such as the bodykit that turns a humble Toyota Crown Sport into a reasonable facsimile of a Ferrari Purosangue (expect legal letters to be winging their way from Italy to Japan in short notice).

There’s also a dose of cultural idiosyncrasy that doesn’t translate well – the annual inclusion of a squad of young female ambassadors, showcased on the official website along their height, star sign and blood type, feels particularly egregious to modern sensibilities. American equivalents such as SEMA still have similar practices, one of the reasons why mainstream auto shows are increasingly disavowed by younger generations.

We’ve dodged the sexist undertones to find ten gems from this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon.

Smile Factory Off Time Base

Smile Factory specialises in making tiny campers from Suzuki’s series of Kei car minivans. Shown here is the Off Time Base, measuring just under 3.4m long and under 1.5m wide yet still capable of sleeping four. Two bunks are located in the side-opening opening pop-up roof, whilst Smile Factory has given the boxy machine a rugged look, with bespoke air suspension to help you find the ideal off-road camping spot.

SmileFactory.biz

Isuzu ELF Mio Cross Concept

This dinky work truck, with its hint of military chic, was one of three conceptual variants of Isuzu’s ELF light truck on show. The other were a panel van and a camper, but liked the old school vibes of the ELF Mio Cross Concept, with its roll-down canvas sides and massive array of LED lights above the cab.

IAS-Isuzu.co.jp

Suzuki Wagon R Smile European Antique

Another friendly overhaul of a compact Suzuki, the Smile European Antique is a one-off special edition of the popular Wagon R, this time undertaken in house. The delights here are the cream and tan two-tone colour scheme, the wicker luggage atop the roof rack and details like the pink sidewall tyres.

Suzuki.co.jp

Panasonic WELL Cabin OFFMO

Panasonic Automotive brought its WELL Cabin OFFMO, a multipurpose room designed to be rugged enough to set up anywhere. Available in three different configurations, a mobile beauty salon, a ‘healthy power nap room’, and a private entertainment space, with surround sound and an ‘Activation Seat’ massage system.

News.Panasonic.com

Mitsubishi Delica D:5 BLACK Edition

The concept BLACK Edition of the popular Delica D includes a roof tent, black trim throughout, right down to the wheels, and an overall sense of purpose, poise and post-apocalyptic strength.

Mitsubishi-Motors.co.jp

Nissan Caravan Disaster Support Specification

Nissan showed an updated version of its Caravan, the fifth time the company has created a concept for Tokyo Auto Salon. In Disaster Support Specification the humble Caravan commercial vehicle is transformed into a portable command centre and power supply for rapid response to natural disasters.

Global.NissanNews.com

Nissan NEO Skyline

Nissan also showcased concepts from students at the Nissan Kyoto Automobile Technical College. First up was this dramatic reinterpretation of the CV35 Nissan Skyline Coupe drawing inspiration from the 1970s Nissan Skyline, also known as the Kenmary, or Kenmeri, model.

According to Nissan lore, the name came from the era’s ad campaign, in which a young Western couple called Ken and Mary were shown driving it through rural Japan. On this occasion, NEO stands for ‘nostalgia, encouragement and originality’.

Nissan-Gakuen.ac.jp

Nissan Z Lealia

Another elaborate student project was the Nissan Z Lealia, a ‘sports station wagon for family journeys’. The retro inspiration here is the 1969 Fairlady Z, one of the icons of Japanese sports car design and a big hit around the world. According to the fourth year student team, the name comes from combining the words ‘Lead’ with the Latin word ‘Familia’.

Nissan-Gakuen.ac.jp

DAMD Taft Lucky

The Lucky takes the Daihatsu Taft, a popular crossover-type Kei car that’s been on sale since 2020 and swaps out the headlights for squarish units that scream 1970s Americana. New trim, wheels, livery and logos create an ultra-compact and ultra-cute SUV.

DAMD.co.uk

Aless Century Complete WL

The winning entry in the sedan category of the 2025 Tokyo International Custom Car Contest 2025, Aless’ reinterpretation of the Toyota Century adds a body kit and ultra-low suspension kit. This is Japan’s equivalent to Rolls-Royce, and whilst Aless’s input might seem sacrilegious to some, it still manages to preserve the minimalist gravitas of the flagship Toyota.

Aless-Group.com

TokyoAutoSalon.jp

Where will 2025 take you? Twelve new months offer plenty of possibilities for travel plans and hotel stays. Whether you are seeking an otherworldy experience in Nepal’s fabled Mustang Kingdom, a minimalist stay in Tokyo, or a fairy-tale cabin suite in the Irish countryside, Wallpaper* has you covered. Here are our most-read-about hotel openings of the past year, all ready for you to book.

The hotels to book in 2025

Shinta Mani Mustang in Jomsom, Nepal

Shrouded in mystique, in Nepal’s Mustang Kingdom, Shinta Mani Mustang offers a stylised immersion into Tibetan Buddhist life. Reimagined by Sherpa Hospitality and designer and architect Bill Bensley (building on Prabal Thapa Architect’s original 2010 design), the stone-and-timber retreat exudes the rugged charm of Thakali villages and the rich hues of Tibetan monasteries. Candlelight and monk chants fill the lobby, setting the tone for sipping warm apple brandy at Aara bar or savouring traditional Mustang dishes at Nilgiri restaurant. The 29 rooms are all anchored by floor-to-ceiling windows framing Himalayan views. For relaxation, the hillside spa – featuring glacier-blue pools and herb-infused therapies by Tsewang Gyurme Gurung, an 11th-generation Tibetan medicine doctor – is the perfect counterpoint to adventurous days.

Shinta Mani Mustang is located at Marpha-5, Jomsom 33100, Nepal, shintamanimustang.com

Hotel Rakuragu in Tokyo, Japan

Who would have imagined that a narrow parking lot could one day house a nine-storey hotel? Well, it can – meet Hotel Rakuragu in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district. Conceptualised by Kooo Architects, the property’s lantern-like façade, with irregular cut-out windows and angular balconies, blends urban privacy with abundant natural light. Inside, 14 guest rooms, ranging from 13 to 35 sq m, radiate serenity with rounded corners, diatomaceous earth wallpaper, and low wooden bed platforms softened by plant-lined balconies. A nod to jazz culture runs through the property, from the hotel’s name, which references ‘ragtime’ in Japanese, to curated playlists. Anchoring it all is a minimalist lobby, where raw concrete meets crisp white walls, elevated by a sculptural mirrored piece from design studio We+ – a fitting entry to this tiny but mighty minimalist retreat.

Hotel Rakuragu is located at 1 Chome-7-9 Nihonbashihoncho, Chuo City, Tokyo 103-0023, Japan, hotelrakuragu.top

Six Senses Kyoto in Japan

Respectfully adding a touch of contemporary escapism into one of Japan's best-preserved historical regions, Six Senses Kyoto, the brand’s Japan debut, is a modern wellness retreat to daydream about. Designed by Blink Design Group, the 81-room hotel nods to the city’s ancient cultural rituals and was developed around four key themes: playful, organic, biophilic and sustainable. Rooms, with views of the central courtyard or Toyokuni Shrine, feature wooden partitions with flippable panels, woven copper lighting, and sun-filtering sudare screens. Wellness is at the heart of the experience, with a spa offering everything from Watsu therapy to a Biohack Recovery Lounge, all set against a backdrop of ikebana arrangements and Zen design. Food is served in the all-day dining Sekki and Café Sekki, while for after-dark, Nine Tails is an intimate cocktail bar with the atmosphere of a modern apothecary.

Six Senses Kyoto is located at 431 Myohoin Maekawacho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0932, Japan, sixsenses.com

Woodland and River Suites at The Montenotte in Cork, Ireland

Perched above the River Lee, The Montenotte – a luxury urban resort with 107 rooms, a wellness centre, a cinema, and a restaurant and bar – has long been a local favourite, thanks to its proximity to Cork’s city centre and sweeping views of the harbour. Its latest addition is a collection of nine outdoor suites designed by Henry J Lyons Architects. These include the Woodland Suites, set above a forest canopy, and the River Suites, amid wild Irish flowers. Dublin-based designer Rósín Lafferty has infused the interiors with a mix of Japanese-inspired design and Ireland’s natural beauty, featuring light oak, travertine floors, bronze mirrors, and custom rice paper screens. Exclusive to guests who book the suites, the Woodland Suite Experience is completed with the Club House, a peaceful space with harbour views, perfect for leisurely breakfasts or afternoon cocktails.

The Woodland Suites at The Montenotte are located at Middle Glanmire Rd, Montenotte, Cork, T23 E9DX, Ireland, themontenottehotel.com

Ta’aktana Labuan Bajo in Indonesia

Ta’aktana, a new Luxury Collection resort by Marriott International, is determined to put Labuan Bajo, a fishing village on Indonesia’s Flores island, on the map as a luxury getaway. Spanning 16 hectares, the resort comprises 70 rooms, including seven overwater sea villas. Balinese firm ANP Interiors reimagined natural wood and fibres with a modern, minimalist approach, with woven ceiling panels standing out as a handsome achievement in the villas. Wellness at Di’a Spa channels the spirit of Flores’ Rangko and Batu Cermin caves, offering everything wellness alongside Korean hair and scalp therapies. With five dining options, including the Japanese-inspired Taba, the Indonesian farm-to-table Umasa, and a café showcasing Flores’ finest coffee, the resort delivers a gastronomic journey as rich as the island’s biodiversity.

Ta’aktana Labuan Bajo is located at Pantai Wae Rana, Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara 86763, Indonesia, marriott.com

Singita Milele in Natta, Tanzania

Singita Milele, found within Tanzania’s 350,000-acre Grumeti Reserve, redefines the traditional safari experience and sets a new standard for modern African bush design. Two years in the making, the 1,200-square-foot buyout sanctuary, designed by South Africa’s HK Studio, accommodates ten guests across five suites, each inspired by the panoramas, shades, and tones of the Serengeti. Vast indoor and outdoor spaces, including a massive infinity pool, offer uninterrupted views of the Great Migration. The design reflects the surrounding savannah, with locally sourced fixtures and artworks deepening the connection between guests and the land. Whether lounging on expansive decks, dining in the open-air area, or observing wildlife through a telescope, Singita Milele is as open to the elements as it gets.

Singita Milele is located at Natta, Tanzania, singita.com

Decorating your own Christmas tree is certainly an art form – although for most of us it may not extend too far beyond choosing a colour scheme and whether to go with or without lights. However, hotel Christmas trees are often elevated to the next level and will wow even the most discerning amateur. Whether adorned with AI baubles or 400 bellboy teddy bears, these are some of the most intriguingly decked-out trees around the world this year.

Hotel Christmas trees around the world

The Tokyo Edition hotels

The Tokyo Edition Toranomon, and The Tokyo Edition, Ginza, offer an alternative take on a classic Christmas tree. This year, the hotels have unveiled two sculptural installations by art director Yuni Yoshida in collaboration with the design brand 130 One Thirty. The concept was to create a ‘hotel within a hotel’. The result is two white ‘trees’ which have a delicate paper quality, and glow from within. Small windows have been carved into the installation to mimic that of lights or tinsel around a tree. Each ‘tree’ incorporates delicate design variations unique to each property.

The Tokyo Edition Toranomon is located at 4 Chome-1-1 Toranomon, Minato City, Tokyo 105-0001, Japan www.marriott.com

The Tokyo Edition, Ginza 2 Chome-8-13 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan www.marriott.com

Ritz Paris

At Ritz Paris, the hotel’s bespoke Christmas tree has a focus on childhood nostalgia. The tree was designed by florist Anne Vitchen, who filled the tree with over 400 Ritz bellboy teddy bears. The hotel’s beloved mascot hasn’t just taken over the tree, but can be found in every corner of the hotel in a playful manner.

Ritz 15 Pl. Vendôme, 75001 Paris, France ritzparis.com

The Ned

The Ned has collaborated with whiskey brand The Macallan to unveil a collaborative Christmas tree which focuses on heritage and craftsmanship. The 22ft tree is inspired by the stunning distillery and the natural beauty of Speyside. The tree is adorned with red velvet bows, with copper baubles, an elegant nod to the distillery’s copper stills

The Ned is located at 27 Poultry, London EC2R 8AJ thened.com

Claridge’s

The unveiling of Claridge’s Christmas tree is always a momentous occasion. Last year, Paul Smith took over the 19ft tree in an ode to traditional toy making. This year, it is the turn of Burberry and its creative director Daniel Lee to imagine Claridge’s 2025 Christmas tree. At the centre of the 16ft tree’s design are the numerous bows that adorn it, each one crafted from surplus Burberry fabric (Lee said he chose the leitmotif because the bow was a ‘Victorian symbol of unity’). The top of the tree features a golden crown in lieu of a star or fairy, while the floor around the tree is piled with Burberry cushions and populated with oversized chess pieces.

Claridge’s is located at Brook St, London W1K 4HR www.claridges.co.uk

The Barcelona Edition

With avant garde flare, The Barcelona Edition has collaborated with Fabricio Giordano, founder and creative director of Flore Studio, a floral design studio and flower, plant and orchid boutique. Giordano gave a classic Christmas tree a contemporary twist by wrapping it in a net casing. Sharing on Barcelona Edition’s Instagram, Giordano said, ‘To wrap is to embrace, to contain, to turn inward, and a loving gesture. This year’s festive tree stands as a manifesto to embrace who we are and what we live, through abstract beauty.’

Barcelona Edition is located at Av. de Francesc Cambó, 14, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona, Spain www.marriott.com

The Rome Edition

You can find the Rome Edition's tree nestled in the hotel entrance. Designed by Milan-based artist, Sara Riccardi, she worked in close collaboration storied Turin workshop, Antica Fabbrica Passamanerie Massia Vittorio for this commission. The result is a striking tree comprised of textile compositions and cascading fringes in various shades of red. More than just a visual spectacle, it also engages sight and sound, with aluminium rods which echo vibrations. This is a contemporary tree not just to be admired, but also experienced.

The Rome Edition is located at Salita di S. Nicola da Tolentino, 14, 00187 Roma RM, Italy editionhotels.com

The Connaught

Outside The Connaught stands a 31-foot-tall Nordmann Fir tree, sourced from Denmark and designed by contemporary visual artist Urs Fischer. This is Fischer's 10th tree for The Connaught, and for 2025 he has taken inspiration from his installation ‘People’. AI-generated faces are placed within spheres, each lit with LED light – the tree captures people sharing collective experiences, and is rooted in togetherness.

The Connaught, Carlos Pl, London W1K 2AL www.the-connaught.co.uk

45 Park Lane

At 45 Park Lane, the evergreen Nordmann Fir has been designed by British sculptor Ian Turnock. For this year’s tree, Turnock was inspired by the stillness of winter, which he captured through sculptural decorations which reflect light and shadow in intricate patterns. There are metal finishes to the decorations which elevates the tree into a mesmerising installation, rather than a decorative object.

45 Park Ln, London W1K 1PN dorchestercollection.com

A series of objects and sculptural installations examines wood as both a centuries-old cornerstone of human craftsmanship and an organic vessel containing history and time, beauty and stories.

The study into all things trees is the inaugural exhibition at Karimoku Research Center, an experimental new space recently opened in the Nishiazabu district of Tokyo by the respected wood specialist Karimoku Furniture.

The space is a research platform aiming to survey, archive and innovate how people live in daily life, showcasing elements ranging from experimental design collaborations and pre-production prototypes to new material samples.

A sense of stillness surrounds the opening project, ‘Survey 00: Wood, The Age of Wood’, which is created by the Danish design studio Christian+Jade in collaboration with Karimoku Furniture. It spans The Archive on the ground floor, a cavernous raw concrete space with 5m-high ceilings and natural light pouring through a wall of industrial windows.

‘The Age of Wood’ at Karimoku Research Center

Explaining the seed of the exhibition, Christian+Jade tell Wallpaper*: 'Our journey started last year in the rich forests of Hida in Gifu Prefecture and Karimoku’s production facilities in Aichi. We were invited into a world with knowledge about the history and diversity of Japan’s forest and its trees, high technology and high levels of craftsmanship.

'We got a glimpse into the philosophy and vision that drives Karimoku and were humbled to witness the patience, dedication, care and time given to nurturing not only healthy forest stewardship, but also a factory focused on using under-utilised wood types and species to produce designs that last a lifetime. “The Age of Wood” is an ode to this spirit.'

Centre stage is the scene-stealing ‘Library’ – a tall expanse of interlocked wooden shelving, balancing clean contemporary lines with quality wood craftsmanship – which spans an entire wall.

The Library meticulously documents 63 different wood species, collected from across Japan by Karimoku Furniture. Each one is presented with samples, from seeds to leaves, offering insight into its character, quality and origin.

'To us, standing in a forest can feel like standing in a library – brought to [stillness], filled with wonder and captivated by the vast wealth of knowledge and stories waiting to be discovered,' add Christian+Jade.

'The library was born out of a desire to not only showcase the Japanese wood species available at Karimoku’s factory, but also to highlight each of their unique characteristics and properties, to open up the conversation about and hopefully the demand for their potential usage.'

The beauty – and history-loaded qualities – of tree interiors is also highlighted, through the scientific study of tree rings, known as dendrochronology (from the Greek words dendros, meaning tree, and chronos, for time).

One exhibit highlights the internal beauty of a 100-year-old cedar from Ninohe city in Iwate Prefecture, its inner rings painstakingly marked with white threads connected to specific dates in history – from earthquakes, record snowfall and the end of the Second World War to the Covid pandemic.

The poetry of passing time and its imprint on wood is a recurring theme – as further reflected in the section Ageing with Wood, a series of sculptures exploring the material’s constant and organic evolution.

This is captured in Touch, a kinetic sculpture with a sharp-edged pendulum gradually etching the surface of walnut wood; as well as Sunlight, which involves cherry wood slowly deepening in tone, from light pink to deep brown, upon 1ure to UV light.

‘“Ageing with Wood” is a reminder that time does not stop, even after a tree falls,' say Christian+Jade. 'In its stillness, wood continues to breathe, shrinking in the cold of winter and expanding in the warmth of the sun. It accumulates scratches and marks, like memories etched into its surface. Time weaves through wood’s grain, through every curve and contour, revealing the hours and years, the lifetime that resides within.'

Karimoku Furniture, a family-founded company with roots dating back to 1940, is renowned for balancing quality human craftsmanship with technical expertise and creative innovation as it moves into the future – as reflected by the opening of its new Tokyo space.

At first glance, Karimoku Research Center, a three-storey building renovated by Keiji Ashizawa Design – also a collaborator on various Karimoku ‘Case Study’ residences, such as the Azabu Residence in Tokyo – appears to inhabit a different universe from the warmth of wood.

Just a few minutes on foot from the softly minimalist interiors of Karimoku Commons Tokyo – its contemporary showroom and gallery space – the new centre spans a 1990s former office with high sharp lines, expanses of raw concrete, flowing natural light and an industrial-edged atmosphere, all harmonised invisibly with a signature aromatic wood scent created by Megumi Fukatsu.

The new interiors perfectly mirror the experimental approach that defines the centre's philosophy, as Hiroshi Kato, vice-president of Karimoku Furniture, tells Wallpaper*: 'The space was designed by Keiji Ashizawa to maximise the building's natural transparency and brightness. The entire space is unified in a grey tone, creating an industrial atmosphere. It is also designed to evolve continually, with materials samples and exhibits added over time, making it a constantly unfinished, ever-changing environment.'

In addition to the The Archive gallery on the ground floor, the geometric lines of an open concrete staircase guide visitors up to The Materials Lab on the first floor, which launched with an exploration of Karimoku’s playfully colourful new ‘Cap’ chair, designed in collaboration with Torafu Architects. Meanwhile, The Study spans a spacious basement, with a multifunctional hall, lounge study and kitchen, designed for events, talks and gatherings.

As Kato explains: 'We hope to create a space where Karimoku Furniture's technologies and materials intersect with the ideas of those who visit, leading to the spontaneous emergence of experimental and innovative projects. Through these activities, we aim to promote the use of the diverse and uniquely sourced woods from various regions of Japan that Karimoku Furniture specialises in.'

Survey 00: WOOD ‘The Age of Wood’ runs until 26 December at Karimoku Research Center

karimoku-research.com

It’s been seven years since Studio I-IN was founded by Yohei Terui and Hiromu Yuyama. In that short time, the Tokyo-based designers have carved out an enviable reputation for creating delicately nuanced spaces and offices for their blue-chip corporate clients including Cartier and Ya-Man.

I-IN’s latest project for tech-led pioneers of Japanese hot hair tools Kinujo, is yet one more feather in its cap: an office space that balances brand diktats with practicality. The first time either party has worked with the other, the office is an exercise in restrained material and colour palettes requiring judicious balancing of spatial planning and porous natural lighting.

Studio I-IN’s spatial design for the Kinujo Tokyo office

Kinujo (the name combines the Japanese words for ‘silk’ and ‘woman’) was founded in 2014 by Tomoaki Hamada who cannily spotted a market for sleekly designed, tech-forward hair dryers, curlers and straighteners. The company’s rapid expansion beyond Asia into the American, Middle-Eastern, Australian and European markets meant that in no time at all, it had outgrown its offices in Tokyo’s Chiyoda quarter.

As Terui and Yuyama tell it, Kinujo needed a functional and sophisticated workspace in alignment with the brand’s identity that also reflected the elegance of its products. At the same time, the office would need to inspire creativity and collaboration between staff.

A chance conversation with the relative of a Hamada honcho led the Kinujo team to I-IN, who quickly recognised the potential for creating an office space to meet the brief. It helped that Hamada had picked the fourth and fifth floors of Escalier Rokubancho for his new office, the stacked volumes of the Ethnos-designed building almost mimicking the unfolding tongs of a Kinujo appliance.

The square-shaped footprint of the almost 3,000 sqft space allowed I-IN to create an open-planned office awash with natural light flowing through a decked terrace, comprising working areas, a lounge, stock counters, product displays and a presentation room.

Taking cues from the minimalist designs and metallic surfaces of Kinujo’s styling tools (which include hairdryers with built-in infrared technology), Terui and Yuyama were careful to keep embellishments to a minimum, focusing, instead, on clean-edged lines and right-angled ceiling grids of stripped lighting. Meanwhile, dividing walls clad in mirror-finished stainless steel and polished concrete pillars create luminous corridors.

To counter the potential severity and coldness of so many hard surfaces, the designers introduced graduated hues of tan, Kinujo’s house colour, on walls and fixtures, alongside metallic gold paint for the covers of desk wiring, and customised textured glass that doubles as wall art.

Arguably, the most striking moment is the generously proportioned hemispheric desk, anchored by a leafy planter at the midpoint, in the centre of the office. ‘It feels like something out of a movie,’ says Hamada. ‘It’s so reminiscent of a secret intelligence agency.’

But beyond providing plenty of room for hot-desking and small break-out meetings to plot Kinujo’s global follicular takeover, the desk’s curves are also a subtle riff on silky hair; the raison d’être, after all, of any hair appliance and the other half of Kinujo’s brand and moniker. ‘We translated the concept of silk into the design through our use of fluid lines in the textured glass artwork, and soft curved work desks,’ say Terui and Yuyama.

Equally captivating is a freestanding fluted marble wall framing the circular desk. Its striated, glowing three-dimensional linear design reflects the delicate flow of hair, but, also stands like a monumental painting.

‘This wall turned out to be more impactful than we’d originally anticipated,’ the I-IN designers add. ‘When the panels were fully assembled, the depth and texture and luxurious touch they added to the whole space was really quite striking.’

i-in.jp

kinujo.jp

Outerwear label Tatras, which takes its name from a snow-peaked stretch of mountains between Slovakia and Poland, was born between continents. Founded by Japanese designer Sakao Masanaka in Milan, Italy in 2007, it describes its approach as combining ‘Japanese innovation and Italian craftsmanship’ across its expansive cold-weather wardrobe (though remains best-known for its signature goose-down padded jackets).

And, while Tatras remains relatively anonymous in Europe, the label looks set to be in the midst of a creative evolution – this month, it marks a new collaboration with the multidisciplinary Italian artist Giovanni Leonardo Bassan, heralding the launch of an expansive new store in Ginza, Tokyo.

Inside Tatras’ new outpost in Ginza, Tokyo

A protégé of Michèle Lamy and a longtime collaborator with Rick Owens (he has been head of furniture at the label since 2018), Bassan has created a special MA1 bomber jacket for the brand, which reverses to reveal one of his artworks – an oil painting of bodies intertwined (a special technique has been used to replicate the original texture). With sustainability in mind, it is crafted from a blend of wool and Spiber's Brewed Protein™, a low-environmental-impact material made through fermentation.

‘[The] first time wearing one of my paintings,’ read the caption of a recent Instagram post by Bassan, showing the artist in the jacket amid some of his monolithic furniture designs.

The store itself, which is located in the upscale Ginza neighbourhood, is an expansive, multi-level space which is largely based around the idea of ‘beauty in contrast’ (it is a brand mantra which emerges from the label’s Japan-meets-Italy codes). As such, the airy spaces combine natural elements – like smooth stone and wooden furnishings – with sleek concrete and stainless steel. ‘The design is inspired by the fusion of Italian and Japanese influences that define Tatras,’ the brand describes.

The store will also act like something of a rolling gallery space, featuring both local artists and those from further afield. For the opening, ceramics by Asahiyaki, a traditional pottery producer based in the Uji region of Kyoto Prefecture, are interspersed throughout, placed in conversation with Tatras’ distinctly shaped puffer jackets. The aim of such ‘installations’, says Tatras, is to recall contemporary sculpture.

Tatras Ginza, V88 Building, 2-chōme-5-11 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan.

tatras-official.com

Forget baubles and tinsel. When iconic Japanese architect Kengo Kuma decided to design Christmas trees for the first time in his decades-long career, it was maybe no surprise that the material palette was simple, minimal and natural – crafted purely from wood. Kuma this week unveiled his two Christmas trees, each carefully designed to harmonise with their settings in two hotels he also designed: The Tokyo Edition, Toranomon and The Tokyo Edition, Ginza.

This being Kuma, these are no typical Christmas trees. The creations are made up of minimal curves and lines by skilled craftsmen from respected Japanese woodmakers Karimoku, in a medley of quality woods (oak, magnolia, walnut, maple) – and, in a sustainable festive twist, after Christmas, the trees will be dismantled and transformed into furniture.

At The Tokyo Edition, Toranomon, the tree is centre stage in the cloud-brushing 31st floor lobby. Here, among green leafy plants, minimalist wooden Kuma-designed eaves and sweeping skyscraper views, the 2.8m high tree – called Komorebi, a word referring to sunlight filtering through treetops – is made up of countless wooden circles.

These rings are connected by small hidden popper buttons so they can easily be attached, removed and arranged in an array of formations, in stacked units. Adding further depth, some rings are empty, while others contain discs of wood or mirrors, evoking a reflective sense of light, both during the day and after dark. Following its festive moment in the spotlight, this tree will be transformed into units of furniture – tables made up of a circular glass table-top, sitting on a trio of rings. One special table will be created from the rings that form the 'star' apex of the tree, which includes a trio of rings coated in gold.

The festive atmosphere shifts a short distance away at The Tokyo Edition, Ginza, where a very different tree called Kigumi – a word referring to nail-free Japanese joinery – sits in the hotel’s intimate dark walnut-panneled lobby on the ground floor.

This tree consists of countless thin vertical sticks in a variety of wood textures, with a scattering finished in silver and bronze metal paints, evoking a sharply elegant atmosphere. These components can be smoothly interlocked into tall thin stacks of three pieces of wood – which are then connected collectively to form a Christmas tree, with its angular lines echoing the weaving-like effect of the latticed façade of the hotel, also designed by Kuma.

The Ginza tree will also be dismantled and transformed into tables, with tall stacks of wood sitting beneath a circular tabletop of walnut. All the furniture will sell online, while two special tables made from with the apexes of the two trees will be sold via a silent auction.

Here, Kuma talks to Wallpaper* about his Christmas tree project – from its inspirations and craftsmanship to its wooden material palette.

Kengo Kuma unwraps the creative inspiration behind his Christmas tree project

Wallpaper*: What’s the idea behind this project?

Kengo Kuma: Christmas trees are usually displayed indoors, but they can also be placed in the garden. In this project we interpreted the Edition hotels as the garden, and aimed to design a friendly space respectively, where people can relax with the tree as the main attraction.

W*: What connects the two tree designs in Ginza and Toranomon – and what differentiates them?

KK: In the Toranomon hotel, we used wood with sharp-edged designs in the architecture. To complement the sharpness of the design, we came up with a round, soft geometry for the tree. To the contrary, in Ginza, wood is used basically at 90 degrees in terms of the geometry, so we designed the tree with the pointed tip to add natural sharpness in the architecture.

W*: How did the idea of turning the trees into furniture come about and how will they be reborn?

KK: These Christmas trees won’t be thrown away after the event, but are to be dismantled and recycled as furniture, in order for them to live a much longer time. We wanted to use wooden materials so that people visiting there could feel the cycle of nature behind the Christmas trees.

W*: Can you tell me about your relationship with Karimoku – and the appeal of working together?

KK: Karimoku is a company who knows the nature of wood and has inherited a high-level of craftsmanship. We work with them often. The trees in this project required techniques to achieve great strength while using small and thin members. They did a wonderful job that could not be done by anyone else.

W*: Which woods were used?

KK: Oak from Tohoku, Sen from Hokkaido, Magnolia from Gifu, Japanese walnut from Tohoku, Itaya Maple from Hokkaido. And only for Ginza, walnut from North America.

W*: Can you explain the sustainability elements, in terms of both material and concept?

KK: In Japan, it has been a problem that tree plantations had been leaning toward coniferous trees, causing an imbalance with broadleaf trees that could affect the natural environment. We wanted to raise awareness by using broadleaf trees.

W*: Finally, what imprint do you hope these trees will leave on hotel visitors during the festive season and beyond?

KK: In addition to the trees, visitors would recognise wooden material is used throughout the interior of the two hotels – I would like them to be aware that wood is essential in our daily life, and extend their imagination further to the forests behind the trees.

https://www.editionhotels.com/tokyo-toranomon/festive/

When the location for French fashion brand Lemaire’s first Tokyo flagship became available in the unassuming backstreets of Ebisu, neighbouring central Shibuya, it was an instant match. Tranquil and serene, the site boasted a modest and sophisticated atmosphere as a formerly lived-in 1960s Japanese house and garden. With just the right timing, the private residence had only recently become vacant.

Now as ‘Lemaire Tokyo’, the entire two-storey home has been transformed into a gently immersive retail experience filled with crafts, books and collectable art within segmented rooms dedicated to menswear, accessories and a carpeted tatami room for womenswear.

Step inside Lemaire’s serene new Tokyo flagship

‘We devoted considerable time and care to finding just the right place in Tokyo,’ says Lemaire co-artistic director Sarah-Linh Tran. ‘We chose Ebisu, a quiet neighbourhood, to create a space that feels intimate and intentional, a step away from the rush of a bustling city. We were drawn to this former private residence for the way its domestic atmosphere highlights how our pieces naturally integrate into the genuine rhythms of daily life.’

The 170 sq m boutique is softly interwoven into the local fabric of the neighbourhood. The house’s key original features were retained, such as the entrance’s definitive brown glazed ceramic wall tiles and the rear private garden with traditional landscaping. Aged pine trees, stone lanterns and soft moss provide a welcome respite and scenic view.

Inside, a warm and inviting atmosphere ensues. Akin to its vernacular – a private home – Lemaire appointed local architect Yuichi Hashimura to craft the sophisticated, modern interior, retaining key traditional Japanese design elements. Shikkui plaster walls, shoji sliding paper screen doors and sudare bamboo blinds marry Lemaire’s signature elements such as the iconic Freud’s couch reproduced with vintage kilim rugs alongside European design pieces.

The brand’s identifiable abaca rug carpeting – found also in its Paris and Seoul flagships – covers the entire upper-level flooring. Sculptural objects, books, and folk crafts are thoughtfully interspersed among garments, shoes, and accessories. Founder and co-artistic director Christophe Lemaire says he ‘envisions Ebisu as a place for conversation – a venue where art, design, and the collections converge. Our longstanding collaboration with Out of Museum goes on with an array of folk objects, hand-selected by its founder and our friend Makoto Kobayashi and not bound by existing trends. We welcome artists whose ideas and work we find passionate and appealing.’

Japan has always been a key inspiration for the brand’s designers. ‘From its emphasis on natural materials to its deep respect for craftsmanship, Japan’s aesthetics continually permeate our daily lives, planting seeds in our minds and subtly weaving into our creative process, sometimes through serendipity,’ the pair add. ‘The qualities found in Japanese garments resonate strongly with our approach to clothing – understated yet deliberate, practical yet poetic.’

Lemaire Tokyo, 3-21-1 Ebisu, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo, Japan.

lemaire.fr

Founders of Discothèque Jessie Willner and Hanover Booth are on a mission to translate the hedonism and euphoria of being at a great party into fragrance.

The brand’s inaugural line of candles, which launched in early 2023, evokes the feeling of eating yuzu cake on a Tokyo dancefloor at the dawn of a millennium, partying with poets at an abandoned Parisian bathhouse in 1979, or exclusive evenings at mythic clubs such as the Mudd Club or Chez Castel. The former, a watering hole for New York’s 1980s art scene, was imagined as a whiskey and vanilla scent, with touches of a ‘peach-flavoured cocktail and the portrait of a flower by Robert Mapplethorpe; the decadence of Paris’ Chez Castel smells like ‘velvet, incense and a lemon drop cocktail’.

Discothèque’s first perfume collection

‘We decided to name the candles after legendary nightclubs because everyone either was a part of them or wished they were,’ Willner says. But for the brand’s latest project, a wearable perfume collection, the pair felt it was time to move beyond the confines of certain clubs in favour of a broader context.

Subsequently, each of the new fragrances references a certain city at a particular time, from L.A. in 1986 to Marrakech in 2003. Of the collection, Willner’s favourite is ‘Lola at Coat Check (New York, 1992)’, a blend of musky notes with a touch of white chocolate. Booth’s, however, is ‘Call for a Good Time (Tokyo, 2000)’. ‘It’s a floral scent but has this weird, abstract feeling because it’s inspired by the look of lasers on the dancefloor,’ she explains. And, it does smell as interesting as this description suggests, with ylang-ylang, jasmine and musk. ‘Every time I wear it people stop me and ask me what it is,’ Hanover adds.

Discothèque is a ‘passion project taken too far,’ jokes Hanover. But this is precisely why it makes the brand so compelling. ‘Everything you see has been touched by us,’ she continues.

This spans from the packaging to the brand’s visual identity and the new perfume bottles: thick cubes of coloured glass with a chrome placard on the front and a square cap embellished like a disco ball.

Even though the Discothèque perfumes are inspired by the nighttime, they are surprisingly adaptable for daylight hours. They might, according to Booth, even inflect your mundane daily activities with a certain energy. ‘When I put on these fragrances, I can feel the excitement of the stories we’ve created,’ she says.

The collection isn’t available globally, just yet. But a playful marketing touch invites you to sign up for a waitlist on the Discothèque website for ‘VIP access’ to their imminent arrival.

discothequefragrances.com

Salt – evoked as a dialogue between earth and sea – is the creative starting point for Le Sel d’Issey, a new men’s fragrance launched by Issey Miyake this week in Tokyo.

The fragrance comes to life 30 years after Issey Miyake’s L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme was released, an iconic water-inspired scent, whose minimalist form and fresh notes seduced a generation of wearers and left a deep imprint on the perfume world.

The new scent Le Sel d’Issey follows in the nature-rooted footsteps of its predecessor, reimagining the power of salt in an olfactory expression designed to ‘awaken the senses and stimulate energy’.

A sense of salt infuses the aroma – fresh and uplifting with a hint of sea – with layers of ingredients from both land and ocean (seaweed extract, natural ginger, vetiver), harmonised to create an alchemic ‘pulsation’ on the skin throughout the day.

The energy of salt also imbues the bottle, with its pure clear form fusing transparent glass, sharply lined chrome and refracted light, as dreamt up by Japanese artist Tokujin Yoshioka, a longtime Issey Miyake collaborator (behind the brand’s Issey Miyake Ginza / 442 store, for example, which opened in 2023).

The transparent bottle, gently elliptical and softly edged when held in the hands, is hewn from 20 per cent recycled glass, with a concave space inside its solid clear base creating dynamic lines that infuse its minimalist form with scattered shafts of light.

The atmosphere of movement is amplified by the clean-cut reflective surface of its solid chrome metal cap, while the minimalist paper packaging is crafted from 10 per cent upcycled seaweed, its matte texture evoking a sense of salt.

‘I wanted it to feel sacred’: Tokujin Yoshioka on Le Sel d’Issey’s bottle design

For Yoshioka, the starting point was the ‘energy’ of salt, which he aimed to evoke through a visual expression of ‘pure radiance’ and a ‘sense of light’. Speaking to Wallpaper* in Tokyo, he explains: ‘This was the last project Mr Miyake asked me to do during a phone call in 2022. I remember vividly the launch of L’Eau d'Issey. It had big impact on me. It felt like something very different, more Japanese than European.

‘This time, I wanted to create something very simple and very pure. I also wanted it to feel sacred – something that gives you energy when you wear it.’

Salt – known as shio in Japanese – is deeply steeped in the sacred in Japan, symbolising a sense of purification, often offered to gods in Shinto shrine rituals, sprinkled in sumo wrestling rings and placed on small dishes by doorways.

‘When Mr Miyake gave me the theme of salt, I thought a lot about what this means,’ Yoshioka explains. ‘It has slightly different meanings around the world. Salt for Japanese people is very sacred. It’s used in Shinto shrine purifications and to ward off bad spirits. But in a more universal context, salt is also an essential element to human life and also to the earth.’

Describing the play of transparency and light in the oval glass bottle, he adds: ‘I decided not to create a concrete shape of salt, this is more about the senses and inspiration. It’s an energy and a force, like salt itself. This is what I was trying to create and evoke.’

The fragrance itself, brought to life by Paris-based Beauté Prestige International, defies the challenge of salt being scentless through a careful harmony of natural notes from both land and ocean.

Perfumer Quentin Bisch explains: ‘I wanted to create the scent of the exact moment the waves roll back, transitioning between the earth and sea. Salt is the memory left behind by a wave on the earth and on the skin, almost like an imprint.’

Key to its composition is laminaria seaweed extract evoking a fresh marine edge, layered with the earthy wooden notes of oakmoss, vetiver and cedar alongside uplifting natural ginger.

‘Salt doesn’t have any smell,’ Christophe Venot, global fragrance brand director at Beauté Prestige International, tells Wallpaper*. ‘The seaweed is a natural extract from France and you need something like this to instantly convey the idea of salt. It creates an oceanic note.

‘Then we have the oakmoss, vetiver and cedar creating a vibrant earthy cocktail. Ginger brings energy, lifting everything, and the seaweed twists it all together. Plus on the top, a bit of saffron and musk.

‘This all creates a real pulsation. You spray it on your skin and imagine it will decrease in intensity but it doesn’t. It pulsates in waves all day long, in cycles of energy, softness, salt. That is the magic of the formula.’

‘Issey Miyake Le Sel d’Issey: Imagination of Salt’ at 21_21 Design Sight, Tokyo

The new scent officially launched at gallery 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo, alongside the exhibition ‘Issey Miyake Le Sel d’Issey: Imagination of Salt’, with installations also designed by Yoshioka.

Here, in the angular minimalist confines of the Tadao Ando-designed gallery space, a scattering of circular metallic stands displayed the new perfume bottle alongside sculptural raw salt rocks.

Clear spherical lids on the stands could also be lifted, allowing visitors to inhale the new scent, while a cymatics-inspired campaign film by Marcus Tomlinson, exploring the visual expression of sound waves, unfolded dynamically on a nearby wall.

Just outside the gallery, rolling cloud-like waves of mist rose into the sky every few minutes from a long low-lying white wall created by Yoshioka, gently releasing the aroma of Le Sel d’Issey into the air.

‘Many years ago, I predicted that people would go beyond the design of forms towards the invisible,’ says the artist. ‘In our digitalised world, form is not the most important theme – what people are looking for is something that goes behind our senses. It’s about memory, experience, time – and how we can design and create these.’

He adds: ‘When I smelled this scent for the first time, I immediately thought of umi – the sea. I could feel the strength, warmth and kindness of the sea. It felt like the energy of nature. I hope that the experience of this scent will create new memories for people.’

The presence of the late Miyake lingered tangibly at the Tokyo launch, living on through the expression of his passion for salt in the new scent. Midori Kitamura, the chairman of Miyake Design Studio, says: ‘I have worked for the creation of Mr Miyake for over 50 years. Since the 1980s, I have also been involved in the fragrance development.

‘As I wrote in our recent book [Issey Miyake: 1960 to 2022], Mr Miyake expressed about all of his creations, not only clothes but also fragrance, as follows: “I believe there is hope in design. Design evokes surprise and joy in people.” Based on this concept, we will continue to pursue such fragrance that has timeless value and is unseen before.‘

isseymiyakeparfums.com

Le Sel d’Issey by Issey Miyake is also available from online stockists including theperfumeshop.com

‘Issey Miyake Le Sel d’Issey: Imagination of Salt’ runs at 21_21 Design Sight until 8 September 2024, 2121designsight.jp

In 1964, Tokyo would host the Olympics, heralding a new era for the country and a re-introduction to the world stage. As the Bullet Train was completed and the sweeping lines of the Kenzō Tange-designed Yoyogi Stadium rose across the Tokyo skyline, Japan was cast as a country of peace and prosperity; a technologically-savvy nation recovered from the ravages of World War II. This optimistic mood would permeate the nation, luring an influx of international brands, as the games were beamed across the world via the first-ever use of satellite.

These included Gucci, the historic Italian luggage house which was seeing a renaissance of its own. Adopted by the burgeoning jet-set classes of the 1960s, its newly introduced double-G logo, Horsebit loafers and top-handle handbags became internationally recognised symbols of status and style. This was cemented in 1961 when Jacqueline Kennedy first carried what would be later renamed the ‘Jackie’ bag. Three years later, Gucci would arrive in Japan, a 60-year landmark the house celebrates this month with ‘Then and Now', an exhibition at the Gucci Ginza Gallery in Tokyo.

‘Then and Now’: Gucci celebrates 60 years in Japan

The focus here is on the house’s Bamboo 1947 handbag, recognisable for its curved bamboo handle, crafted in a meticulous process which sees the material – long synonymous with Japan – softened, manipulated and then lacquered into its unique curved shape. Launched in 1947 by house founder Guccio Gucci, the exhibition features 60 vintage Bamboo 1947 handbags from the house’s Florentine archive in a multitude of fabrics and finishes, primarily dating from the 1980s and 1990s. 

In addition, a series of Japan-based artisans have reinterpreted the style using a range of craft techniques rooted in the country’s history. These include goldsmith Morihito Katsura (who has been awarded the status of ’Living National Treasure’ for his role in preserving Japanese ‘cultural artefacts’), his pupil Naoko Ai, lacquerer Ai Tokeshi, ceramist Nakazato Hirotsune, photographer Daido Moriyama and painters Yui Yaegashi and Nami Yokoyama.

‘Craftsmanship reflects the climate, history, and culture of each province,’ Tokeshi tells Wallpaper*, speaking of the historical importance of craft in Japanese culture. The Okinawa-born artisan adds layers of lacquer – some with gold foiled finishes – to the body of the bag, which she calls ‘harmonious’. ‘By experiencing inherited techniques, we can feel the lives and spirituality of our predecessors and how they interacted with natural materials,’ she continues. ‘This leads to a renewed appreciation of the uniqueness, charm, and richness of the land.’

Elsewhere, Hirotsune, who is known for his Aritayaki porcelain (a style from the Koyorian in Arita, Saga Prefecture which dates back 400 years) recreates the bamboo handle in porcelain. ‘[I wanted to] express the flexibility and elasticity characteristic of bamboo in the Bamboo Bag using porcelain, [so] I shaped each piece by hand, ensuring a form with individuality,’ he says. ‘The aim was to express the hardness and sharpness unique to porcelain, and the translucent whiteness that can only be achieved with the Amakusa pottery stone.’

‘Japanese crafts have value not only as tools for daily life, embodying “the beauty of utility”, but also as artistic crafts characterised by the delicate handwork unique to Japanese artisans,’ he says. ‘Although the standard of beauty and necessity changes over time, I believe it is important to create for both a new era, while also preserving traditional values and techniques. Crafts convey and perpetuate the climate of Japan.’

‘Bamboo 1947: Then and Now Celebrating 60 years of Gucci in Japan’ runs at Gucci Ginza Gallery, Tokyo until September 23, 2024.

gucci.com

Tom of Finland’s libidinally charged illustrations of muscled-up men in various states of embrace – and often clad in skin-tight leather or denim – have seen the Finnish artist (born Touko Laaksonen), become one of queer art’s most distinctive voices. First appearing in publications like Bob Mizer’s Physique Pictorial in the 1950s, his stylised drawings would – as his eponymous Los Angeles-based foundation describes – ‘fuel both the sexual fantasies and the aesthetics of gay men'.

Glenn Martens, the Belgian creative director of Italian fashion label Diesel, has forged a deep-rooted relationship with the Tom of Finland Foundation and its president Durk Dehner, a friend and lover of Laaksonen, who set up the foundation with him in 1984 (the artist would die in 1991, with Dehner becoming the guardian of his legacy). ‘[His work] seemed to affect me in a way that art never had before, an emotional way,’ Dehner told Wallpaper* on the occasion of Diesel’s ‘AllTogether’ exhibition in Venice in 2022, which combined Tom of Finland’s illustrations with the work of other erotic artists. ‘There was something in it that made it feel like he had done these pictures for us, for gay boys. That was important in a world where nothing felt like it was made for you,’ he said.

Diesel takes Tom of Finland to Tokyo

Now, a new exhibition of Tom of Finland’s work is being hosted in the Diesel Art Gallery in Tokyo, part of the brand’s vast flagship store in the buzzing Shibuya district. Titled ‘Forty Years of Pride’, the display marks a rare opportunity to see Tom of Finland exhibited in Japan and features the artist’s works both in colour and black and white, some of which are for sale. The former includes the bright red of a Santa costume (worn by a typically gleaming Adonis with just a Christmas stocking for modesty); the latter, men in wipe-clean black leather boots and chaps. Diesel says the exhibition ‘amplifies the message of freedom of expression, sexuality and individualism’ at the heart of Tom of Finland’s oeuvre.

Alongside the show, there is a VR experience that allows viewers to be transported to Tom House, the artist’s former Los Angeles residence which now serves as a community hub and gallery space, alongside hosting artists in residence who explore erotic themes in their practices. 'Present-day artists are inspired by the generation before, they feed off each other,’ Dehner previously told Wallpaper*. ‘At the foundation, we promote the present and future, and protect the past. That’s really what creates community and family, because family isn’t just who’s alive today – it’s where you come from, all the people came before.’

The exhibition offers a final opportunity to shop Martens’ Pride collection for Diesel, which is the third to be made in collaboration with the Tom of Finland Foundation. The collection also celebrates artists Stuart Sandford, Suzanne Shifflett, Tank, the Hun, Valentine and Henning von Berg, who are each linked to the Foundation. The boldly illustrated pieces, some in playful trompe o’eil, span T-shirts, sweaters and the requisite jockstrap. The collection’s launch last month coincided with the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival, held this year in Berlin’s Berghain nightclub, supported by Diesel.

‘Forty Years Of Pride’ runs at the Diesel Art Gallery in the Diesel store in Shibuya, Tokyo from until August 14, 2024.

The Diesel x Tom of Finland Foundation Pride collection is available from Diesel’s website.

diesel.comtomoffinland.org

The new art gallery Pace Tokyo brings together simplicity and cleanness; harmony and flow; humans and nature. These are words that crop up regularly in conversations with Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, who is behind the project.

Surrounded by layers of white and quietly soft curves, an Alexander Calder mobile hovering above his head, he says: 'I like to create real simplicity and cleanness. But this isn’t just a white box. There are subtle interventions that entirely change people’s experience in the space.'

Pace Tokyo: a minimalist gallery experience

Pace Tokyo is the influential US gallery’s first Japan outpost, joining spaces in art hot spots around the world, including New York, Seoul and London. The Tokyo gallery spans around 5,500 sq ft across three levels inside the landmark Azabudai Hills development, contained in an undulating low-rise flow of nature-wrapped structures by London-based Thomas Heatherwick.

For Fujimoto, the design hinges on respect for the art itself, he explains: 'The art pieces are the starting point. But the space is also very, very important.' Key to this is a quietly effective detail: all corners are softly curved, eliminating all angled lines. 'The idea was to create a sense of the experience continuing. There are no corners, it’s more like a flow, guiding visitors through the space,’ he says.

'This is an example of a subtle intervention that changes entirely the experience of people. The art gallery elements are quite minimal – but the moment you have a curved, rounded corner, it changes everything.'

Pace Tokyo’s journey begins at ground level. A glass-fronted space is accessed directly from Sakurada Dori, a new street running through Azabudai Hills – and stepping inside, Tokyo’s dynamic tempo immediately slows to a more contemplative rhythm.

While Pace Tokyo will officially open in September 2024 with a show by Californian artist Maysha Mohamedi, for its pre-opening, a curation of works by mainly overseas artists was presented – from a circular form by Torkwase Dyson to the light-reflecting greens of a CD sculpture by Tara Donovan.

Amid the art, Fujimoto’s layered minimism slowly shifts into focus – the blend of white-on-white and softly-rounded corners, plus one expanse of wall curved into the ceiling, evoking a temple-like atmosphere.

'This is Pace’s first time in Japan, so cleanness and simplicity are very important elements,' says Fujimoto. 'In Japanese culture, nothing is fixed. Everything is slowly moving and circulating – energy, wind, pictures, people’s lives are all harmonising and flowing.'

The atmosphere continues in the gallery’s upper two levels, self-contained and accessed via an internal Azabudai Hills escalator. The first floor is a key hub, with further layers of curved corners harmonised with white-stained wood floors alongside works by artists including Richard Pousette-Dart and Jules de Balincourt.

The centre stage is a highlight: the apparently floating form of a light-hanging staircase made up of geometric lines of thin white steel, creating a transparent connective flow to the top level. 'We didn’t want to block the view of the gallery,' says Fujimoto. 'So to make it transparent, we thought a hanging staircase would work best. It’s very thin and light and touches the floor at only two points underneath, so it is almost floating.'

'As everything is quite flat on the gallery surfaces, we thought the lines of the staircase would make a nice contrast and harmony. We wanted the experience of walking up to the top floor to be very special.' The top level has a more intimate atmosphere for meetings and events, with double-height ceilings and windows with minimalist white blinds, and a small kitchen area, flowing into an outdoor terrace.

Seated here, Fujimoto reflects on the cosmos of whites in his work: 'I don’t always stick to white. But it does have a beautiful meaning to me. I grew up in Hokkaido in northern Japan and in wintertime, there is snow and everything is completely white. At the same time, I learned throughout my childhood days that white is not just white – there are many different whites. That gives white an extra meaning to me. Also, in Japan, white has a special meaning – it’s pureness and paper and emptiness in a sense.'

Nature, another key ingredient in his creations, also manifests itself through the subtly of details. 'Japanese traditional culture always tries to reinterpret nature in its design. And every time subtleness has been key. It isn’t about a direct expression of nature in architecture – it’s more about designing the air itself. It’s not aggressive – everything is soft and simple and flowing.'

Highlighting the delicate balance that underpins a gallery space, he adds: 'Because this is a place for art and people, I didn’t want to make the architecture too expressive, too selfish – but at the same time, it should not step back too much. It should have a beautiful harmony and sense of co-existence – between architect, art and of course people. That’s why the subtle design details are really special and important.'

For Marc Glimcher, CEO of Pace Gallery – which is also currently staging an exhibition of Alexander Calder’s work in neighbouring Azabudai Hills Gallery – Fujimoto was a clear fit for understanding the sensitivities of designing a gallery: 'With Sou, it’s not about making a statement. He came up with simple idea to unspool the wall like a continuous scroll. It’s so simple but something I had never seen before.'

While Pace represents a cornucopia of Japanese artists, from Yoshitomo Nara and Kohei Nawa to teamLab, the new Tokyo gallery aims primarily to introduce overseas artists to Japanese audiences.

Highlighting the appeal of opening in Tokyo, Glimcher adds: 'Japanese aesthetic culture is one of few essential ingredients in the history of modernism. And then on the business side, by some measures, Tokyo is the biggest city in the world, it’s an incredibly rich city.

'A lot of people are drawn to the stability and beauty and amazing qualities and best food in the world in Tokyo. And in the last three years, everybody is coming to Tokyo.'

pacegallery.com

sou-fujimoto.net

A new photography book, Visitors, takes an in-depth look at the unexpected intersection between art and deathmatch wrestling, a hardcore offshoot of traditional wrestling that involves everything from nail-studded props and broken glass to barbed wire.

A collaboration between Adam Abdalla, the founder of New York-based art consultancy Cultural Counsel, and photographer Nick Karp, Visitors is aimed at both diehard deathmatch devotees and newcomers alike. Abdalla – who is also the founder of Orange Crush, an annual publication that seeks to bridge the gap between art and wrestling – has long been one of those devotees. ‘I’ve been a fan since the late 1990s,’ he says. ‘Back then, the only way to get your hands on deathmatches was through tape trading. It was eye-opening to see elements of real life and real danger – barbed wire, fire, piranhas – incorporated into professional wrestling.’

The book came about when, in October 2023, deathmatch promoter Game Changer Wrestling became the first American independent professional wrestling company to stage their own show at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall, a legendary venue in the world of wrestling. The event brought more than 20 wrestlers and referees from the US and Mexico, many performing in Japan for the first time, and, recognising its significance, Abdalla saw an opportunity to creatively document the trip.

He brought Karp on board to capture life on the road – before, during and after the show – and the resulting hardcover book, hand-painted in blood red, features 200 pages of behind-the-scenes moments and match highlights, in all their bloodied glory.

Beautifully shot, in graphic detail and a vividly rich colour palette, the images can make for uncomfortable viewing. The matches are violent and there is much bloodshed.

But for Russian-American pro wrestler Masha Slamovich, one of the show’s competitors and a star of the book, it’s important that viewers can see beyond just the violence. ‘I think many people simply turn away once they see the blood and feel their initial reaction,’ she says. ‘But art is not always comfortable or easily digested. Sometimes art makes you stop and think and feel certain things you don't want to face.’

Visitors, by Nick Karp and Adam Abdalla, £61, is available in a limited edition of 1,000 from orangecrush.art

The Aman Group has built a reputation for creating the world’s most luxurious hotels, operating 35 properties in dramatic, unique and remote settings around the world. Founded in 1988, the name Aman has become synonymous with ultra-high-end hospitality, as well as privacy and seclusion for the one per cent. So perhaps inevitably, the group has continued to expand its lifestyle offering (including a Kengo Kuma-designed furniture line that launched last year) and ramped up its forays into the residential property market.

Aman Residences Tokyo

The latest in the series of Aman Residences across the globe, and the first standalone location outside of the brand’s hotel and resorts, is the newly completed project in Tokyo’s tallest residential building: the Mori JP Tower by Pelli Clarke & Partners, which rises 1,066 feet above the city as part of the Azabudai Hills development. For the interiors, Aman Group collaborated with hospitality titans Yabu Pushelberg, behind some of the most impressive hotels in the world, to create a ‘quiet but strong’ extension of the brand’s aesthetic that blends Asian and European influences into a unique spatial experience.

‘We wanted to convey a clear, powerful personality that remains true to the Aman brand,’ studio co-founder Glenn Pushelberg tells Wallpaper*. ‘The project was 30 years in the making, and the level of integrity and detail that went into the residences is visible in a serene, effortless way.’

Aman Residences Tokyo comprises 91 fully serviced residences, each with a private entrance and dedicated elevator access. Soaring ceiling heights and copious square footage mean that the apartments feel incredibly luxurious and feature warm natural materials and muted neutral colours that enhance the sense of serenity, quiet and comfort for which Aman is renowned. Drawing on the themes of land, sea and sky – key elements in Japanese art and design – the studio was able to infuse Asian influences into the interiors while avoiding any clichés.

‘Conceptually, nature is at the root of the design intention,’ says Yabu Pushelberg’s other co-founder, George Yabu. ‘This is partly because nature allows you to draw from local and global contexts, so the experience can feel intimate to its locality while speaking more generally to an international experience.’

Extensive hotel-like amenities for residents are spread over the top 11 levels of the building, affording these spaces the best views across Tokyo’s urban sprawl. They include a lounge, bar, private dining room, tea room, library, reading room, media room and games room. Arguably the most impressive is the Aman Spa, featuring a 25m swimming pool, sauna, steam, and relaxation room, plus two treatment rooms and an expansive gym.

‘The wellness level, and the pool especially, is powerful,’ states Pushelberg, referring to the double-height space where columns of staggered glossy-blue bricks rise to a ceiling that swoops down dramatically in the centre over the water. In these spaces, the designers reveal, the aim was to evoke awe through the most simple gestures possible. ‘You are floating in the sky of Tokyo, with views of the bay, city, and surrounding you,’ Pushelberg describes. ‘Nothing is everything.’

Furthermore, an extensive public art collection, curated with the Mori Art Foundation and Hanabi art consultants, is displayed throughout the property and includes a sculpture titled The Rock by Sawada that is suspended high above a shallow pool in the soaring lobby.

Aman Residences Tokyo is among 13 branded residence locations that the group operates, while a further ten destinations featuring Aman Residences are set to open in the next five years in places such as Bangkok, Beverly Hills, Miami Beach and Niseko. The Aman Group also recently launched the Jean-Michel Gathy-designed Janu Tokyo, part of its new sibling brand, which joins the Aman Tokyo, which opened in 2014 as the brand’s first city property.

Aman Residences Tokyo are located at 1 Chome-3-2 Azabudai, aman.com

When Arc'teryx set out to evolve its business to incorporate its appreciation for craft, the Canadian outdoor clothing brand looked to Japan. Japanese artisans are globally recognised for their forensic attention to detail, so it’s little wonder that the brand chose to create a dedicated design hub in the country. Dubbed the Tokyo Creation Center (TCC) the project was conceived as a base for designing and creating innovative prototypes and products, as well as a local community gathering space where fans of the brand can flaunt their treasured Arc’teryx pieces.

The Arc'teryx Tokyo Creation Centre

The brand’s name derives from Archaeopteryx Lithographica – the first reptile to develop feathers for flight and adapted for climbing – and symbolises Arc'teryx’s ‘disruptive evolution and human progress in the outdoors’, as the brand states in its manifesto. In the same context, the TCC’s ultimate goal is to invite in everyone and everything that influences an Arc'teryx project and allow the ensuing interaction to inform and push forward its development process. This cross-pollination and openness show in everything the brand touches – from new products to the concept of the TCC.

For Arc'teryx, the goal is not only to make products, but to develop a deep artistry with a practical focus on problem-solving. ‘This philosophy has been part of the brand since the beginning,’ says Katie Becker, the brand’s chief creative officer. ‘We could take four years to make that one thing and there's no deadline for us. Plus, the fact that athletes are part of the design process [is crucial]. I always say, in Vancouver, we're designing, but then we take it into the mountains, and that's where we get proof of concept.’

Senior creative consultant Kei Hirosawa first encountered the brand while searching for new products for Beams Japan, the pioneering lifestyle retailer, in the 1990s. Today, he collaborates with Arc'teryx on both product and culture, and also serves as its unofficial historian (he owns dozens of pieces that he happily hauls out to flaunt for anyone who asks). ‘This brand is not just a name on a product,’ he says. ‘If you took away the logo, the quality and entire product endures with amazing results for the users.’

Adds Becker: ‘People come up to me and show me jackets from 20 years ago and they still look great. Some of these pieces might need a little repair job with our repair program, but people don’t want to get rid of them, they want to keep them forever. And that’s the kind of love we’re talking about.’

This resonates fully with the concept of the new TCC. Arc'teryx asked Torafu Architects to reimagine a four-level building in the Daikanyama neighbourhood with a focus on expressing the essence of the brand – its connection to the mountains. ‘In this project, we wanted to incorporate Japanese craftsmanship and technology, so we collaborated with various artists and craftspeople,’ says Koichi Suzuno, founder of Torafu Architects.

‘We drew inspiration from their skills and used that to evolve the design. We formed teams with people skilled in woodworking, indigo dyeing, furniture making, ironworks, landscaping, and more, discussing Arc'teryx while working together to create.’

To that end, the top-level, open-air rooftop is also a Mount Fuji viewing space (on clear days) to inspire creative exchange. It comes complete with a hulking Yanase-cedar bench, positioned in an intimate circular formation. Below is the floor where the design team – a global collective of creatives and mountain athletes – are based. The ground level houses the equipment to develop prototypes – it’s here you will encounter the pattern makers, sewers, material specialists and project developers.

The building is flanked by outdoor space inspired by a blend of British Columbia’s coastal mountains and traditional Japanese gardens. In the basement is a multifunctional area where community events are hosted, and a conference room with a piece by washi artist Wataru Hatano, who based the work on the Kanji character ‘Yama’, meaning ‘mountain’ in English.

‘I think [this alignment with craft comes] from our DNA, it’s just who we are: like the term “otaku”, which is an obsessive, deep-dive focus into craft,’ says Howard Lichter, VP at the Arc'teryx Tokyo Design Center. ‘Even though our DNA is the coast mountains of BC, and Vancouver is our genesis, if a brand wants to grow, to evolve, to learn, they've got to get out of their point of origin – so it was inevitable that we came here to Tokyo.’

Arc'teryx already has its roots in the global epicentre for outdoor adventures, Vancouver; and a foothold in the international heartland for sports performance, the Pacific Northwest (the brand has a footwear office in Portland). Now, it has the world of craft covered in Tokyo. A solid trifecta that invites us all in – to see what divination Arc'teryx will come up with next.

Arc'teryx Tokyo Creation Center, 1-Chome-4-10 Aobadai, Meguro City, Tokyo, 153-0042, Japan

arcteryx.com

Picture 50 different skies painted in staggered shades of blues and greys, reds and pinks onto the front pages of local newspapers from across Japan – each one casting shadows on the curved walls of a rotunda where they are displayed.

This is the view that greets visitors upon arrival at Tokyo National Museum’s historic Hyokeikan building, which is currently home to a major new exhibition celebrating 50 years of iconic jewellery maison Cartier’s presence in Japan.

The paintings were created by Sho Shibuya, the New York-based Japanese artist, who undertook a journey across his homeland capturing the shifting tones and atmospheres of the sky – one of a number of works commissioned by Fondation Cartier to mark the anniversary.

50 years of Cartier in Japan

It marks the threshold of an elegantly curated journey that unravels 50 years of intertwined narratives between Japan and the jewellery maison – from the Japonisme imprint on its earliest jewellery creations and the 1974 opening of its first Tokyo boutique through to its creative exchanges with a raft of contemporary Japanese artists.

The exhibition, entitled ‘Musubi - Half-Century of Cartier in Japan and Beyond: an Everlasting Dialogue of Beauty and Art’, is layered in history, innovation and creativity, with scenography by Studio Adrian Gardère smoothly balancing exhibits with the Hyokeikan’s heritage architecture.

Key to the concept is the word musubi – the symbolic ties or knots often found in Japan’s traditional culture, from shrines to kimono, interpreted in this context as ‘the power of the divine spirit produced by being bound together’.

The end result is a symphonic journey through the layers of Japan and Cartier’s connections, through decades of crafted creations by the jewellery house as well as the creative legacy of its contemporary art foundation’s journey with a roll call of Japanese artists.

Reflecting on the past 50 years, Pierre Rainero, the image, style and heritage director at Cartier, tells Wallpaper*: ‘Cartier’s interest in Japan started very early. But having a presence in Japan since 1974 changed many things. It’s a physical link that is not just a commercial bond. Japan is the epitome of modern life and our presence here marked a big change in how we perceive the world.’

Highlighting the timeless values and notions of beauty which are shared between these two worlds, he adds: ‘One affinity is this sense of beauty linked to the idea of exquisite craftsmanship. And then there is the beauty of the accident. This can be seen in Japanese ceramics in which you don’t master everything – you accept the transformation of the colours and the pigments in the firing and you appreciate it. This idea is also very present in Cartier. When you are a jeweller, you accept the accidents of stones. It is the idea of accepting things as they are, an acceptance of the beauty of nature.’

Upon entering the exhibition, curated by Hélène Kelmachter, the two parallel wings of Hyokeikan tell two different stories. Turning right from the central skies-fill rotunda, visitors explore part one: ‘Cartier and Japan, a Tribute to Art and Beauty’.

Here, the sensitively lit century-old space unfolds to reveal a treasured cornucopia of around 120 pieces from the Cartier Collection plus private loans and 50 items from the Cartier Archives across two levels, connected by a curved stone staircase.

The starting point is the blossoming of Japonisme in the late 19th century, a movement that deeply influenced the creative trajectory of Louis Cartier, the son of the maison’s founder and an avid collector of Japanese art and books, despite never visiting the country in person.

Among masterpieces on display is a brooch made in 1907, with its flowing interconnected lines of platinum, gold, diamonds and sparkling rubies, forming a classic Japanese knot motif.

Further reflections of Japan can be found in a series of Mystery Clocks – including the 1923 Portique, its rock crystal, diamond and onyx form meticulously designed to resemble the torii gate of a traditional shrine.

Cartier’s early reimaginings of Japan are also echoed in the geometric motifs of a gold 1912 cigarette case; the sparkling flow of a sakura cherry blossom-motif bracelet from 1925; and the organic bamboo-inspired surface of a gold, sapphire and emerald lipstick holder in 1950.

The exhibition further highlights how the creative synergy between Japan and Cartier hit new heights in 1974, with the opening of its first store in Tokyo’s trend-triggering Harajuku, complete with a façade replicating the Rue de la Paix boutique in Paris and a leafy mystery garden.

A further spotlight is cast on the recreation of exhibitions then held by Cartier in Japan through the years, including the immersive 2004 curatorial vision of Ettore Sottsass in Kyoto’s Daigo-ji Temple and Tokujin Yoshioka’s experiential holographic 2009 exhibition also in the Hyokeikan.

Meanwhile, the left wing of the Hyokeikan is dedicated to ‘Fondation Cartier Pour L’art Contemporain And Japanese Artists: A Never-Ending Conversation’, reflecting the Japan journey of the influential foundation. Since its establishment in 1984, it has consistently cast a string of now widely acclaimed Japanese artists into the global spotlight, through collaborations rooted in creative freedom.

This chapter of the exhibition unfolds in bursts of colour and immersive installations, made up of 150 artworks by 28 artists – and the starting point is a series of portraits of featured artists painted in the bold signature strokes of legendary Tadanori Yokoo.

An exploratory blurring of boundaries also unfolds in the installations of early landmark Cartier exhibitions by artists such as Issey Miyake and Takeshi Kitano; while a kaleidoscopic photographic journey is created through the vision of cult names including Hiroshi Sugimoto, Nobuyoshi Araki and Rinko Kawauchi.

Other highlights include the immersive Zen Buddhism-inspired emptiness of Tatsuo Miyajima’s 1996 digital number artwork Time Go Round (displayed for the first time in Japan) and the raw monochrome edge of Daido Moriyama’s 2016 slideshow Dog and Mesh Tights.

For Hervé Chandès, international director of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, the starting point of the journey was his unexpected discovery of a string of Japanese artists – Moriyama, Yokoo, Araki – in a bookstore in Roppongi in the 1990s.

Referring to the thread that flows through the diverse collection of Japanese artists in the new exhibition, he tells Wallpaper*: ‘There is a uniqueness of language that connects them all. Yokoo is unique. Daido is unique. Nobuyoshi is unique. It’s not a question of taste, they have all invented a language with a very specific view. These are real artists who are deeply committed.’

He adds: ‘Artworks, society, issues may have changed over the past 40 years, but the work of the foundation is still based on the same concept – the idea of giving artists freedom. There is no limit. I hope this exhibition sparks the curiosity of people who visit.’

A scene-stealer in the exhibition is one of the foundation’s newest discoveries: Sho Shibuya and his Fifty Sky Views of Japan, a creative journey inspired by the idea of following in the footsteps of early travelling artists such as ukiyo-e woodblock print master Hiroshige Utagawa.

‘I love the idea of travelling and creating art at the same time,’ Shibuya tells Wallpaper*. ‘So I travelled and I painted, just like other artists have done in the past, through all of Japan’s prefectures. Hokusai also did something similar using Mount Fuji as an anchor, while Matsuo Basho wrote poems all over Japan.’

Describing how the daily ritual of painting skies on newspaper front pages began during the pandemic in New York, he adds: ‘It was a practice that kept me sane. It was like meditation.

‘For me, nothing is forever. This paper in 100 years will definitely be different. It will change and age. Inside stays the same – but outside we all age. To me, that’s the beauty of life.’

‘Musubi - Half-Century of Cartier in Japan and Beyond: an Everlasting Dialogue on Beauty and Art’ runs at Hyokeikan at Tokyo National Museum until July 28

tnm.jp

Philip Jodidio’s Stakhanovite proficiency in architectural publishing continues with the arrival of Shigeru Ban. Complete Works 1985 – Today, another hefty tome in the time-honoured Taschen tradition of over-sized and XXL works.

This time, your bookshelves will be given a thorough work out by the works of legendary Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. Perhaps the country’s best-known contemporary designer, largely down to the global spread and sheer diversity of his work, Ban’s oeuvre is traced in grand style by Jodidio’s newest monograph.

The format works especially well for Complete Works 1985 – Today for Ban’s approach frequently brings monumentality to buildings of conventional scale, often by exaggerating or over-emphasizing a particular element. This is aptly demonstrated in his early Curtain Wall House project in Tokyo (1995), a pun on the dominant technical feature of international style architecture by way of removing the conventional façade altogether in favour of a literal curtain.

It wasn’t long after this that Ban’s association with cardboard began. His fascination with the structural possibilities of this prosaic material ushered a whole new era of demountable design, used to great effect in disaster zones where it could be used as the core component of shelter and refuge.

The book offers up stark juxtapositions as a result – a Manhattan penthouse versus a dormitory shelter built for the Ukraine Refugee Assistance Project in Paris, or the precision of the Swatch/Omega campus in Switzerland compared to Post-Tsunami Rehabilitation Houses built in Sri Lanka in 2007.

Ultimately, Ban’s work showcases how architecture can be both veil and shelter. The former relies on the translucent and ephemeral, whereas the latter is all about raw materiality. In a world where basic shelter is the most valuable commodity of all, this approach pays instant humanitarian dividends, as well as provide a vital revaluation of how to make the most of materials in an age of finite resources.

Shigeru Ban. Complete Works 1985 – Today, Philip Jodidio, £200, Taschen.com, @Taschen

The book is also available as 200 numbered art editions, each with a signed Shigeru Ban print custom-built 3D laser-cut wooden cover, £1,750, Taschen.com.

See more of our favourite architecture books.

A bird wrapped in diamonds and crowned with a bright gold plume flutters sedately across a dreamy tableau of sakura cherry blossoms and urban skyscrapers. This is the scene that greets visitors at the opening of a new exhibition in Tokyo – a large-scale animation of ‘Bird on a Rock’, designed by Jean Schlumberger in 1965 and perhaps one of the most iconic birds in jewellery history. It’s the first of countless imagination-rich innovations that make up ‘Tiffany Wonder’, a sweeping – and sparkling – exhibition that journeys through the layered history of jewellery house Tiffany & Co, from its 1837 foundation in New York to its modern-day presence.

Inside the sparkling world of ‘Tiffany Wonder’

The exhibition, brought to life by Rem Koolhaas’ OMA, spans 1,430 sq m at Tokyo Node Gallery, on the 45th floor of Toranomon Hills Station Tower, a landmark new skyscraper designed by the same architectural practice. ‘Tiffany Wonder’ flows through a dream-liked sequence of ten interconnected spaces, with shifting atmospheres, textures and gem-like shapes – circular, angular, triangular – balancing intimate elegance and a sense of drama with the layered craftsmanship and creativity for which Tiffany has long been celebrated. Scattered among the immersive installations are more than 500 jewellery pieces and objects related to Tiffany & Co’s history – as well as its deep-flowing ties with Japan – many exhibited to the public for the first time, alongside artisans showcasing live their craftsmanship skills.

'Intimate, cinematic and refined': these are the three words used by exhibition designer Ellen van Loon, partner at OMA, to describe the essence of its creation. 'The aim was to exhibit the history of Tiffany through objects and jewellery created over almost two centuries,' van Loon tells Wallpaper*. 'Understanding the history of Tiffany & Co – how it evolved from an American stationery and luxury goods company in the 19th century to become a jewellery brand and a globally recognised name – was an important point of departure for us with this exhibition.'

She adds: 'Each room is a self-contained environment with a distinct atmosphere, highlighting a specific aspect of Tiffany’s story and work. The individual character of each space is meant to strengthen the relationship between visitors and the objects on display. This intense, intimate relationship between viewer and object emphasises the time needed for creation, the sophisticated level of craft and the attention to detail.'

The journey begins in a large, dark, double-height space featuring a vast screen, upon which dances an animation of the fluttering ‘Bird on a Rock’ against a backdrop of Tiffany’s art deco lamp-style images depicting scenes of Japan. The visuals create a dreamy transition between outer world and inner Tiffany cosmos, paving the way for a string of spaces exploring the company’s heritage. A signature blue corridor lined with a bespoke digitalised tapestry containing a 187-year timeline of Tiffany’s history flows into a circular room. Displays along the way range from legendary early pieces – among them, the sparkling canary and white diamond form of Tiffany’s inaugural ‘Bird on a Rock’, designed by Schlumberger for his friend Bunny Mellon – to the very first Blue Book mail-order catalogue.

Spotlights on design pieces through the years follow, from the vivid early creations of Louis Comfort Tiffany (son of the founder) and the organic forms of Angela Cummings’ 1970s abstractions to Elsa Peretti’s timeless ‘Scorpion’ necklace. As the exhibition segues from one room to another, highlights include a visual portrayal of iconic Tiffany film moments surveyed on rotating cinema seats alongside original costumes from Breakfast at Tiffany’s; craftsmen at work fastening stones and polishing diamonds; and the atmospheric Wonder of Dreams room, a slope lined with iconic shop displays of the past, beneath an angular gem-like ceiling. 

‘As architects, we spend on average between five to ten years completing a building,' says van Loon. 'The awareness that artisans can spend just as long and work just as intensely to create something as small and precious as a piece of jewellery was what we wanted to convey to visitors.

'Our intention was to exhibit the evolution of Tiffany & Co. By presenting Tiffany’s versatility, not only in their designs for jewellery and products, but also through their presence in architecture, music, sport, and film, we were interested in showing the cultural resonance of their designs and the love of craft that has remained a constant throughout their work.' 

Japan is another key ingredient, with ties running deep: pioneering founder Charles Lewis Tiffany offered his clients select imported Japanese goods from as early as 1837. A space wrapped in washi-inspired walls contains a range of Japanese crafts and design goods, reflecting the inspiration Japan has long held for the brand.

'The relationship between Tiffany and Japan has been important since the company's earliest years,' explains Giulio Margheri, associate at OMA. 'The exhibition presents this influence through a series of designs that have become emblematic of the brand, including not only jewellery but also objects like stained-glass lamps and lacquered wood.'

The climax, however, is a towering black triangular installation containing the legendary cornerstone of the jewellery house – the 128.54ct Tiffany Diamond, the world’s largest yellow diamond, set in a 'Bird on a Rock'-inspired design, presented in spotlit glory in a final dream-like flourish.

'The idea of wonder has been integral to our DNA since 1837,' said Alexandre Arnault, executive vice president of product, communications & industrial at Tiffany & Co. 'Since the very beginning, each design that we’ve imagined and each piece that we’ve handcrafted has been rooted in our mission to spark wonder and inspire the world’s greatest love stories.'

‘Tiffany Wonder’ is on display at Tokyo Node Gallery until 23 June 2024, tiffany.com