Articles by aConceptLondon

This port city is being rebuilt five years after the ravages caused by the tsunami, thanks to the commitment of the local inhabitants. On the […]

For years the Japanese government has sought to revitalize the country’s regions, but their methods are outdated. At the end of 2014 the Abe administration […]

Whether you like it or not, motorbikes are synonymous with Japan, if only because of the pivotal importance of Japanese motorbike manufacturers. Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki […]

Biker culture is changing in Japan. It needs to adapt to an ageing population. For many people around the world, Japanese motorbikes are still synonymous […]

God Speed You! Black Emperor by Yanagimachi Mitsuo is an unusual film that bears witness to a bygone era. Since the end of World War […]

To attract more tourists, the local council has invited Lala the cat to help visitors discover the town from a new angle. The small port […]

A little island lost in the middle of the Inland Sea has become a tourist attraction for cat lovers, but the locals aren’t happy… As […]

Tokyo Metropolitan Library Hokusai’s talent would not have gained such great recognition without the help of the publishing houses. One cannot talk about artists such […]

©Hinako Sugiura・mS.hS ©Ｍasaya Suzuki Thanks to her talent and her wide knowledge of Edo culture, this mangaka’s work has become a point of reference. Born […]

Since it first appeared on the market in the 1950s, this appliance has become a musthave for all those who love eating rice. Hong Kong […]

In Kamagawa, southeast of Tokyo, one organization is preserving the increasingly rare terraced rice fields, with no help from grants or subsidies. For those who […]

For several years now, the consumption of this millennia old food has been decreasing across the Japanese archipelago. Can we even begin to imagine Japanese […]

The combination of an ageing population and a rural exodus is threatening the existence of matsuri in the provinces. As summer approaches Iwai Toshio gets […]

The spirit of the paintbrush is celebrated annually just twenty kilometres from Hiroshima. In the soft morning drizzle a dozen men and women line up […]

The matsuri is a communal event which unites all Japanese, whatever their origin. In his office in the heart of the old Asakusa district Watanabe […]

Whatever the season or the region there is always a traditional festival to go to. Here is a short guided tour. You can’t imagine visiting […]

The reinterpretation of tradition is fundamentally important to the work of Atushi and Mayumi Kawamoto. Atsushi and Mayumi Kawamoto – the husband-and-wife partners who founded […]

Maeda Keisuke champions the ideal of architecture working in harmony with the surrounding landscape. UID (an acronym for Universal Innovative Design) was founded by architect […]

Manuel Tardits has lived in the archipelago for many years, and shares his fulfilling experiences as an architect there with us. “Does the imagination grow […]

Japanese houses are not just works of art to be stared at in confusion on the pages of coffee-table books. What kind of images come […]

Immensely famous film director in Japan, but little known abroad, here is Yamada Yoji. When I was young I thought that Ozu’s movies were boring,” […]

Four years after the tsunami that destroyed everything, including the railway, getting the service going again has been greeted with great enthusiasm locally. It took […]