pink tentacle
- Video: Surreal animation by Naoyuki TsujiHere is an excerpt from artist Naoyuki Tsuji's "A Feather Stare at the Dark" (2003), a simplistic, yet hauntingly surreal, hand-drawn animation made from charcoal drawings. + Video A unique characteristic of Tsuji's minimalist style is that each frame is created by partially erasing and redrawing the scene on the same sheet of paper. Traces [...]
- Animated simulation of asteroid hitting EarthA dramatic computer-animated simulation, produced by NHK Japan and the National Film Board of Canada, depicts what would happen if an asteroid measuring 500 kilometers (300 mi) in diameter collided with Earth. + Video The massive asteroid -- larger than Japan's main island of Honshu -- is traveling at a speed of over 720,000 kilometers [...]
- Video: Inter // StatesInter // States is the latest Tokyo time-lapse piece by photographer Samuel Cockedey. The soundtrack is "Paradigm Flux (Tokyo Cut)" by Woob, from the new "Paradigm Flux" EP (listen).
- Medical woodblock prints from 19th-century JapanThe University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) maintains a collection of 400 health-themed woodblock prints from 19th-century Japan. The collection -- which includes drug advertisements, illustrated instructions for treating and preventing contagious diseases, and visual guides to the human body -- offers a unique look at Japanese medical knowledge in the late Edo and early [...]
- Ultra Monster paintings by Toshio OkazakiA pair of action-packed Ultraman Monster paintings by Toshio Okazaki were published in Shōgakukan's 1979 edition of Ultra Kaiju (Shōgakukan Nyūmon Hyakka Series #97). [+] [+] Alien Guts, Windam, Gyango, Black End, Kingsaurus III, Bemstar Alien Icarus, Gomora, Muruchi, Alien Baltan, Alien Magma, Kemular Dancan, Giradorus, Astromons Gandar, Gabora, Alien Metron, Agira, Antlar, Seabozu, Woo [...]
- Photos: Good Design Expo 2010This year's Good Design Expo, which took place at Tokyo Big Sight over the weekend (Aug 27-29), showcased over 2,000 design-conscious items under consideration for the 2010 Good Design Award. Here are photos of a few items that were on display. Goya de Goya: Goya (a.k.a. bitter melon) planter bag that resembles a giant goya [...]
- Post-apocalyptic Tokyo sceneryThe illustrations of TokyoGenso (a.k.a. Tokyo Fantasy) depict a post-apocalyptic Tokyo devoid of people and overtaken by nature. Shinjuku skyline [+] Tokyo Big Sight [+] Rainbow Bridge [+] Moai statue at Shibuya station [+] Kabuki-za Theater, Ginza [+] Mode HAL iKO Building, Shinjuku [+] Poster for "The Book of Eli" (Japanese title: "The Walker") [+] [...]
- Hello Kitty spectacle in Tokyo BayGundam videographer darwinfish105 has captured some dazzling footage of the 8-meter-tall laser-shooting Hello Kitty spectacle at Odaiba Beach, which has appeared as part of a campaign to promote tree-planting activities in Tokyo. + Video The event, which features periodic light and water shows, will continue through August 22.
- Vintage Tokyo subway manner postersHere are a few manner posters that appeared in the Tokyo subways between 1976 and 1982. Three annoying train monsters (October 1982) The three annoying train monsters shown in the poster are Nesshii (the sleeping monster), Asshii (the leg-crossing monster), and Shinbunshii (the newspaper-reading monster). * * * * * Don't throw chewing gum on [...]
- Animated map of nuclear explosions, 1945-1998Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto's "1945-1998" is an animated map showing the 2,053 nuclear explosions that took place around the world during the 20th century, from the detonations at Alamogordo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to the tests conducted by India and Pakistan in 1998. + Video: "1945-1998" by Isao Hashimoto The month and year are [...]