Japanese artist and illustrator TiFdyL spends much of his time creating and connecting in Canada but he is back in town and making his presence known with a showing of his latest pieces in the Daikanyama and Kyoto Hanjiro shops.

Hanjiro, is a select fashion store filled with the latest looks on the streets of Tokyo and other happening places in Japan. A mix of recycled, reconstructed and new clothing, accessories and footwear can be found in all the eclectically decorated stores.

Hanjiro are now supporting independent design and creation in Japan by offering gallery space to artists around the country. Congratulations to TiFdyL on securing a hot spot in some of Japan's most visited fashion shops.

For more information on how to find the popular Hanjiro stores, including easy maps, visit the Hanjiro website. Hanjiro also have a web shop for those of you not in town.

At the last Design Festa I remember Japan-based illustrator Sidney Pink tell me excitedly about an event created by Murakami and team called Geisai. Sadly I had not heard of it at the time but was instantly interested as a result of Sidney's obvious enthusiasm for the event.

Jump forward five months and Sidney Pink's enthusiasm had manifested into excitement and great Geisai success. Not only did Sidney sell all of his alluring pieces of art, some snapped up by the likes of Sohaku Yamashita, but he was interviewed by Art Collector magazine and approached by Giant Robot front man Eric Nakamura. To top of a busy but rewarding day, Sidney was ranked number 12 out of 609 artists at Geisai via audience voting and was one of only 21 artists nominated for the Geisai Jury awards.

A smoking hot day for a talented and dedicated artist. Congratulations Sidney.

Something as sleek as the MacBook Air deserves equally funky fashion. Pod Canvas designer and Mac devotee has joined the thinnovation revolution by designing the MacBook Air Felt Case.

The MacBook Air Felt Case is available in charcoal or amber felt. Secured with an envelope esque double button and string.

A best seller on Amazon Japan, the MacBook Air Felt Case is a stylish sleeve to keep your skinny Mac cozy.


Handmade in Japan. Choose from charcoal felt with red stitching or amber felt with tan stitching.

At the last Pause Talk held at Cafe Pause Masao was lucky enough to meet designer of the newly released book Art Space Tokyo.

I am only now just finding the time to flip through the beautifully presented, fabric covered hard back. Impressive! Art Space Tokyo boasts over 50 illustrations. In shades of black they are reminiscent of sumi (Japanese ink) paintings. The detailed maps of various areas are clearly marked and make the task of finding spaces an easy one even for the map illiterate like myself.

Aside from its pleasing design, Art Space Tokyo gives an insight into the people as well as the places. Interviews with the art and space gurus are somewhat of a reading adventure and give a personal touch to the book. I especially like the interview with the Tokyo Art Beat trio.

Art Space Tokyo describes itself as an intimate guide to twelve of Tokyo's most exciting art spaces. I would describe it as a practical collection of smoothly designed maps, a personal guide to new places and a Tokyo pocket pal to be used again and again. I superb partner for all Tokyo dwellers and visitors.

We adore getting your emails and comments. Thank you all so very much for supporting TOKYOMADE and Japan-based design and creation. We especially love when your emails are as sweet as this one from tabi boot wearer, Valerie.

Dear Masao and Deanne,

Best wishes from Cambridgeshire,
Valerie

Thanks Valerie we are so looking forward to pics of you rocking your funky tabi boots in Cambridgeshire!! ;)

Some of the biggest art and design events in Asia are happening right here in Japan this month.

This weekend is the 9th Spiral Independent Creators Festival held over four days at The Spiral building in Minami- Aoyama. The four day event is broken up into two 2 day showings. Group A and Group B each consist of a gathering of 50 selected independent creators.

Sonja de Boer, Discrete Bag and de Boer creator and Kana San of Sci Fi fame were both selected for this year's festival. Congratulations to them both.

Next weekend marks the return of GEISAI to Japan. After an extended break from Japan and making big news with global events the GEISAI event, founded by Takahashi Murakami, is back in full effect. Held at the Tokyo Big Site, GEISAI Museum 2 gives both amateur and professional artists a chance to display their work to the community. The one day event, Sunday May 11, will involve a panel of museum directors judging the displays in each booth.

In two weeks time, May 17 & 18, the biggest art event in Asia will be held at Tokyo Big Site. Design Festa Vol. 27 is almost here, it seems every one is talking about it too! While applications for space are closed there is still much anticipation about who will be showing their latest ranges, what acts will be there to delight and how many people we will bump into.

Many TOKYOMADE designers will be there on the day as booth dwellers or as aisle wanderers. This year TOKYOMADE is not going to have a booth, while we had an amazing time at Vol. 26 we dearly missed wandering around with friends and getting to learn about new creators and their mind blowing greatness. We do intend to be there for the two days from open til close, there is just SO much to see at Design Festa.

The Bla Bla Hospital head nurse is back from the laboratory with a new range of fashion remedies. She has reworked her previous range and launched a new series of funky, fat ties. Each with their own unique medicinal qualities all have been handmade in Japan using hospital grade materials and the Bla Bla Hospital methods of fashion revival.


Sasa of lo-fi-me fame is a new face on TOKYOMADE but already making a mammoth impact. His one-of-a-kind bangles are a combination of illustration and images giving new, stylish life to recycled tape rolls. Good for the Earth and your daily fashion mix.

Tokyo is a never ending series of surprises. This weekend was no exception. After a huge night on the dancefloor at the very successful ABM party held last night at JZ Brat we had a quick sleep and headed out to Yoyogi park for a gorgeous afternoon. The weather was divine and the hoops were spinning.

As the sun went down the sounds out on the horizon were turned up. An email from a friend asking "Are you at the dance party in Yoyogi Park?" helped make the connection that the beats we were hearing in the distance were something worth seeking out.

A short trek through the darkness avoiding the trees and resting bodies we let our ears guide us and soon stumbled upon a very happening, techno flooded dance party. Needless to say the hoops were whipped out yet again and bodies warmed up nicely in the coolness of the Spring night.

An interesting mixture of Japanese and foreign dancers pounded the park floor to the happy vibes as the sun completely left for another part of the world. Plenty of friendly faces and music lovers. Not long into the set things seem to shut down and people scampered of in various directions. Left standing in the middle of the dark park with smiles on our faces and wetness on our skin our ears pricked up again to the sound of more beats in the distance. The search was on again.

This time we discovered a more low key but possibly more crowded make shift club. Plenty of smiling faces, funky beats and some of the hugest speakers I have seen set up outdoors in a long time. Good times.

According to our new dance party friends and the DJs the parties in Yoyogi park are every Sunday once the sun goes down, usually 5pm - 8pm. They are not hard to find, follow your ears. Look for us, we will most likely be there. What an awesome way to end the weekend!

Singing in the rain, taking naps and love's magic is what the latest range from Tiny Azure is all about. Add to that her zoological creations and Eiko Yamaji's newest styles for Tiny Azure are some of her most eclectic yet.

All pieces are hand crafted in Japan by Japanese designer, Eiko Yamaji. The Tiny Azure has established a huge global fan base, she just keeps on giving.

Be a part of the big freeze in Tokyo.
Too cool for school.

Created by Improv Everywhere in New York, a group known for "scenes of chaos and joy in public places", the freeze is heading back to Tokyo.
Naturally there is a facebook group called Tokyo Freeze 2008 with some fun suggestions and thoughts for the big event.
This should be a whole load of useless, time wasting fun! I am up for it. Lady Elle and TOKYOMADE will be out in full force! See you there.