Arashiyama is a charming little town just on the outskirts of Kyoto that features a lot of highly regarded UNESCO Heritage sites such as the Kinkaku-Ji temple. Although we found that surprisingly the most enjoyable activity was simply floating along the river in an old wooden boat and being guided by two funny guys, along…
Continue reading ➞ Kyoto river boat ride adventure by Content Catnip TV
Very little can prepare you for how full on Akihabara or Electric Town is in Tokyo. This is the mecca for nerds and gamers, it has more square metres of computer shops here than anywhere else in the world. You can buy anything electronic here. Including ancient computers, gigantic robotic dinosaurs, sex robots, a gazillion…
Continue reading ➞ Every picture tells a story: Mayhem and maid cafes in Akihabara
A thalassophile is a lover of the sea or someone who is powerfully drawn to and by the ocean. This ancient word comes from the Ancient Greek θάλασσα (thálassa, “sea”), and φίλος (phílos, “dear, beloved”). I took this photo on Enoshima Island in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan back in early October last year. As the sun…
A fancy restaurant in the backstreets of Kyoto Copyright © Content Catnip 2018 www.contentcatnip.com In every alleyway and side-street in Kyoto and Tokyo there are thousands of stories. This alley was no exception. I can't exactly recall what this place was, but I just loved how it looked. Some shop fronts are adorned in such…
Continue reading ➞ Every picture tells a story: Fancy restaurant in Kyoto
Norwegian waffles with brown cheese, jam and yoghurt. I died and went to breakfast heaven. The homely mid-century furniture in Fuglen, Asakusa On a recent trip to Japan I noticed that the Japanese love to pay homage to different cultures, their foods and aesthetics. This is really great and impressive because they have such a…
Continue reading ➞ Nordic and Japanese Design Fusion: Fuglen in Asakusa, Tokyo
On a recent trip to Japan I took mountains of footage. Advertising is totally out of this world and so I created this homage to Japanese ads, on trains, JR stations, the streets and so on. I created these gifs with colour distortion to properly convey the feelings you have in situ. Initially, after a…
Cycling alongside calming bodies of water is one thing in life that I adore. In the past I've cycled along the Odra in Wroclaw, Poland, Tamaki Drive in Auckland and along the Water of Leith in Edinburgh, along with many other places. However the Kamo River in Kyoto tops them all. The Kamo river has a flat…
Continue reading ➞ Travel: Cycling adventures along the Kamo river, Kyoto
Last week I came back from a three week holiday in Japan. And so here are four weird and off-the-wall unexpected surprises about Japan that you most likely don't know about yet. 1. Requiem for a washlet Washlets are one of the unexpected delights of going to Japan. The Japanese washlet is a technological marvel…
Continue reading ➞ Four weird unexpected things to love about Japan
Kawaakari (Japanese) The glow of a river or stream in darkness or dusk, the gleaming surface of a shadowed river (Japanese 川明かり). Kawaakari can refer to the reflection of the moonlight off flowing water, or the gleam of late sun at dusk. Obumbro (Latin) To shadow over and over: to make dark with shadow; to…
The traditional seasons in Japan are marked out by impercetibly small changes in nature across 72 miniature seasons in a year, each lasting 5 days and reflecting the fleeting, impermanent and diaphanous beauty of nature and all of its wonders. There are 24 divisions or sekki in the calendar that are split into 72 kō…
Continue reading ➞ Japan’s 72 gossamer-light and poetic microseasons
【360° Movie】Tokyo Light Odyssey (Full) from WOW inc on Vimeo. If Pink Floyd and Stanley Kubrik were to have a baby in 2017 - this is what it would look like. Be taken on a sublime journey of immersive 360 degree Tokyo in a most unsettling mood. The immersive short film is filled with the…
Continue reading ➞ 360 degree VR film of Tokyo: A hyper-creepy and darkly enjoyable feast
Hi, my name is Nao. I am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well if you give me a moment, I will tell you. A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me and every one of us who is, or ever was, or…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Who were the Samurai? For roughly a thousand years, from about the 800s to the late 1800s, warfare in Japan was dominated by an elite class of warriors known as the samurai. Horses were their special weapons: only samurai were allowed to ride horses in battle. Like European knights, the samurai served a lord (daimyo).…
Continue reading ➞ Every Picture Tells A Story: Samurai Warrior, 19th Century
In Kyushu, Japan you can step into a quaint, cinematic vision of the English Lake District or Cotswalds region parked right in the centre of mountainous Japan. Although all is not as it seems. This place has a distinctly enchanted Harry Potter and Beatrix Potter vibe that will delight and bewilder you. There's a petting zoo,…
Continue reading ➞ Welcome to the English Countryside – that’s so English it’s Japanese
Nicolas Damiens is a French Graphic Designer who has worked for the past eight years in agencies all over the world. This collection of gifs that he made highlights an unkowable world without ads. It's undoubtedly more peaceful and slightly unnerving, something is definitely missing from this picture. Source: Nicholas Damiens Source: Nicholas Damiens …
Continue reading ➞ The strange streetscapes in a Tokyo without ads
This is a novel concept that could only be conceived by the Japanese. A bed and book hostel. This captures the very essence of snuggling comfort- falling asleep while reading a good book! The Book and Bed Hostel is a bookshop that's also a hostel and allows bibliophiles to hire out a nest-like bunk bed…
Continue reading ➞ The Ultimate Soothing Tokyo Lullaby: Book and Bed
