ben leighton 1/7/23 ben leighton 1/7/23

TOMIYASU HAYAHISA: four years of human oddity around a ping pong table

Tomiyasu Hayahisa obsessively documented the bizarre actions of Leipzig residents around a ping pong table for 4 years straight

ben leighton 12/27/22 ben leighton 12/27/22

TOMO HYAKUTAKE: master of horror

Character designer, makeup artist, mask creator, director and more - Tomo Hyakutake is a tour de force in the Japanese horror scene

ben leighton 11/5/22 ben leighton 11/5/22

IZUMI MIYAZAKI: modern japanese surrealism

Izumi Miyazaki’s humorous self portraits began on Tumblr and grew into an internationally acclaimed surrealist exploration of self

ben leighton 11/1/22 ben leighton 11/1/22

MONO-HA: the ‘school of things’

Mono-ha was an object based artistic movement that kicked off in the 1960s and had profound impacts on the modern Japanese art scene

ben leighton 9/25/22 ben leighton 9/25/22

KIMIKO NISHIMOTO: Japan’s absurdist obasan

Kimiko Nishimoto is more than just a quirky obasan - she’s an instagram sensation showing that those in their 90’s can still stay relevant in the social media age

ben leighton 6/3/22 ben leighton 6/3/22

BURAIHA: The ‘decadents’ of Japan

Known as the “school of irresponsibility and decadence,” the ragtag Buraiha (無頼派) authors became notorious for their nihilistic attitudes and bohemian lifestyles

ben leighton 5/22/22 ben leighton 5/22/22

A DIGITAL ALTERNATE REALITY: The art of Maruko Hirofumi

Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Maruko Hirofumi is a digital artist who took full advantage of the booming digital art wave of the 1980’s to become a master of surreal 3D art that still retains a sense of early computer nostalgia

ben leighton 2/16/22 ben leighton 2/16/22

PROVOKE MAGAZINE (1968-1969)

PROVOKE (プロヴォーク) was an experimental and countercultural Japanese photography zine founded in 1968 with the subtitle “Provocative Materials for Thought”

ben leighton 12/8/21 ben leighton 12/8/21

ERO-GURO NANSENSU

Ero-guro nansensu, was a movement that began in the 1930s and took its name from the English words Erotic, Grotesque Nonsense. It reached into all aspects of Japanese media, culture and art and continues in an adapted form today

ben leighton 11/17/21 ben leighton 11/17/21

TAKAGI PLANNING OFFICE: Tokyo’s most aesthetic realtor

Based in Shinjuku, Takagi Planning Office (TPO) turns the traditional, bureaucratic Japanese real estate industry on its head by focusing purely on careful curation and design of beautiful spaces

ben leighton 10/23/21 ben leighton 10/23/21

TOKYO RUMANDO: I’m Only Happy When I’m Naked

Tokyo Rumando is a provocative, self-taught photographer who originally cut her teeth as a model for Daido Moriyama and Nobuyoshi Araki

ben leighton 10/13/21 ben leighton 10/13/21

SEIJI KURATA

Seiji Kurata (1945-2020) was one of the most highly acclaimed Japanese photographers of the modern era - shining a light on the seedy underbelly of Tokyo’s inner city

ben leighton 8/15/21 ben leighton 8/15/21

REVERSIBLE DESTINY LOFTS

Architects Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins have completely rejected the seemingly fundamental tenet of traditional livability in their REVERSIBLE DESTINY LOFTS

ben leighton 7/21/21 ben leighton 7/21/21

HIROSHI NAGAI: Japan’s Sun-drenched Americana

Hiroshi Nagai developed an oeuvre of Americana pop style paintings that served as a backdrop to the Japanese City Pop movement of the late 70s and 80s

ben leighton 7/20/21 ben leighton 7/20/21

Manabu Koga’s UNDERWATER GIRLS

Manabu Koga is an innovative Japanese photographer creating incredible results through a combination of his experience in underwater photography and his passion for mecha

ben leighton 7/17/21 ben leighton 7/17/21

TOKYO STYLE: Raw Tokyo Living

Kyoichi Tsuzuki’s seminal 1993 book, TOKYO STYLE, is a collection of photographs that display the raw reality of living in Japan’s capital city

ben leighton 7/12/21 ben leighton 7/12/21

DAIDO MORIYAMA: Japan’s King of Street Photography

Born in Osaka in 1938, Daido Moriyama is renowned for his subversive and gritty style that has come to define modern day Japanese street photography

ben leighton 6/6/21 ben leighton 6/6/21

SHIGERU MIZUKI: An illustrated guide to Yokai

Shigeru Mizuki, born in Osaka in 1922, was a prolific manga artist often regarded as the master of Japanese Yokai (monster) stories

ben leighton 5/24/21 ben leighton 5/24/21

KINGYO-BU: the goldfish club

In 2012, the KINGYOBU (“goldfish club”) transformed phone booths in Osaka into standing aquariums, providing a visual break from the monotony of city life

ben leighton 5/16/21 ben leighton 5/16/21

NAKAGIN CAPSULE: an endangered species

With demolition looking increasingly likely, we take a look at Kurokawa Kisho’s paragon of Metabolist design