Japan | Design Indaba

A spiralling ribbon chapel designed for a wedding day

Japanese architect Hiroshi Nakamura designed the Ribbon Chapel – a structure wrapped in double spiral stairways with striking views of the ocean and islands. >
Tokyo Totem unpacks the cultural playground that is Tokyo

A multimedia guidebook helps visitors see Tokyo in different ways, through the eyes of its 46 contributors. >
Artist creates tiny galaxies with glass

Japanese glass artist Satoshi Tamizu places a tiny universe in each piece he creates. >
An office building supported by fibres was recently unveiled in Japan

Japanese architects have created a curtain of carbon fibres to support their newly designed building during an earthquake. >
Nendo’s MINIM+AID brings design thinking to disaster preparedness

The Japanese studio’s emergency preparedness kit is a compact and smart product designed for national necessity. >
Muji launches three tiny, prefab houses

In what sounds like a prefab fairytale, Muji launches three little houses – one made of cork, one of aluminium and one built out of wood. >
This talking robot could be the future of smartphones

Japanese tech company Sharp have designed a 19 centimetre talking, dancing, waving smartphone-robot. >
Spring-loaded high heels produce fluid, healthy movement

A Japanese designer has created a spring-loaded high-heel to take the pressure off poorly treated feet. >
Sou Fujimoto challenges perceptions of what could be considered architecture

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto uses potato chips and staples to comment on the notion of “found architecture”. >
Drones and dancers happily unite for this music video

Los Angeles-based producer Nosaj Things employs drones and contemporary dancers in the music video for “Cold Stares”, a track featuring Chance the Rapper. >
Tempescope: A box of rain, clouds or sun in your living room

The Tempescope physically creates weather conditions, letting users share the sky from anywhere in the world. >
Tatsuya Tanaka creates a mini-diorama of ordinary scenes everyday

Tatsuya Tanaka creates pocket-sized scenes of everyday life, on a daily basis for “Miniature Calendar”, his pet-project >
Japan's space yacht is over 100million kilometres away from Earth

Engineers in Japan successfully launched a solar sail to test the applications of solar power in deep space missions. >
This robot never loses at rock-paper-scissors

Students at the University of Tokyo have designed Janken, a robot that beats its human competitor at rock-paper-scissors every single time. >
Say goodbye to toothpaste with this Japanese design

Japanese designer Kosho Ueshima has created Misoka, a nanotech toothbrush that cleans your teeth without toothpaste. >
Japanese graphic designer Nemury creates abstract artworks on his iPhone

Nemury’s graphic artworks provoke the question: Is iOS technology an up-and-coming medium for creating digital art? >
Narrowing in on some of Japan’s most peculiar creations

Edible art, wearable tech, and candy designs are all part of what makes Japan’s tech scene one of the craziest. >
Slimee W21 is a new wearable designed for the elderly

Toshiba’s smartband is designed to help Japanese families monitor the health of elderly relatives living in remote places. >
Alcoho-Lock stops cyclists from riding drunk

This new Japanese-designed smart device hopes to alleviate the escalating problem of cyclists riding under the influence. >
Abandoned golf courses in Japan are being turned into solar energy fields

Japanese technology company Kyocera are converting abandoned golf courses into huge solar energy fields. >
Check into the robot-run Weird Hotel

The Henn na Hotel – or Weird Hotel – just opened in Japan. There’s a dinosaur at reception and robots that will carry your bags. >
Watch the world’s tiniest projection-mapping on a single grain of rice

Japanese creative studio Drill Tokyo release the video of its installation using state-of-the-art technology. >
Focus on: Telling time

Six innovative timepieces that turn clock-watching into an unusual experience. >
The FES watch by Fashion Entertainments

The FES Watch, made of electronic paper, is a blank canvas that displays a range of patterns activated by user gestures. >

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