My Sommelier is a Comic: Saving the universe from killer robots, it turns out, is mere child’s play compared to the exquisite pleasures of savoring a 2001 Château Mont-Perat. That, perhaps, is one of the lessons to be taken away from the success of The Drops of God, a huge-selling manga, or comic, centered around wine tasting that has swept Japan by storm and is making inroads in many other countries, including the United States, where it was recently published by Vertical Inc.
In honor of the 15th anniversary of the release of Tamagotchi, Japanese company Bandai has produced a special edition model of the digital pet. The Tamagotchi ID L 15th Anniversary features a color screenand a range of different environments through which the creatures can travel. The device can connect wirelessly to other Tamagotchis to swap items or even date and marry each other. (via Designboom)
Developed by Japanese roboticist Masahiko Yamaguchi (“Dr. Guero”), “Primer v2” is a robotic bicyclist who may be the world’s first to ride its miniature fixed gear bike in exactly the same manner as a human: cycling on the pedals, maintaining its own balance via steering, and braking by dragging his feet along the ground. (OMG Awesome via Designboom. Click through for the video!)
(via Designboom)
“The Patient Gardener” [is] a structure consisting of ten Japanese cheery trees which is the main building material of two-story retreat. Bending, twisting, pruning and grafting will be used to control and develop the growth of the building over time.
(via Designboom)
The “Green Cell” proposal by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma of Tokyo-based Kengo Kuma + Associates has placed second in the international competition for the new Taipei City Museum of Art for Taipei City, Taiwan. An undulating double skin generates the iconic form which radiates in a waving manner into the encompassing urbanscape. A main hall connects the museum’s program with a nearby train station, cable car, riverbank trail transforming the site into a dynamic hub.
(via Designboom)
The fiberglass “Noah” capsule by Japanese company New Cosmopower is a personal-sized work of emergency architecture, offering shelter in the event of earthquake or tsunami.
“Save the whales” may have become something of a schoolyard taunt for anti-environmentalists to hurl, but make no mistake: Some activists are still out there, saving whales. Foremost among them is the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which has harassed, butted, and even boarded whaling ships in its mission to deter illegal whaling.
Sea Shepherd founder and leader Paul Watson is described as an “anti-Ahab” in Prospect by writer Philip Hoare, who explains that the bold group managed to put a large dent in Japan’s whale take last season:
In February, the Japanese fisheries minister announced that Sea Shepherd’s actions, which include boarding whaling ships, forced the curtailment of the 2010-11 season on safety grounds. As a result, many fewer whales were caught. Sea Shepherd put Japan’s catch at 30, compared to the country’s fleet’s self-declared quota of 900. Campaigners quickly claimed a victory in the making.
(via Designboom)
Like the Japanese “Chobi Cam One” on which it is based, the “World’s Smallest Camera” by distributors Hammacher Schlemmer offers photo and video shooting in a package not much larger than an SD card.
Engineers at Japanese construction firm Shimizu have dreamed up a plan for harnessing solar energy from the moon. It’s a large-scaled, seemingly inconceivable plan that involves remote-controlled robots building thousands of photovoltaic panels out of moon dirt, assembling the panels into a gigantic lunar girdle belt, and laser-beaming 220 terawatts of annually collected voltage toward Earth.
![(via Designboom)
Japanese [architecture] practice Akio Kamiya Architect & Associates has shared with us images of “House in Tanimannari,” a two-part renovation project for a young couple in Okayama, Japan. Consisting of a two-storey detached room and a free-standing green house, the design maintains a careful balance between the old and the new.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr5ptemrVI1qap6kyo1_500.jpg)
(via Designboom)
Japanese [architecture] practice Akio Kamiya Architect & Associates has shared with us images of “House in Tanimannari,” a two-part renovation project for a young couple in Okayama, Japan. Consisting of a two-storey detached room and a free-standing green house, the design maintains a careful balance between the old and the new.
