Cool Stuff to Buy
Shopping - Interior and Table
Traditional Storehouse Bento Box
kura bento box

Pack your lunch in an old-fashioned Japanese kura storehouse.

This adorable bento lunchbox is shaped like a Japanese kura storehouse. The design is based on the traditional architecture of tiled roof, white walls on the upper story, and black-slate patterned lower level.

The two-story building and separate roof compartment are big enough to fit a hearty lunch for a hungry student or office worker. Use the two box compartments for main and side dishes, sandwich and salad, or rice and toppings, and pop some candy or a snack in the roof. [US$29, €25.52]

Shopping - Outdoor Stuff
Cute Diode-character Folding Umbrella
diode umbrella
diode umbrella

This high-quality folding umbrella exudes high-tech electronic wizardry with its "transistorized" design.

It appears to be a simple black brolly decorated with colorful diodes and amps, but a closer look reveals that all the electronic components are cute, friendly characters.

Even the handle has a smiley face. Japanese customers love this item so much that some of them prefer not to take it out in the rain. (If you do take it out for a spin, it folds and fits easily into a bag or briefcase when not in use.)

From Japanese design group Kuralab. [US$29, €25.52]

Fashion watch
Fashion watch
Trends - Design and City
Revolutionary High-Fashion Jeans Made from 100% Paper
washi denim jeans

Japanese brand Maison 910 has launched a line of clothes made from 100% washi denim. Despite being made of Japanese paper, the clothes are washable, durable and practical, with a smooth, dry texture quite unlike any other material. Maison 910's denim jeans and jackets come in indigo, black, gray and off-white, and are available only from its Ginza and Kyoto stores.

washi denim jeans

The clothes are made from a paper fabric developed by the Osaka textile company Washi no Nuno. Second-generation weaver Masato Abe began experimenting with washi thread in 2003, determined to ensure the survival of a local industry that was disappearing at an alarming rate in the face of cheaper Asian textile production.

The unique thread is made of ultra-thin strips of washi (manila hemp paper) that are twisted into yarn and then woven into cloth on looms like any other yarn. Unlike cotton or silk, however, washi yarn has no elasticity - a problem that took Abe years to overcome through trial and error experiments.

washi denim jeans

After a decade of development, Abe finally succeeded in weaving paper denim that has a smoothness, dryness and lightness not found in any other cloth. While 97% of the area's textile looms have fallen silent, Abe's company is now exporting washi paper- and wood-based fabrics to Europe and the US, and providing unique textiles to high-fashion brands such as Maison 910.

Images: Washi no Nuno, Kyuten.