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]

Art gallery watch
Art gallery watch
Trends - Popcult and Kawaii
Cat Lovers Get their Paws Dirty at "Meow" Art Show
meow exhibition

It seems Japanese cat lovers are an artistic bunch. Or maybe Japanese artists love cats. Whichever way round, there is so much kitty-inspired artistic expression here in Tokyo that "Meow" - a huge exhibition of cat-themed art held at Harajuku's Design Festa gallery - is now in its fourth year. The show has totally taken over both wings and spills out onto the streets in front and back.

At the recent exhibition, some sixty artists showed new feline-themed pieces, including photography, illustration, graphic design, accessories and figures. Fancy a leather strap with cute cat head and tail that can be curled round a finger and worn as a ring, or twisted around a pencil, or, um, worn as a ring?

meow exhibition
meow exhibition

Or, how about fluffy cat hindquarters, back legs and tail, that hang on a wall, inviting you to peer around the corner into the next room in expectation of seeing forelegs and head emerging on the other side? Is it a kiss-my-ass riposte to trophy heads on walls? Or just a whimsical fluffy cat tail disappearing into a wall like Alice down a rabbit hole? Unfortunately the artist was not in attendance to answer our probing queries.

meow exhibition
meow exhibition

For those looking for more conceptual, minimalist cat art, cha.tsuchi's groundbreaking miniature cat shrubs in flower pots casually mixed East and West by combining bonsai and topiary. Atelier168 offered purses in colorful fabrics with elegant cat silhouettes, and little bags of catnip instead of potpourri. Another artist was selling her own hand-made hats and ear muffs with cute cat ears, must-have items for the feline-inclined.

meow exhibition
meow exhibition