Cool Stuff to Buy
Shopping - Interior and Table
Charming Teahouse-shaped Lunchbox
teahouse bento box

This cute bento lunchbox takes the form of a traditional Japanese teahouse, with tiled roof, sliding doors, noren curtains, and a large banner showing the kanji character for tea.

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]

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Shopping - Robots
Classic Skirted "Mini Target" Robot
mini target robot

This wind-up, collector's edition robot is a miniature version of the classic Target Robot from the early 1960s, one of the legendary Gang of Five robots from toymaker Masudaya. It's remarkable for its skirted chassis, hexagonal head, and large scarlet target on its chest. From our 21st-century viewpoint, for all its futuristic, space-age design, it looks remarkably like a boxy mainframe computer on wheels.

The Gang of Five series began in the late 1950s with the crimson Machine Man, followed by the blue Target, scarlet Sonic (Train), lavender Non-Stop, and gun-grey Radicon. Years later, the series was expanded to six robots with the green Shooting Giant. Original full-size vintage models of the series go for over $50,000 at auction.

This five-inch-tall replica version comes in an attractive cardboard box showing the Mini Target robot in front of a giant UFO against a blood-red sky. [US$ 18]

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Art Galleries
Art Galleries
Trends - Popcult and Kawaii
Bartkira - The Simpsons Meet Akira in this Ambitious Manga Mashup
bartkira opening

While the casting of Scarlett Johansson in the Hollywood live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell has gotten a lot of flack, no one is complaining about the sublime casting of Bart Simpson, Milhouse and even Krusty the Clown in Bartkira, the manga mash-up of the seminal dystopian series The Simpsons and the surreal comic book Akira.

bartkira opening
bartkira opening

A swarm of manga fans from both Japan and abroad gathered in a tiny gallery in the back streets of Asagaya to witness the first show in Japan of Bartkira, the fan-fiction project that mind-melds the Otomo and Groening worlds so perfectly.

Originally created by artists Ryan Humphrey and James Harvey, the Bartkira internet collaboration is now wrangled by Black Hook Press publisher James Stacey, with over 500 established and upcoming artists redoing every page of Katsuhiro Otomo's 2,100-page opus.

bartkira opening
bartkira opening

At the show's opening party, a constantly changing sea of heads jostled to pore over new images plastered over four walls, as a DJ spun retro grooves including ELO. The real surprise is that the two worlds merge so seamlessly, as if Bart were always about to take up arms as part of the resistance, Simpsons neighbor Laura to develop teleportation powers, and Milhouse to turn badass. All the while invoking typical Simpsons eighties catchphrases like D'oooh and Cayabunga.

Previous exhibitions have been held in the US (Volume 1) and the UK (Volume 2). After the Asagaya show, which ends on March 21, there are plans for more exhibitions in Yokohama (at Antenna America on Saturday, April 11) and the UK later this year, and even rumors of an animated version currently in production.

bartkira opening
bartkira opening
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