Kibune Sushi  is one of my three favourite restaurants in Vancouver. I would have promoted it more in the past, but like many others, I suspect, I’ve selfishly tried to save it for myself.

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The post Kibune Sushi – perfect food, perfect interior appeared first on Ouno Design.

I wish I’d curated this show:

“Stripes are a fundamental visual element, appearing naturally in vertical lines as trees and in manmade products of all kinds, from street dividers to ornate fabrics.

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The post Stripes: “Order and Border” at the Seattle Art Museum appeared first on Ouno Design.

Hiyao Miyazaki, one of my favourite filmmakers, is the Japanese director of the animated movies Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Totoro. Of all his films these three are favourite, probably because they are the most Japanese in their aesthetic.

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The post Hiyao Miyazaki and Spirited Away appeared first on Ouno Design.

Via Monocle. Thanks to Wilson Tang for pointing this out.

Twenty-nine Japanese families have found their version of happiness by creating their own idyll in a Tokyo suburb.

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The post Kinoka no Ie or “Wood-flavoured house” – alternative ecological housing in Tokyo appeared first on Ouno Design.

Japan has had to endure far more than its share of natural and human disasters and far too much of the lethal wreckage they bring with them—as if one disaster alone wouldn’t be too much.

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The post The Stink Spirit appeared first on Ouno Design.

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.

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The post Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board appeared first on Ouno Design.

Kusari toi (sometimes translitered “doi”)—the Japanese characters are 鎖樋 which translates literally as “chain gutters”—are known in English as rain chains. They are used in Japan as downspouts to direct rain from a gutter to the ground, where it either flows into a gravel or pebble bed or into some sort of catchment.

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The post Rain chains or kusari toi appeared first on Ouno Design.

Before I start, I’m asking on behalf of the owners of this house that nobody reposts or reproduces any of these images anywhere without my permission. Like a lot of people who have built their own houses in the woods, the owners, who are relatives of mine, appreciate their privacy and feel a bit negative about seeing their house all over the internet.

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The post “If I Had a Hammer? What Do You Mean If?” appeared first on Ouno Design.

This pixellated photo, taken last week, shows an object or event existing 12.9 billion years ago when the universe was young and we hadn’t even begun to exist. It’s unimaginably far away.

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The post Ancient blob named after Japanese queen by astronomer appeared first on Ouno Design.

This is a Japanese tradition we desperately need to adopt in North America – re-using textiles to wrap presents. It’s an art form, but it’s worth learning because it dispenses with all the annoying and wasteful tape and paper and ribbon, it’s a fun skill to learn (for kids too), and it’s an educational conversation piece – you might have to explain to the recipient what it is, but that’s probably worthwhile.

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The post Furoshiki – Wrap holiday presents in the green, Japanese style appeared first on Ouno Design.