Rice Paddy Art

this week's most popular posts and other tidbits from around Japan

Japan's ancient calendar of 72 seasons 土潤溽暑 (tsuchi uruōte mushi atsushi) Earth is damp, air is humid According to the ancient calendar, we are currently in season 35: "earth is damp, air is humid." It's the time of year when the summer hear is most brutal. Indeed, looking at the heat waves across Japan right now it seems that the ancient calendar is still in sync. (Do you want more seasonal events, recipes, poems and art in your inbox? Become a member!) the spoon & tamago dispatch Rice Paddy Art Inakadate, the village in northern Japan's Aomori prefecture famous for their rice paddy art, unveiled their latest creation this week. The seeds of their labor, which were planted in June, have now grown and filled out the canvas, which is on view through around mid-August. Read on... Goldfish Salvation Goldfish are a summer staple in Japan. And one artist has devoted his entire artistic career to them, creating meticulous, lifelike, multidimensional paintings of them using layer after layer of paint. We check out his latest exhibition in Tokyo. Read on... Special End On a hot summer day, sometimes the only thing that will hit the spot is an ice cold beer. We stop by Tokyo's newest craft beer bar to see what was on tap. (It was an ale made from honey produced by the bee hives of Shimane Prefecture's Hagi Iwami Airport) Read on... Spoon & Tamago is a member-supported publication. If you can, please consider becoming a member and joining us in our mission to raise up Japanese arts & crafts. tidbits from all corners of Japan Osaka's famous Tower of the Sun sculpture has an "Armageddon mode" in which it lights up in red when Covid cases surpas a certain level. It was recently turned on again. With their population shrinking, Japan is finding new uses for their shuttered rural elementary schools. In Shiga, a school that closed in 2018 is now storage for aging whisky barrels From the Shop Contemporary Ukiyoe Shinji Tsuchimochi is a Tokyo-based illustrator who creates unique views of Tokyo and Japan, inspired by ukiyo-e but produced with a modern sense of whimsy and surrealism.  His art book UKIYO is a compilation of old and new work, and includes his masterpiece 100 Views of Tokyo, an ambitious 3-year project created in the vein of ukiyo-e master Utagawa Hiroshige. View UKIYO Copyright © 2022 Spoon & Tamago, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website. Our mailing address is: Spoon & Tamago 794 Dekalb Ave Apt A8 New York, New York 10112 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.