Category Archives: Photos

【News】 Shining pot still with continuing promise for rich powerful whisky production (Nov. 17, 2015)

Kazuhiro Eguchi A pot still at Nikka Whisky Yoichi Distillery got a brand new shining copper body for the first time in a quarter-century. The old distillery in Yoichi-shi, Hokkaido, has seven pot stills. One of them got a new body which is approximately 8 meters wide in diameter. The replacement last time took place in 1990. According to Yoshikazu Koyano, Nikka’s general affairs manager, “The pot stills are rarely replaced and having a spanking new pot still in site is something very unusual.” The first distillery in Japan was built in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru who established Nikka Whisky and found Yoichi a perfect place to build his first … Continue reading

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【News】 Come and feel change in season and colors of nature (Nov. 15, 2015)

Kotaro Yamada – “Flower is home of color” exhibition (Gifu-shi, Gifu Prefecture)  – The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, in Gifu Prefecture is now becoming a popular venue for enjoying close contact with plants and flowers as well as their various shades. The museum currently holds a special exhibition called “Art-maru-ket – Flower is home of color.” It allows visitors to have close contact with nature and enjoy seasonal change of flowers and plants arranged in a gigantic three-dimensional artwork directed by Katsuhiko Hibino, a 57-year-old well-known artist and curator of the museum. The artwork actually sits in the garden where people can come and enjoy walking free of charge. … Continue reading

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【News】 Farmers go stylish (Nov. 1, 2015)

Kazuhiro Eguchi Farming is changing by the power of design. Agricultural equipment and work wears have so far been designed with an emphasis on functionality. Farmers today, however, have more and more options with style and uniqueness, as manufacturers are asking world-famous industrial and fashion designers and non-agricultural corporations to help them make and accelerate the change. “This is fabulous!” A man was speaking to himself excitedly as he got in a tractor that was on display at the Tokyo Motor Show 2015 held in Koto-ku, Tokyo. The model, the YT5113 Limited Edition large-sized tractor, was designed by Kiyoyuki “Ken” Okuyama for Yanmar Holdings Co. The 59-year-old world-famous industrial designer … Continue reading

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【News】 One hundred and fifty rare chickens at a glance (Oct. 25, 2015)

Kotaro Yamada Bunkyo-ku Educational Center in Tokyo is currently giving an awesome exhibition of chickens from all over the world. What you’ll see there are 150 very realistic taxidermy chickens of approximately 60 variants from the collection of the University Museum, the University of Tokyo. There are many rare ones, too. A red junglefowl, for example, is a bird of Southeastern Asia which is thought to be ancestral to the domestic chicken. Shokoku is a variety seen already in the Heian period, Shinkuro is an uncommon breed which is all black head to toe, and Dong Tao is a breed native to Vietnam and known for its abnormally thick legs. … Continue reading

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【News】 Candles re-brazing path to new future (Oct. 18, 2015)

Kotaro Yamada Matsuyama-haze Restoration Committee (Kurume-shi, Fukuoka Prefecture) In a town once known as a major grower of a Japanese wax tree called haze (Toxicodendron succedaneum), a citizens’ group is working hard to restore its indigenous species and candles made of the haze tree wax. Founded in 2007 by a 51-year-old female citizen of Kurume, Mayumi Yano, the group Matsuyama-haze Restoration Committee focuses on restoring one particular type of haze called Matsuyama-haze that bears prime-quality fruit for obtaining mokuro (tree wax), which is raw material of warosoku (Japanese candles). The committee offers several workshops to make people share and experience the life with warosoku. In September, it co-hosted a bring-your-own-food … Continue reading

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