Art, architecture and travel in Japan
Let Wallpaper* guide you through the worlds of art, design and architecture in Japan - and discover where to go and what to see when you travel to Japan.
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A Karuizawa house is a soothing, work-from-home retreat in Japan
Takeshi Hirobe Architects play with scale and space, creating a tranquil residence in which to live and work
By Tianna Williams Published
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Take this surprising Japanese beauty tour at the Shiseido Corporate Museum
For the first stop of our Summer in Tokyo beauty series, we delve into Shiseido's compelling archives – full of products, posters and ephemera – a 90-minute Shinkansen hop from the city
By Lara Johnson-Wheeler Published
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The world’s best new hotels we’re loving without reservation
Explore the best new openings in the world, from Sonolux, Quebec’s first immersive art hotel, to Mondrian Gold Coast, the brand’s Australian debut
By Nicola Leigh Stewart Last updated
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The Japanese watch brands you need to know now
Naoya Hida & Co, Kikuchi Nakagawa and Kurono Tokyo are just some of the Japanese watch brands to keep an eye on
By Thor Svaboe Last updated
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Naoshima New Museum of Art is a home for Asian art, and a lasting legacy, in Seto Inland Sea
The Naoshima New Museum of Art opens, marking a seminal addition to the Japanese island's renowned Benesse Art Site Naoshima; we explore Tadao Ando's design
By Ellie Stathaki Published
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2025 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize winner announced as Kunimasa Aoki
The Japanese sculptor describes his work as ‘50 per cent tradition and 50 per cent innovation’
By Francesca Perry Published
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Tune into the rhythm of Tokyo’s most ambitious record shop
Vinyl Delivery Service in east Tokyo’s Skwat Kameari Art Centre is spinning a new narrative for the traditional record store model
By Gabrielle Doman Published
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Wallpaper* checks in at Waldorf Astoria Osaka
‘It’s rare to work on a brand new hotel of this scale in Japan in today’s landscape,’ says designer Andre Fu about Osaka’s newest luxury hotel. Wallpaper* paid it an early visit
By Charlotte Gunn Published
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Behind a contemporary veil, this Kyoto house has tradition at its core
Designed by Apollo Architects & Associates, a Kyoto house in Uji City is split into a series of courtyards, adding a sense of wellbeing to its residential environment
By Tianna Williams Published
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Wallpaper* checks in at Rosewood Miyakojima: ‘Japan, but not as most people know it’
Rosewood Miyakojima offers a smooth balance of intuitive Japanese ‘omotenashi’ fused with Rosewood’s luxury edge
By Danielle Demetriou Published
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New book 'I-IN' brings together Japanese heritage and minimalist architecture at its finest
Japanese architecture studio I-IN flaunts its expert command of 21st-century minimalism in a new book by Frame Publishers
By Ellie Stathaki Published
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Inside Kyotographie, Japan’s world-renowned photography festival
Kyotographie 2025 embraces the theme ‘Humanity’ in Kyoto – Amah-Rose Abram reports with the highlights, from major and emerging photographers
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
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Inside the world of Tapio Wirkkala, the designer who created masterpieces in remotest Lapland
The Finnish artist set up shop in an Arctic outpost without electricity or running water; the work that he created there is now on display at a retrospective in Japan
By Anna Solomon Published
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Naoto Fukasawa sparks children’s imaginations with play sculptures
The Japanese designer creates an intuitive series of bold play sculptures, designed to spark children’s desire to play without thinking
By Danielle Demetriou Published
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Giant rings! Timber futurism! It’s the Osaka Expo 2025
The Osaka Expo 2025 opens its microcosm of experimental architecture, futuristic innovations and optimistic spirit; welcome to our pick of the global event’s design trends and highlights
By Danielle Demetriou Published
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2025 Expo Osaka: Ireland is having a moment in Japan
At 2025 Expo Osaka, a new sculpture for the Irish pavilion brings together two nations for a harmonious dialogue between place and time, material and form
By Danielle Demetriou Published
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Tour the brutalist Ginza Sony Park, Tokyo's newest urban hub
Ginza Sony Park opens in all its brutalist glory, the tech giant’s new building that is designed to embrace the public, offering exhibitions and freely accessible space
By Jens H Jensen Published
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A new book captures the kitschy allure of Japanese ‘love hotels’
For his latest project, French photographer François Prost documents the whimsical façades that characterise these erotic roadside venues.
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
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The Wallpaper* wellness report: thermal bathing is an ancient art set to rise in 2025
In this Wallpaper* wellness report, Emma O’Kelly investigates the rise of thermal bathing, an ancient art taking the world by storm in 2025 and beyond
By Emma O'Kelly Published
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Tangerine shapes the trains for Japan’s longest Shinkansen line, due in service in 2030
The UK-based consultancy has created the interiors and livery of the East Japan Railway Company's new E10 Shinkansen trains
By Jonathan Bell Published
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Ten contemporary homes that are pushing the boundaries of architecture
A new book detailing 59 visually intriguing and technologically impressive contemporary houses shines a light on how architecture is evolving
By Anna Solomon Published
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All aboard the world’s most luxurious train journeys
Stay on track with our pick of the most luxurious train journeys around the world, whether in 1920s-style opulence or contemporary chic
By Tianna Williams Published
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At Arpa Studios, a new chapter begins for perfumer Barnabé Fillion
Founder of Arpa Studios Barnabé Fillion catches up with Wallpaper* to talk about the latest chapter of his multisensory fragrance brand and research project
By Madeleine Rothery Published
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Wallpaper* checks in at Hoshino Resorts KAI Akiu: a soothing onsen hotel
In Japan’s bucolic northeast, Hoshino Resorts KAI Akiu breathes new life into a sleepy hot spring village without betraying its ancient roots
By Eric Millman Published
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And the RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 goes to... SANAA!
The RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 winner is announced – Japanese studio SANAA scoops the prestigious architecture industry accolade
By Ellie Stathaki Published
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Shake off the winter chill at these design-led onsen hotels in Japan
Whether you’re heading to the mountains of Hokkaido or the alleys of Kyoto’s Gion district, these immaculately designed onsen hotels will keep the shivers at bay
By Jen Paolini Published
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Architect Sou Fujimoto explains how the ‘idea of the forest’ is central to everything
Sou Fujimoto has been masterminding the upcoming Expo 2025 Osaka for the past five years, as the site’s design producer. To mark the 2025 Wallpaper* Design Awards, the Japanese architect talks to us about 2024, the year ahead, and materiality, nature, diversity and technological advances
By Sou Fujimoto Published