The game celebrates its 11th anniversary by announcing new content from the Father of Mecha Design himself having played a key role in creating famous mecha franchises where the game is operated in partnership with iDreamSky Anniversary-themed content is already live in-game with additional content from the collaboration arriving in the upcoming May update War Robots has surpassed $1 billion in revenue and attracted over 300 million players worldwide Japan stands out as a particularly important region — ranking second in lifetime revenue with approximately 5 million registered players within the vehicular shooter genre in Japan War Robots holds the top position in revenue on both the App Store and Google Play1 War Robots will feature a themed in-game event titled MECHA Raider S.W.O.R.D. embracing a retro anime vibe and offering players exclusive content to use in battles all while enjoying the festive atmosphere of this special occasion At the heart of the event is a brand-new robot inspired by classic mecha design The initial goal was to create a unique machine that captures the iconic style and spirit of the genre — complete with a sword Okawara-sensei designed the SWORD Unit 190 a powerful battle robot developed by the in-game DSC corporation the robot can be equipped with plasma guns and a drone All of these have also been designed by Kunio Okawara "War Robots has always drawn inspiration from history and culture — with mecha anime being a major influence This genre has significantly shaped the look and feel of some of our most iconic robots The upcoming collaboration is also a direct response to our players’ interests We took the time to understand what our audience enjoys watching and listening to over 50% of respondents said they love and watch mecha anime," said Boris Burangulov "The team wanted to create something truly special there are few names more legendary than Kunio Okawara." When expressing his thoughts about the collaboration Master Okawara commented: "As expected — truly outstanding work While my strength lies in proposing concepts and forms I have the deepest respect for those who dedicate themselves to the art of modeling [video games] It’s an honor to collaborate on such a fun and inspiring project I am increasingly looking forward to the release of my work Kunio Okawara is a renowned Japanese mecha designer celebrated for his groundbreaking work in anime having been instrumental in shaping some of the most iconic franchises in the genre His works are characterized by intricate mechanical details and a distinctive blend of futuristic and industrial aesthetics — which perfectly fits into the aesthetics of War Robots War Robots also celebrated its 11th Anniversary having by that point surpassed $1 billion in revenue and attracted over 300 million players the team decided to come up with something special and stylish About War Robots War Robots is a third-person mobile shooter developed by MY.GAMES’ in-house studio Pixonic hundreds of thousands active players daily and a huge community of fans The War Robots Universe expanded with the release of War Robots: Frontiers a high-end third-person shooter for Windows PC and Xbox One and Series X|S developed with Unreal Engine 5 Posted in: Games, Indie Games, Video Games | Tagged: , , War Robots has revealed plans to celebrate the 11th Anniversary with a special collaboration involving anime designer Kunio Okawara Indie game developer and publisher MY.GAMES revealed plans to celebrate the 11th Anniversary of War Robots including a special collaboration with Kunio Okawara Okawara is well known for creating different kinds of mech designs throughout his career having a hand in several anime franchises. So it should come as no shock that he added his own touch to this special anniversary addition of the SWORD Unit 190 which will be available in the game in late May We have more details about the collaboration below along with a couple of quotes from today's reveal The initial goal was to create a unique machine that captures the iconic style and spirit of the genre — complete with a sword. To bring this vision to life "War Robots has always drawn inspiration from history and culture — with mecha anime being a major influence The upcoming collaboration is also a direct response to our players' interests Master Okawara commented: "As expected — truly outstanding work I have the deepest respect for those who dedicate themselves to the art of modeling It's an honor to collaborate on such a fun and inspiring project Diesel Art Gallery (Shibuya) presents a large-scale solo exhibition by Kentaro Okawara the internationally acclaimed artist based in Seoul the exhibition runs from April 26 to July 13 and features over 50 new works centered on themes of love and everyday life Okawara’s work captures moments of intimacy and this marks his latest major presentation in Tokyo Kentaro Okawara is known for his vibrant and emotionally rich visual language Drawing inspiration from childhood memories Okawara’s work creates a deeply personal yet universally relatable visual world From purple sweet potatoes to wild horse sightings here’s how to make the most of Okinawa’s tropical escape Explore the best local brands shaping Tokyo’s fashion scene From vintage clothing to Hawaiian-themed goods here’s what’s worth checking out before it’s gone From buying and registering a bike to key rules of the road Collagen staples for beauty and health in Japan Our handpicked list of the best events going on this month and the untold tales of Japan’s queer community Everything you need to know before and during a natural disaster Stay up to date with Tokyo news and events The Cardinals have a new edge rusher available as they go into the regular season The team added outside linebacker Julian Okwara on Wednesday to its first iteration of this season's practice squad which features 14 other players who had been released by the team on Tuesday had nine sacks in 38 games over four seasons with Detroit After the Lions let him leave as a free agent the Eagles signed the veteran before he was released earlier this week All the practice squad players -- including running back Michael Carter, linebacker Krys Barnes and quarterback Desmond Ridder -- took part in Wednesday's practice The Cardinals get an exemption for international player Bernhard Seikovits so even with 15 current players on the practice squad Seikovits has been an exemption on the PS his whole career but this year the rules have changed to allow him to be elevated to a game like any other practice squad player if the Cardinals so choose The Cardinals also brought back the only two rookies in the draft class who did not make the 53-man roster: cornerback Jaden Davis and wide receiver Tejhaun Palmer Release international tight end Bernhard Seikovits Ohio State ties show again with addition of Fryar Wide receiver heading into his fifth season with team Veteran lineman returns to team that drafted him  Tight end had been an exclusive rights free agent One-time second-round pick was released by Browns Wide receiver gives veteran presence to young room Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Tokyo KFC and Christmas in Japan?Why the country known for its gastronomy flocks to Kentucky Fried Chicken for the festive season It’s that time of the year again: the illuminations have gone up and the first Christmas bucket orders are being placed at KFC. Wait, what? Yes, you read that correctly: Christmas and KFC are completely intertwined in Japan families gather around the table to eat a bucket of fried chicken for the occasion – something that would be all but incomprehensible in countries with Christian foundations Orders for buckets of deep-fried drumsticks and breast can be placed from early November and even then you’ll have to wait in the massive queues that form outside KFCs across the country on Christmas Day itself to pick one up Turns out the entire thing can be traced back to one man: Takeshi Okawara the enterprising manager of the first KFC in Japan The company line is that Okawara had a dream about selling a party bucket full of chicken and started a one-store campaign to boost sales The reason why he had the dream in the first place He allegedly overheard an expat saying that they missed eating turkey for Christmas and that chicken was the next best option during the festive season.  Okawara's venture came to set the tone for Christmas in Japan for decades to come The fried chicken party bucket went national in 1974 with the slogan ケンタッキーはクリスマス！(Kentucky is Christmas!) cementing the connection between fried chicken and Christmas in the minds of many Japanese The lack of (Christian) traditions associated with Christmas in Japan – and perhaps Colonel Sanders bearing a striking resemblance to Mr Claus, especially when given a Santa hat and a red clothing makeover – meant that birthing a new custom was rather easy. But how big of a deal is it really? Well, apparently a third of KFC’s yearly sales big. It’s hardly a cheap experience either: the standard party box, with eight pieces of chicken, a shrimp gratin and a chocolate cake (yes, KFC Japan does cake), is ¥4,580 when booked in advance.  To make life more convenient (and lucrative), KFC has also spread Christmas out to include the days leading up to December 25, just to be able to cope with the chicken frenzy. Considering Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan and likely never will be (unless Colonel Sanders becomes an honorary citizen), that’s probably for the best. If you’re in Tokyo around Christmas and don’t want to queue for a KFC, best get yourself to a convenience store and just pick up some chicken there – but be warned that even those tend to sell out. Merry Kentucky Christmas! Photo: Roppongi Hills Christmas MarketGet your gifts and ornaments here – and reward yourself with a pint while you're at it Photo: Andrej Safaric/DreamstimeWith KFC fried chicken buckets strawberry shortcakes and romantic dinner dates – not necessarily in that order Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! facebooktwitterpinterestinstagramAbout us The "Chogokin Super Change Mickey Mouse" robot is part of Bandai's "Chogokin" line of premium die-cast figures Pre-orders start at all participating retailers on November 18 The figure will cost 16,500 yen (about US$105) in Japan A competing toy maker also transformed Mickey Mouse into a certain red-and-blue truck this is the first time a legendary anime designer like Okawara has personally converted Mickey Mouse himself into a robot Source: Tamashii Nation 2024 event (Egan Loo) You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos "data-img-src" : imgSrc } = buylink %> />><%= itemTitle %> has recently come out with a new Mickey Mouse toy The Disney mascot will be part of Bandai’s sub-brand Tamashii Nation and more specifically its part of the Chogokin (“Super Alloy”) line The Chogokin line uses metal uses metal plating and accent pieces to make robot figures look more realistic The Mickey Mouse toy was designed by Kunio Okawara “Because there are many Mickey Mouse fans all over the world I didn’t want to mess with his visual design I kept him looking as close to his original appearance as I could and I got really excited thinking of ways for him to transform” Okawara said The new toy transforms from Mickey’s typical physique to a longer legged and more muscular version with his ears forming the robot’s feet and raising its waistline Called the Chogokin Henshinkei Mickey Mouse by Kunio Okawara the 12.5-centimeter tall figure is priced at 16,500 yen (US$110) ShareSaveInnovationGamingKunio Okawara, The Man Who Designed 'Gundam' And Created The Profession Of Mechanical DesignByOllie Barder Based in Inagi Okawara lives in a wonderfully tranquil neighborhood and it made for a nice change of pace to get out of the intensity of central Tokyo an illustration room and an industrial factory where he makes all sorts of things and it had “Okawara Factory” written on the outside so I at least knew I was in the right place he was very kind and it was clear he was already doing some other work at his illustration desk As we sat down his wife very kindly provided refreshments and it became clear that this area was one he’d lived in his whole life this piece of land has belonged to my family for generations For over 300 years my family has been living in this area and I've been living here since I was born in 1947 So for 68 years I've been living here Looking at the job section in the newspaper and I found something at Tatsunoko Productions and then went to work there While there I started on drawing the background art So I didn't really go back to the background art design training for a long time and up until now I've been designing mecha “So when I entered into this industry it was to do with my marriage and that is was convenient to work at a nearby location I wasn't initially getting into it because I was hugely passionate about anime or manga it allowed me to take each project very coolly just observing the deadlines and being objective about the whole thing It really has just been a continuation of that up until now In the process of working on each project I didn't get too involved with designing it was a different take compared to how other people had entered into the industry.” The iconic designs of the RX-78-2 Gundam (bottom) and MS-06S Zaku II (top) from the anime Mobile.. it was already clear that Okawara was a very grounded and calm individual after interviewing other figures in the industry here I wasn’t expecting someone so chilled and affable This objectivity then was something that made a lot of sense and also helped to explain the variety of work he’s done over the years I was very keen to discover his influences as he is the first ever credited mechanical designer such as who or what helped get him onto that path at Tatsunoko Productions it was Nakamura who was doing the mecha design and as I continued to work on mecha I referred to his work a great deal At the time there wasn't any sort of job category or credit called 'mechanical design,' but I was the first one that got that title in the credits for Gatchaman Nakamura really was a big influence for me I also used to look at books publishing in America as it wasn't the time with the internet So I took a look at these kinds of books.” It’s here that Okawara went to his expansive bookshelf, which covered an entire wall of his studio. While curated, it was clear that these were all books to be used and referenced. Pulling down two books in particular, Space Wars: Worlds and Weapons as well as The World of Tomorrow he started talking more about his influences “As an aside, Syd Mead also came to my studio as well when he worked on Turn A Gundam “In terms of Chris Foss' work I thought his work was a bit dated but in some parts especially when he's designing anything mainly mechanical then some of those were very useful points of reference.” For anyone that knows of Nakamura’s work, then this strong influence makes a lot of sense. Nakamura was amazing at coming up with clean and sleek designs for things like Gatchaman and Time Bokan You’d see his vehicles and be able to identify them by their silhouette alone Nakamura died a fair few years ago now but like Okawara As I interviewed Shoji Kawamori previously he mentioned that Studio Nue was involved in the early pre-production for the series and I wanted to know more about that Sunrise was planning to do this project with Yasuhiko and Studio Nue but Yasuhiko wanted to work with me So that's how this project came to me The original samurai themed version of the Gundam (left) followed by the final production version.. “The reason why Yasuhiko chose me was because Studio Nue were a group of people that got together to work around a science fiction theme all the points of view they brought were really science fiction centric Not exactly a wide-ranging type of entertainment So they wanted to make the whole thing really scientific and their mecha weren't all that inclusive Whereas Tatsunoko Productions could work on a wider ranging set of themes and it could include mecha design that wasn't specifically science fiction centric as this early Guncannon design wasn't strong enough to lead the whole project So not protagonist material and I proposed the Gundam instead In the process of coming up with the Gundam there were ideas from a great many people reflected in the final design So it's not like a single-handed thing the version of the Guncannon now known in Mobile Suit Gundam is very different from the one that was originally designed It changed quite dramatically from that original design and idea It was maybe more like the powered suit Miyatake did for Starship Troopers It was also meant to be 18-meters tall and as such the face and a mouth was a little bit strange but to have it openly confirmed and explained like this was fascinating I too had brought some books as I thought they would be helpful in terms of reference to certain questions I had One of these books was the artbook sold at the Okawara exhibition I went to last year it showed some of the progression of the early designs for Mobile Suit Gundam Some of the very early designs from Gundam when it was known as Gunboy “So this was something I drew for my job but at that stage the concept for Gundam was not fixed at all (shown directly above left). This was way before then. At the time I was working on Daitairn 3 which was obviously very anime and manga styled the next project coming up was something based in outer space as well as something that had never been done before The inspiration then was to come from the clothes or suit an astronaut wears That's where the idea for mobile suits came from at the time when I drew these there was no consensus I don't think the name Gundam was even mentioned at this point Thus allowing kids to play with a variety of parts I was mainly working on the ideas for the toys because it has to sell that in terms of the merchandising Whereas Tomino was working on the story but at the time I was working most closely with Sunrise's planning team and my role was to sell the toy idea to the sponsors the planning team were in contact with both Yasuhiko and Tomino at this stage neither Yasuhiko nor Tomino gave any real direction “What was happening is that at the time of Daitairn 3 obviously I'd design the mecha but I was coming at it from the point of view of selling it as a toy making mockups and speaking to the toy company Gundam was after this but it took a similar sort of process So I was mainly talking to the sponsors about the toys and how to make them sell I'd discuss with Sunrise what type of toy could be sold and what would work best for Gunboy That discussion took place with Sunrise's head of planning which was also one of the company heads and had the authority to make decisions The story and all that came later after all that was fixed so the mecha was fixed then the story is placed around that he wouldn't place any directive on the mecha design the other designs towards the end of the series All I did for that was then filter it through to the character sheet I had the idea of how the Zeon and Federation forces would look like but after Tomino started sending me rough ideas then all that got a bit messed up So I have to attribute the number and variety of mobile suits to Tomino and all I did was clean up those rough ideas to something that looked three dimensional.” Following his work on the original Mobile Suit Gundam Okawara has also contributed to other series but I wanted to understand how that worked as he is credited as a supervising mechanical designer on some of the later series and movies I worked on the first Mobile Suit Gundam in regards to the mechanical design So I don't have the rights to contribute to that further when they want to modify it Sunrise didn't really inform me of anything but they're not obliged to do so So I wasn't really involved a lot in later Gundam series Okawara is credited on Gundam ZZ but like he says they’re not his designs in terms of the rights So it’s up to Sunrise on how they use them it’s nice that he is still credited for something as without his initial designs on Mobile Suit Gundam the series and mecha wouldn’t be as popular as they are It’s this popularity that I also wanted to talk to him about as Gundam as a franchise is even bigger today than it was when it was released at the end of the 70s Also with Gundam I didn't think I wanted to do this forever I only start working on something after I've received an offer to do so It's not as though I have something and then propose it to someone else then I will consider it and agree on the contract I personally prefer to come up with new concepts for new projects so I don't necessarily want to do the serial While it's wonderful in terms of your livelihood but other than that I prefer working on new things So I don't find it sad that I am not really involved in Gundam all that much these days “The way I think of my work is to realize what the director wants as close as I possibly can to his imagination So I don't think I am an artist but maybe more of artisan The creation of animation is not something that only one person can do either So one person's insistence should not delay the whole process because a project's schedule is very tightly planned to coincide with things like the broadcasting date and all that My priority then is how I receive the project; understand it and then how quickly I can get to the output stage I don't spend too much time thinking whether the design is good or bad it is just that I receive the commission and then my output from that While many know of Okawara’s work in regards to Gundam, his other mecha design work is as noteworthy, namely his collaboration with Ryosuke Takahashi on a variety of anime during the 80s These are also very important in a gaming sense but I will get to that in due course Kanda was also extremely knowledgeable about armaments and weapons in general so it was going to be a full on battle type story The Combat Armor Dougram from the anime Fang of the Sun Dougram [+] BattleTech and MechWarrior as the Shadow Hawk “The story itself turned into guerrilla warfare and was quite political this meant the viewer of the anime would be older than the age group that would be playing with plamodel So we did something called Dual Model for the toy merchandising with Dougram and the toys themselves were quite expensive Though at the time there was no toy that had the interior type detail “With VOTOMS one of the problems with the Dual Model toys though was that they couldn't recreate the famous sitting down pose of the Dougram the Dougram was 10 meters tall but in the anime it looks much bigger than that In animation it is quite difficult to express the scale of things Animators cannot really communicate the size to the viewer so I started to wonder whether I could do a project where any animator could realize the scale of the mecha So I started to think of the armored troopers in VOTOMS versus a person allowing the relative scale to be always apparent As anyone can understand the height of a person and that in turn would give a helpful point of reference for the mecha “As I worked on the project, I put a Microman into a mockup and from that mockup I calculated that four meters would be the right size to make a changeable toy So using that quite understandable size reference and then worked on it from that at the same time Takahashi had similar ideas for a smaller type of mecha Takahashi is about five years older than me and he was a kid during the Second World War He remembers seeing the US Army jeeps around at the time he was growing up and that whenever they drove around they left a big oil slick everywhere Making a really shiny oily pattern to the water patches all over the roads So he was talking about those jeep sized mecha as an idea As it turned out what I worked out doing the mockup with the Microman figure was this four size but that too turned out to be about the same length as a jeep Takahashi doesn't tend to have too many requirements so he doesn't ask me to change this part or that part Where we both met in terms of ideas was that we understood the idea of heavy armaments for real warfare would never really understand how something that heavy was so close to our lives So because they never really experienced war they could never really come up with something like VOTOMS the generation of Izubuchi already has a great deal of classic designs surrounding him so their life is so far away from actual warfare VOTOMS was a result of people who directly experienced wartime The ATM-09-ST Scopedog from Armored Trooper VOTOMS This design in particular was responsible for.. [+] inspiring much of the functional parameters for the mecha in the Heavy Gear series “Regarding the wheels, or rollers, in the AT's feet that came from Takahashi. To get the Scopedog to walk in terms of animation would require a lot of work because it was quite small having wheels in the feet meant it could skate around and save on the leg animation “I also played that VOTOMS VR simulator with Takahashi recently both Dougram and VOTOMS have a very important role to play in regards to how Western mecha games developed with the wheels in the feet as well as their overall parameters as with real robot mecha design form follows function copying the designs means you are copying low-level functionality which will in turn define how the game will operate That’s why when I often hear people say they prefer Western mecha design from things like BattleTech or MechWarrior they are actually saying that are fan of Okawara’s work from the 80s such as the destroids designed by Kazutaka Miyatake Dougram’s influence is clearly a stronger one as much of BattleTech’s narrative bears a close similarity to Dougram’s Okawara’s approach to all this is one of detached calm and in some ways more artistic as well “Seeing my designs used elsewhere is exciting for me My time was when my generation looked towards the designs done in the West and then get inspired and made into their own projects Now those things we made are inspiring people in places like Hollywood and elsewhere there would be a cycle created that both ends are inspiring one another sadly there isn't anything new coming out in terms of mecha design Nothing really challenging is appearing for years now one day there will be something new introduced to viewers and then the industry in Japan will realize that they have got to actually keep on producing something new Pumping that into the industry so that once again they would become a source of inspiration for others then Hollywood would look to it and then we would look at them again and become a cycle While it’s clear he obviously cares about his work and the design he’s done the real drive is obviously to come up with something new Part of me feels that he still deserves to be properly credited but he’s clearly happy with how things have turned out The designs are also quite different to other mecha of that period and I was curious how they had been conceived we worked with Bandai who released the plamodel they always wanted to incorporate the new technology or a new thing that was made possible in technological sense into their toys and kits there was development going on for plastic that changed its color once it was hit by ultraviolet light So they suggested that using that as a canopy During the period around Macross' release there was an aeroplane design but they wanted to do something different from that So designing something different that wasn't an aeroplane The SPT-LZ-00X Layzner from the anime Blue Comet SPT Layzner [+] influenced a lot of mecha games over the years myself and the Sunrise planning team went to do a presentation at Bandai then working on that to fix the mecha side and then the story this new light sensitive material didn't make it in time for the development I designed the mecha so that the scale of it is quite clear So you can see the pilot from the canopy in the head the animator tended to make the heads too small because it looked more streamlined What I had in mind was the image from the Second World War where each fighter plane would send signals or gestures between the pilots in the cockpits so as to communicate with one another the canopy for the mecha in Layzner was transparent and I imagine that this theme would be included in the series but it almost never came about “With other things like the head scope that Eiji uses So who does the character design and the character designer's territory is up to this bit or the mecha designer's remit is here I will do it but if not asked then I don't This also goes with the background art as well it’s fascinating to see that the mecha where fixed in place prior to the story and that what was intended never really came about While Layzner is definitely on the harder edged real robot end of the spectrum it’s worth realizing that Okawara did go back and design super robots as well One of the last of these was King of Braves GaoGaiGar but one of the most successful anime of the 90s almost never happened the sales started to decline in terms of merchandise So Takara's sales team was debating whether they should continue or not Meanwhile it wasn't clear whether Takara was going to continue sponsoring the project or not After a rather unclear time with some arguments in the end Takara agreed to sponsor and it was all go again it was Sunrise that really wanted to carry on So I'd been involved in it for a long time again to sell the toys I got involved and the producer was Takahashi That alone tells you that Sunrise was really dead keen on this project “Regarding the shinkansen for the shoulders for the whole process Takara was very much involved Their product development team was involved in the process I tended to work on the parts that didn't impact on the transformation We had weekly meetings and I picked up the areas that doesn't touch upon the transformation and then finish the parts one by one The whole process was done with that kind of method they started to make the story based on Tomino's direction and it became something I never imagined it would be based on the designs I had done This setup is probably the other way around to the 'normal' process done elsewhere This approach on finalizing the mecha beforehand is something that would make a great deal of sense with gaming Games are a type of abstract toy and nailing the functionality down first makes a lot of sense It’s just a shame that people seem fixated on nailing the lore and narrative beforehand rather than drill down on what their games can do mecha games would benefit a lot more from this toy based process that both Okawara and Sunrise took with their anime production and subsequent merchandising we talked more about some of his more favorite projects and what he’s been doing in more recent years he’s still clearly very passionate about his work and what new thing may come next “In terms of my favorite projects then it would probably be VOTOMS at Sunrise and Yatterman at Tatsunoko Productions I really enjoyed working on those projects If someone also makes an offer to me showcasing a different project that I haven't done before then I would love to work on something like that around the age of forty I started scuba diving I don't like drawing very much but I love making mechanical things The Inagi city mascot Inashinaginosuke (left) and Haro from Mobile Suit Gundam (right) that was done completely on a volunteer basis I am just trying to enjoy the rest of my working life I don't think I will continue to work at the same kind of rate like I used to but at the same time having said that if a new anime project comes along then I can be a legend “Yasuhiko is the same age as me and I am involved with his new Gundam The Origin project so as long as he is up and about and doing things then I can't give my work up I felt that as if I was floating through my life I didn't have any specific target as such I just drifted into this industry by chance and then became the first ever person to become a mecha designer No one actually told me 'well done' because unlike Yasuhiko I didn't have the aim to become a manga artist and as I hadn't come from somewhere like Hokkaido into the Tokyo scene and making it I couldn’t really present anyone that kind of story if there is another unusual project or work oriented thing coming along then I would only think that's another fun thing to do I've been quite passive but that's how it has been." Being able to talk with Okawara like this was fascinating his tranquil and calm approach to things was not at all what I was expecting in many ways it helps to explain how he has been so varied and prolific in terms of his mecha design output The surprisingly large renditions of Char's Zaku (left) and Amuro's Gundam (right) outside Inagi.. Considering how successful his designs have been part of me felt before that he should be rewarded financially for that it’s clear he is content and happy with what he’s done he has found a type of wealth but in a different and more fundamental sense Okawara’s designs are a big part of everyday life in Japan and his work has had and continues to have a massive global influence all I could think of as I left was this kind and cheerful man tinkering in his factory and designing mecha at his desk Okawara has shaped the world of mecha design for decades and will continue to do so for a long time to come My only hope is that more people will acknowledge his work more openly as without him we wouldn’t really have mecha in the first place Read my Forbes blog here Channel your inner space colony rebel with these special edition designs Uniqlo is set to release a special Gundam 45th anniversary collection brand this April featuring exclusive artwork from legendary mechanical designer Kunio Okawara The collection will include four designs celebrating different eras of the iconic mecha anime franchise from the original Mobile Suit Gundam to more recent hits like The Witch from Mercury The collection pays homage to various iterations of the franchise that has captivated audiences since 1979 Alongside artwork from the original Mobile Suit Gundam the lineup includes designs featuring mobile suits from SEED and The Witch from Mercury offering something for fans of different Gundam eras The collection is highlighted thanks to its special designs by Kunio Okawara the mechanical designer who has been instrumental in creating Gundam’s distinctive visual style since the franchise’s inception Okawara’s contribution features exclusive artwork created specifically for this anniversary collection The t-shirts will be available at Uniqlo stores across Japan and through their online shop from mid-April 2025. Each shirt is priced at ¥1,990 (including tax), making this an affordable way for fans to celebrate the franchise’s milestone. While this isn’t the first time Uniqlo has partnered with the Gundam franchise, it marks a special milestone as the series celebrates 45 years of influence on Japanese popular culture. For fans unable to make it to the Gundam Base in Tokyo or other dedicated Gundam stores, this collection offers an opportunity to own a piece of the franchise’s history while celebrating its enduring legacy in Japanese popular culture. 2024@ladygagaSave this storySaveSave this storySaveAll products featured on Vogue are independently selected by our editors we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links The most glamorous spot in Vegas right now is Lady Gaga’s Jazz & Piano residency. Channeling the days when her friend and collaborator Tony Bennett reigned supreme the show is a decadent ode to Sin City’s most fabulous days Gaga uplifts her love for well-known jazz standards including “Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)” and “It Don’t Mean A Thing.” alongside soulful piano renditions of her biggest hits like “Poker Face” and “Born This Way.” her beauty looks also channel this iconic and glamorous era Her glam collaborators on the residency are the team that works with her on virtually everything—hairstylist Frederic Aspiras we chat with each artist about how the residency looks came together the products they’re using to achieve the looks this is just the beginning of the beauty for the residency Aspiras confirms looks could change as early as the next performance She may never do the same song twice or wear the same look which makes it not only exciting for her glam team but also the audience—especially the super fans that see the residency multiple times “I am extremely passionate about the rich history of makeup,” says Sarah Tanno who is also the Global Artistry Director of Gaga's Haus Labs “I spent time researching iconic eras and drawing inspiration from classic jazz music particularly the early days of the Vegas strip with the Rat Pack I envision her residency makeup enduring the test of time.” as they’re long-lasting but deliver a skin-like finish Makeup highlights of the show include extended crystal-embellished lashes and Gaga’s signature red lip—created by using a Haus Lab innovation called Atomic Shake Lip Lacquer that’s a “high-shine transfer-proof and long-wear lip product,” according to Tanno “It has changed show makeup for us forever,” she says “I no longer have to worry about her lipstick transferring on the costumes It stays perfect for the entire show with zero need to touch it up.” Tanno also divulges that Gaga is extremely educated on skin health and all things skincare science It’s why she wanted to infuse Haus Labs complexion products with the brand’s patent-pending Fermented Arnica that calms and soothes any redness or irritation during wear This ensures her skin is calm and maintains moisture post-show though Tanno spends time after every performance washing her face reapplying her skincare and using Gaga’s favorite mask before she goes home each night And if you’re wondering if Gaga is wearing any not-yet-seen Haus Labs creations while onstage during her residency “We consistently utilize the stage to rigorously stress-test our latest innovations,” Tanno reveals we will be testing several new products that we can't wait to unveil and share with everyone.” “When we first started doing this residency about five years ago she was one of the first to bring the format back A lot of people were saying negative things but now we’ve proven it can stay successful we put everything into it and we work hard.” Aspiras’s pre-work includes a ton of research to really channel the eras of the songs Gaga is singing along with hours and hours of testing to ensure that the hair is not only respecting the music He names Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald as inspirations for the looks onstage but also the looks in the film they shot which is showcased to the audience on the big screens in Gaga’s outfit and beauty change moments “We’re paying homage to a legacy of great artists and jazz musicians and that comes from her relationship with Tony Bennett and her love for jazz.” To kick things off properly for this residency round Gaga wore a two-tone black and platinum wig with super cropped bangs and a wrapped bluntly-cut ponytail—reminiscent of a style Aspiras had first created for her about fifteen years ago “I was inspired by my mother who is a hairdresser and Shanghai Express,” the Oscar-nominated hairstylist says of the style “It doesn’t leave any residue on your hair so there’s no flakiness and I can brush through it without it looking like there's a ton of product on the hair,” he says weekly washes and conditioning treatments are standard as well as minimal products (mostly just a soft cream to tame flyaways) “A lot of preparation goes into the setting of the hair with setting lotions and light gels to keep the hair in place with memory hold that keeps any curl in there,” he says So I use a mousse to blow out the hair that creates a protective barrier and then I finish it with a hairspray.” Though she’s in Japan for the duration of the residency, Miho Okawara did Lady Gaga’s nails right before the show—a fiery and bright apple red gel set that evokes the crooning sirens of the 1940s and 50s and creates an incredible contrast with her fashion looks. Gaga and her styling team of Sandra Amador and Tom Eerebout usually share their overall concept and all the fashion looks with Okawara. From there, she creates the best nails that can work across outfits and all the elements of Gaga’s performance. But there are cases in which the entire glam team gets together to brainstorm, inspire each other, and coordinate holistically so the nail designs are an effortless part of each ensemble. To maintain the health of Gaga’s nails not just during the residency but overall, Okawara applies treatments to her nails every few weeks. She forgoes sanding to fill Gaga’s gel nails without damage and recommends it to nail art lovers everywhere for their own maintenance. She also massages Gaga’s hands to strengthen her nails and boost nail growth, as well as treating her cuticles with oil for hydration. And if you’ve ever seen Gaga perform, you know she’s bound to break a nail or two as she’s passionately playing the piano or owning every inch of the stage. So Okawara makes press-on nails for her if something happens as a precautionary measure, as well as having her assistant on hand (literally) for any necessary fixes. “The Haus of Gaga is a well-oiled machine,” says Tanno. “We have been together for over a decade now and have been friends and collaborators for so long that we are usually aligned before we even begin. Our approach is in-depth—working closely with Gaga, we meticulously prepare for each event as if it were our most significant yet. It is an honor to be able to work with people you love and respect and who have become part of your extended family.” Aspiras considers Tanno a sister because there’s such a great amount of trust between them. “When Sarah and I work together, we collaborate a lot on how to say something with the makeup and hair,” he says. “Is it modern and fresh or is it reminiscent of the past? Or is it both? How does it work with the costumes and how does it vibe with her now?” The duo examines the lighting, angles, the fashion looks more as they dissect everything from the front of the stage with surgical precision. And it’s truly a workshoping experience with Gaga: Sometimes they go through a ton of changes and present to her for her final touch, or there are times when they give looks to her and she wants to do her own version of them. Working with the stylist team is also a fruitful and important collaboration, as Gaga is known for her bold, daring, and oft-provocative fashion looks. “I always feel like I have to bring something good or else they’re going to look at me,” Aspiras jokes. “It’s a good challenge because it entices you to make something better. “What you see on stage becomes magic and that doesn’t happen until she puts it all on,” Aspiras says. “Gaga is such an amazing leader and I really do mean that. She’s extremely passionate about her love for her art and making people feel something: happiness, sadness, joy, love. Making them feel like they’re worthy of their lives and special things like this.” “There have been so many ‘favorite makeup moments’ from our decade of work together,” says Tanno. “Sometimes it's the looks that have a really personal story behind them or about the creative process it took all of us to get there. Some of my favorites would be The Countess from American Horror Story, Gaga's Superbowl performance, The Chromatica Ball, and our first Haus Labs campaign together.” For Aspiras, he warmly thinks back to Gaga’s Monster Ball tour in Mexico City. “It was pouring and she was in this yellow wig,” she says. “There was blood everywhere because there was fake blood in the show and I kept that wig exactly how it is. When she came off the stage I just went bloop and placed it back on the mannequin head.” Now the wig lives in the Haus of Gaga museum at the Park MGM—a literal symbol of Aspiras’s blood, sweat, and tears over one and a half years on that tour. Okawara can’t possibly choose between her favorite Gaga nail moments, so instead, she gave us four. The Metallic logo nails she did for the 2017 Grammy Awards, cutting pieces from Gaga’s wardrobe for her custom “Rain On Me” music video nails, the literal claws she created for Gaga’s Dom Pérignon campaign film and imagery and the work they did together when Gaga played Elizabeth “The Countess” Johnson for the fifth season of American Horror Story are in her top moments. The Japanese tradition of eating fried chicken on Christmas may be built on a lie.  Customers didn't know what to make of the red-and-white striped roof and the English signs unsure if the store was selling candy or cutting hair Okawara told Business Insider's podcast "Brought to you by..." that at times he had so little money he slept on flour bags in the back of the store.  where less than 2% of the population is Christian a nun who worked at a nearby school asked if Okawara would get involved in a Christmas party if it served KFC's fried chicken telling "Brought to you by..." he even dressed up as Santa Claus himself dancing around the classroom with a bucket of fried chicken.  and soon another kindergarten class asked for a KFC-themed Christmas party Okawara decided to take the idea and run with it putting Santa costumes on Colonel Sanders statues outside of KFC stores and marketing fried chicken as a replacement to the American turkey Christmas dinner national broadcaster NHK asked Okawara if fried chicken was actually a common Western Christmas tradition.  know that the people are not eating chicken KFC Japan says that Okawara's story isn't quite accurate a visiting foreigner suggested that KFC start selling chicken on Christmas instead of the traditional turkey Okawara's decision to link KFC and Christmas took the chain from near failure to massive success in addition to resulting in the creation of a new winter tradition KFC's Christmas marketing went national in 1974 and Okawara went on to run KFC Japan.  KFC's sales continue to skyrocket around Christmas Locations across Japan dress Colonel Sanders statues up in Santa Claus gear for the holiday season Even other chains that sell chicken now push Christmas deals in Japan as shoppers hunt down holiday buckets of chicken Reading"Kentaro Okawara on how he is..." More fromWork Contact Advertising Opportunities Newsletters Insights + Opinion Creatives + Projects Advice + Resources Culture + Lifestyle Nicer Tuesdays The View From... POV Forward Thinking Review of the Year Jenny Brewer Olivia Hingley Ellis Tree Elizabeth Goodspeed Liz Gorny Extra Search Kentaro has already released two publications this year The first is a Risograph-printed zine titled I’m fuckin great and the second is a beautiful compendium of the paintings ceramics and drawings exhibited in his latest solo show Just Your Smile Designed by Tokyo-based design studio .otd and published by Tang-Deng the edition of 500 pays tribute to the breath of Kentaro’s creative output Exhibiting during the month of March earlier this year the show featured around 100 works from the experimental artist including a series of paintings around “the invisible balance” between people and objects “I’m always thinking about making art and books,” Kentaro tells It’s Nice That “All the things I create make me feel better and I hope it makes other people feel better too.” Not only does the book invite readers to view Kentaro’s recent pieces but it also delves into his older folio of playful work the artist created a series of sculptures and paintings inspired by a number of postcards he exchanged with his grandma from the ages of five to eight years old Kentaro maintains this charming and naive style of drawing he experiments with a contrasting medium which sees a pointed difference to his earlier The focus for much of his work is exploring “the various forms of love I feel,” Kentaro explains His enduringly optimistic tendencies are further inspected in his zine I’m fuckin great the zine sees a sequence of Kentaro’s Photoshop drawings undergo the energetic Riso treatment “the book means that everything is fuckin great.” Printed using a three-way colour scheme of pink blocked-out forms only furthers this concept With another book on the horizon to be published later this year a picture book titled Tsuru no Ongaeshi meaning the crane returns a favour Kentaro’s year doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all Continuing to produce a high volume of work which skims his flowing streams of consciousness we’re hoping that the internationally-exhibiting artist will bring his work to the UK sometime soon Further Infowww.instagram.com/kentarookawara Jynann Ong Jynann joined It’s Nice That as an editorial assistant in August 2018 after graduating from The Glasgow School of Art’s Communication Design degree In March 2019 she became a staff writer and in June 2021 Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world Instagram TikTok LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Pinterest About Careers at It’s Nice That Privacy Policy Insights Residence Creative Lives in Progress If You Could Jobs © It’s Nice That 2024 · Nice Face Logo © It’s Nice That www.instagram.com/kentarookawara It’s been a busy year so far for the artist Kentaro Okawara About Contact Advertising Opportunities Newsletters Insights + Opinion Creatives + Projects Advice + Resources Culture + Lifestyle Nicer Tuesdays The View From... POV Forward Thinking Review of the Year Jenny Brewer Olivia Hingley Ellis Tree Elizabeth Goodspeed Liz Gorny Instagram TikTok LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Pinterest Careers at It’s Nice That Privacy Policy Insights Residence Creative Lives in Progress If You Could Jobs Seok-Woo Song — Photos exploring the pressures and loneliness of life in Korea Federico Borella & Michela Balboni — Photographing rural Italy’s “tree men” AikBeng Chia — Recreating vivid scenes from 1970s Singapore with the help of AI WePresent is the arts platform of WeTransfer.The simplest way to send big files A platform to empower creatives while using business as a force for good When he was only five years old, Kentaro Okawara’s grandfather passed away. Noticing his grandma might be feeling lonely, he decided to start sending her hand-drawn postcards every week. Now as a grown man, his blissful, effervescent multimedia work is proof that he never quite left that sweet, naive part of his life – or his love for his grandma – behind. We spoke to Kentaro about keeping the flame of his youth alive through his art, and the powerful, direct affect his love for his family and friends has on his prolific, buoyant work. “It all started when I turned and said to my mother, “Now that grandfather has died, grandmother must be lonely by herself. I will send her a letter.” In those letters I would draw pictures of what I had done that day: things I liked, my favorite fictional characters, or monsters that I drew from my imagination. I was only five years old, so my mother would write down what I had been up to on the back of the card." “My grandmother would reply immediately: sending me the most beautiful watercolors of flowers, fruit, or me and my favorite characters. She would write to me, thanking me for my postcards and telling me how much she missed us. I really enjoyed these beautiful pictures that arrived every day. I don’t really remember when or why it stopped. It probably had something to do with me getting obsessed with soccer instead.” “Ever since I was young, I’ve always loved making things. I’ve always drawn exactly what I want to draw. But over time, bit by bit, I got distracted by more sensible ways of thinking. As I grew up and began adjusting to my surroundings and pretending to be “successful,” I felt suffocated. Now I’ve luckily managed to escape that feeling. I only think about things that matter and I only do the things I want to do. I hope that sentiment is visible in my work.” “As humans, we are able to feel love for all sorts of things. The feelings and spirits that are invisible to the naked eye can touch our hearts and make us think in a way we haven’t done before. Those kinds of experiences make us who we are. When I make art, I try to treasure the feeling that I have at the very moment I face the canvas. I also try not to go back and retouch anything that I made afterwards, so that each picture I make reflects the exact feelings I had at the time I created it.” “It makes me so glad to hear that some people can be reminded of why they fell in love with the world and with life in the first place when they look at my work. If art makes people notice trivial things around them or even just encourages them to thank their family more often, then that’s great. Personally, I can’t live or create without my family, friends or lovers, because to me they are the world. They are life.” “Through my work I just want to laugh and talk to as many people as possible of any age and from any kind of culture. In the future I might have even more family members or friends, or I may even live in a new environment, but I want to make sure I continue to celebrate creating from what I learn from my relationships with them.” Want (even) more WePresent?Sign up to our monthly newsletter. 2023Naraka Bladepoint x Kunio Okawara - Official Crossover Trailer Yueshan fires up for a new battle experience with his Gundam armor Chef Okawara joins from Michelin-starred Kenzo Estates in Napa Valley Plan Do See America, the leader in Japanese hospitality practicing the principle of Omototenashi, is proud to announce Chef Atsushi Okawara as the Head Sushi Chef of The Den at Azabu Miami Beach Chef Okawara joins The Den from Michelin-starred Kenzo Estates in Napa Valley and has been Head Chef of Sanraku restaurants in San Francisco CA and internationally EDO Restaurants in Toronto Beginning November 17th of this calendar year patrons will have the opportunity to enjoy his culinary creations and appreciate his artform in this intimate yet luxurious Miami Beach Japanese staple Those with a discerning palate for the freshest fish know that The Den offers Miami Beach’s best omakase with fish flown in directly from Japan while having unparalleled attention to detail each patron’s dining experience will make them feel as if they’ve been transported to Tokyo’s Toyosu Fish Market where Chef Okawara slices their fish in-situ all without ever leaving the heart of South Beach which will play as a symphony composed of different flavors and textures that will delight even the most refined Japanese food critic once word gets out and reservations pour in no other restaurant will be up to par with Okawara’s standards Reservations for dining at The Den can be made by phone calling (786) 276-0520 Promote your business to the localized audience you want to reach with Miami's Community Newspapers. Call 305.669.7355 or view our Media Kit. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Mechanical designer Kunio Okawara’s exhibition “Legend of Mechanical Design” is now open at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art The exhibition explores the secrets of Okawara’s design through seven sections top-secret materials relating to the following shows will be displayed: Science Ninja Team Gatchaman - Okawara became the first person ever to be credited as mechanical designer for the show; Mobile Suit Gundam - the show that innovated Japanese anime; and Time Fighters - an anime filled with humorous mechanical designs With over 400 pieces of artwork and documents the scale of the exhibition will be larger than ever Also lined up is a signing session with Okawara a commemorative interview between iron and steel artist Kogoro Kurata and animation director Ryosuke Takahashi He studied textile design at Tokyo Zokei University and worked as a fashion designer at the major apparel company Onward Kashiyama Okawara took a position at Tatsunoko Production where he established the role of anime robot designer and mechanical designer in Japan he left the production company to work independently He worked as a mechanical designer for Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and Mobile Suit Gundam and led the golden age of robot anime The idea behind the character Zaku’s design came from a suit Okawara currently continues to work on Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Ippatsu Hyaku-Chu [Event Information]Legend of Mechanical Design - Kunio Okawara Exhibition Venue: Hyogo Prefectural Museum of ArtAccess: 1-1-1 2013Opening Hours: 10:00 - 18:00 (Friday and Saturday open until 20:00 last admission 30 minutes before closing)Closed: Mondays (Except for April 29 and May 6 but will be closed April 30 and May 7)Admissions: General - 1,300 yen; University students - 900 yen; High school students and seniors (over 65) - 650 yen; Junior high school students and under enter for free(Advance tickets and group discounts also available) Commemorating Char and Sayla and the end of *Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin* “Mobile Suit Gundam: Zabi Family Teacups Part 2,” a collaboration with the anime *Mobile Suit Gundam* and high quality tableware manufacturer Noritake have gone on sale The fifth in the Discovery-G series by the *Mobile Suit Gundam* themed cafe Gunpla Builders World Cup 2015 to be held in 20 cities throughout the world for the 35th anniversary of Gunpla Today's print edition Home Delivery The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday ordered the central government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to pay ¥160 million in damages to a machine manufacturing company ruling that the firm was wrongly accused of exporting equipment that could be converted into weapons without government approval googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); a Yokohama-based manufacturer of spray dryers has once again highlighted problems in the nation’s criminal justice system interrogations by police and prosecutors are conducted in closed rooms without the presence of defense lawyers which has resulted in a number of coerced confessions and wrongful prosecutions of innocent individuals In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division The corporate promotion is one of Japan’s longest-standing Christmas traditions The man who brought the Colonel to Japan says it started with a lie The only thing that kept him going was the magical taste of Sanders’s fried chicken. “The more I tasted it, the more I was convinced this business will be okay,” he told Household Name Okawara’s shot at redemption came from a nun at a nearby Catholic school After another elementary school hired him to do the same thing, Okawara realized Christmas could save KFC Japan. Nathan Hopson, professor of Japanese history at the University of Nagoya, writes in an email that by 1930, Christmas was firmly entrenched in the Japanese psyche: Newspaper ads depicted “The Old Man of the North” and families exchanging gifts while Christmas Eve dance and theater shows were popular with at least the urban public The only thing missing was a Japanese answer to traditional Western Christmas foods Okawara promoted fried chicken as a substitute for traditional Christmas turkey, which the Japanese knew from TV and cinema was eaten for Christmas throughout the West. Selling chicken and sides together in Christmas-themed “Party Barrels” and decorating his store’s Colonel Sanders statue as Santa-san brought in enough customers to save his business A lack of pre-existing Christmas traditions among the largely secular Japanese or perhaps Colonel Sanders’s striking resemblance to Santa Claus It also helped that the associations most Westerners have with fast-food establishments such as KFC never made it to Japan KFC and other family restaurants were seen as trendy and hip not just fast and convenient,” writes Dr professor of Japanese history at the University of Kansas “One could bring a date there and not feel ashamed.” professor of Japanese history at the University of Nagoya writes that in the same way that some young Japanese couples long for Christian-style “chapel” weddings “Christmas has an association with a kind of exotic and romantic view of ‘the West’ that is entirely divorced from history or any other inconvenient facts.” He also points out that because so few buying take-out chicken fits the Japanese mold: “Christmas cakes and KFC make sense both in terms of the constraints of the typical Japanese home and as empty symbols—like Christmas itself—into which everyone can pour their own hopes and dreams.” KFC Japan declined to comment further about Okawara’s story I could not locate the NHK tape that could confirm that Okawara birthed “Kentucky for Christmas” with a lie Regardless, its origins don’t negate the power the tradition has to unite families over buckets of hot food. Okawara’s business savvy saved his company and gave millions of Japanese families a reason to get together for the holidays. As one Japanese man told Household Name eating fried chicken every year “is what makes Christmas You can join the conversation about this and other stories in the Atlas Obscura Community Forums We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the world’s hidden wonders Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders [Via Yaraon!] Reading"Kentaro Okawara's forthcoming..." More fromNews Fans of Japanese artist Kentaro Okawara rejoice: he’s readying himself for the opening of his first ever solo show here in the UK Running at Hackney’s Public Gallery 10 July-3 August Hold Tight sees the hyper-productive It’s Nice That favourite using paintings and an innate interest in symmetry to explore… Love A representative for the gallery states that: “The exhibition continues Okawara’s long-held belief that making art is an expression of love and a means to connect with each other the notion of “connecting” manifests in a variety of ways; literally through the act of embracing referenced in the title visually through Okawara’s focus on symmetry and intelligibly through universal motifs.” Anyone making the trip to the east London space can expect to see all manner of bright colours and super-stylised motifs and personified objects interact with each other in intimate and bizarre ways to create a world that can be endearingly engaged by all.” While the work might not come on like the sort of lovey-dovey card you might pick up in Clinton’s on 13 February who are we to say what true love looks like Further Infokentaro0308 Josh Baines Josh Baines joined It's Nice That from July 2018 to July 2019 as News Editor kentaro0308 Fans of Japanese artist Kentaro Okawara rejoice: he’s readying himself for the opening of his first ever solo show here in the UK Running at Hackney’s Public Gallery 10 July-3 August Koestler Arts is a charity that supports those in criminal justice settings and each year it hosts an exhibition of prisoner-made art the artists Jeremy Deller and John Costi discuss their relationship with the organisation the difference the arts can make to lives of those in custody and just how inventive prisoners can get with everyday objects In a new exhibition taking place in London’s Brixton Village seven artists respond to the phrase: “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” which opens today at Gagosian’s Grosvenor Hill space in London brings together 11 artists from the global African diaspora Interdisciplinary Brooklyn-based artist Amie Cunat talks to us about her new solo exhibition Petal Signals on view at Dinner Gallery in New York from September peers through the window of her North Scarborough condominium at family members who came to celebrate her birthday gathered below her Scarborough condo building for part of the celebration of her 100th birthday and fond of her houseplants and casino games centenarian Masako Okawara is a true survivor and the information within may be out of date Spry and fond of her houseplants and casino games She’s remained in her North Scarborough condo for weeks now but the COVID-19 pandemic could not stop Okawara’s 100th birthday party It started in the morning with two granddaughters’ families calling up to Okawara at her fifth floor window “My mom just loved it,” said daughter Grace Tanaka the elder was the star of a co-ordinated Zoom party came online for the teleconference to greet Okawara and watch her blow out a candle on a sugar-free wafer cake Family members hope their celebration inspires people to use such platforms “to spend more quality time with family and friends.” They had planned to book a restaurant for the party but the centenarian is a quick study when it comes to newer technologies Okawara can no longer visit casinos each week Okawara came to Canada’s west coast as a teenager She was interned during the Second World Warand met and married Tanaka’s father passed away during the SARS outbreak in 2003 soon after what is now the Scarborough Health Network’s Birchmount campus was locked down in response and I took him to Scarborough Grace that very first day,” Tanaka recalled We couldn’t go in and see him or anything.” Tanaka later moved her mother into her condo Okawara had colon cancer at 92 and broke her hip at 99 exercises Okawara still performs in the condo every other day is a reporter with toronto.com and Metroland Media Toronto who covers Scarborough and other overlooked parts of Toronto He worked previously for Metroland in York Region Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report An investigator testified that Tokyo police officers fabricated an investigation concerning exports of possible military equipment that led to false charges being filed against three senior company officials who still belongs to the Public Security Bureau of Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department told the Tokyo District Court on June 30 that senior investigators are often overly determined to pursue even weak cases because they are worried about their job evaluations His testimony came in a lawsuit filed by the company which is demanding 570 million yen ($3.9 million) in damages from the central government and the Tokyo metropolitan government and two other senior officials on suspicion of violating the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law the company’s spray dryers could be used to make biological weapons and they were exported without permission from the central government The three suspects were indicted by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office The possibility then emerged that the spray dryers actually cleared the trade ministry’s ordinance on restricting exports of equipment that could have military applications Prosecutors rescinded the indictments in July 2021 just before the first hearing in the trial Okawara and Aishima’s family filed the lawsuit in September 2021 saying the ministry’s requirements were vague But the central government and metropolitan government have argued that there were no problems with the investigation an active police officer challenged the legality of the investigation a lawyer representing the plaintiffs asked the assistant inspector: “The ministry had not decided on the interpretation (of its export requirements) Isn’t it inevitable that people would say the Public Security Bureau took advantage of that and made up (the case)?” He said another investigator had suggested additional testing on the dryers because the company’s descriptions were different from the Public Security Bureau’s assumptions when it checked the condition of the equipment The assistant inspector also said the arrests and detentions were “unnecessary” because objective evidence had been obtained during a search of the company The judge asked him if he felt the Public Security Bureau was overly eager to prosecute the case but the personal greed of the investigator made it so.” When the judge asked him to explain the “investigator’s greed,” he replied that they had to prosecute the case “We did all these investigations even though there were no objective facts,” he continued “I thought the case was built up in the way that the investigators wanted I can’t think of anything else other than this.” He said investigators can become greedy “when they look at their retirement and think about how far they can be promoted.” When asked if he was referring to evaluations of their job performances A police superintendent who was an inspector at that time testified “It was a case that needed to be prosecuted at the time.” Another assistant inspector told the court that senior investigators have a tendency to understate evidence that does not align with their assumptions in an investigation this would not have happened,” the assistant inspector said the plaintiffs’ lawyer expressed surprise at what he had heard: “An active assistant inspector confirmed that the case was made up from nothing.” “I felt some relief that there are individuals who are willing to speak honestly in a police organization where orders from boss are absolute.” (This article was written by Kazufumi Kaneko and Shingo Tsuru.) Police arrest tax official suspected of COVID-19 subsidy fraud Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission Finding a parking space may soon become much easier thanks to a car that can fold itself up and squeeze into small spaces famous in Japan as the artist behind the long-running popular robot anime 'Gundam' Tokyo based next-generation car design and manufacturing company Four Link Systems say they hope Earth 1 will get approval to drive on the roads by March 2018 And despite costing as much as a high-end Lexus at $70,000 (£52,000) the company has already accepted 30 orders from clients from Japan China and Dubai since its launch at the Tokyo Motor Show in October Four Link Systems say their goal is to sell 300 cars a year for use around airports or in tourist spots President & Chief Executive Officer at Four Link Systems who's worked on the creation of next-generation smart vehicle since 2008 said he was also hoping to appeal to a younger generation of drivers who are less interested in cars than previous generations "We developed a vehicle which make drivers feel as if they're steering something that's not a car," Kinoshita said adding that is why they asked Okawara of Gundam fame to design the two-seater vehicle "So we offered a robot-inspired shape and made people feel like they are operating a robot while driving This what makes our car unique and enhances a sense of immersion with the vehicle," Kinoshita said which has been on Japanese TV since the 1970s captured the imagination of a whole generation and continues to be popular to this day with a 'real-life size' 20 meter (65 feet) high Gundam robot mechanical statue even becoming the latest tourist attraction in Tokyo Produced by Leon Siciliano which features a laser engraved design that makes it look like it’s being disassembled Become a PetaPixel Member and access our content ad-free Inquisitive robot enthusiasts will finally get a glimpse of what's inside Gundam's Haro mascot thanks to a new figure in Bandai Spirit's Figure-rise Mechanics line. The same line revealed the inside of Doraemon and Dr. Slump's Arale is showing how all those metal bits turn into a cheerful green orb Gundam franchise mechanical designer Kunio Ōkawara designed the robot's internal mechanisms for the figure measuring roughly 80mm (3in) in total height The parts are color-coded to snap together easily and owners can choose between a transparent armor or the usual solid green his eyes are adjustable to different expressions and he works in conjunction with a lighting unit (sold seprately) to make him glow The Figure-rise Mechanics Haro costs 1,944 yen (US$17) and pre-orders open on September 28 Haro was also the subject of a high-end A.I. toy that can recognize people's voices and analyze conversation for meaning and intentions Source: Bandai Hobby site, Gundam.info Masks by Shuhei Okawara are less about protection against COVID-19 and more about bending reality What if you could be someone else for a day or two? A Japanese retailer named Shuhei Okawara has an answer for that question at his shop. According to Reuters, Okawara has been preoccupied with creating hyper-realistic human-face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic these masks are created by a 3D printer and are less about shielding you from the coronavirus spread and more about letting you pretend to be an entirely different person and social implications of such design are thus giving the entire covering a highly realistic shape and contour If you wore one of these masks and threw a bit of your hair around to hide the physical edges of the covering around the forehead and lower half of your face it was an entertaining activity with more basis in fantasy fiction than actual reality "Mask shops in Venice probably do not buy or sell faces But that is something that’s likely to happen in fantasy stories," he told Reuters "I thought it would be fun to actually do that." And they don't come cheap For now, most of Okawara's clients are interested in the artistic application of these masks. Toy around with fiction, that sort of playful thing. But we won't strike out the possibility that these masks could soon become a clever way to thwart surveillance technology that has mushroomed during the pandemic Okawara, who began this strange project in October, is planning to commission models for face masks from other groups and backgrounds, not just locals in Japan. It isn't the first time that someone has come up with realistic replicas of human faces And — with no disrespect meant to the polite shopkeeper — a little too creepy a nationwide tradition was born (Credit: Getty Images)How a fast-food marketing campaign turned into a widespread Yuletide tradition for millions Ryohei Ando gathers his family together for a holiday tradition his two children will reach deep into a red-and-white bucket and pick out the best piece of fried chicken they can find an estimated 3.6 million Japanese families treat themselves to Kentucky Fried Chicken in what has become a nationwide traditionYes it’s a Merry KFC Christmas for the Ando family but Ando’s family and millions of others would never let a Christmas go by without Kentucky Fried Chicken Every Christmas season an estimated 3.6 million Japanese families treat themselves to fried chicken from the American fast-food chain a 40-year-old in the marketing department of a Tokyo sporting goods company While millions do celebrate Christmas with KFC others in Japan treat it as a romantic holiday similar to Valentine’s Day and couples mark the occasion with dinner in upscale restaurants Christmas is acknowledged but not celebrated in any particular way But for those who do partake, it’s not as simple as walking in and ordering. December is a busy month for KFC in Japan – daily sales at some restaurants during the Christmas period can be 10 times their usual take. Getting the KFC special Christmas dinner often requires ordering it weeks in advance The genesis of Japan’s KFC tradition is a tale of corporate promotion that any business heading to Japan ought to study one that sounds almost like a holiday parable According to KFC Japan spokeswoman Motoichi Nakatani the manager of the first KFC in the country Okawara woke up at midnight and jotted down an idea that came to him in a dream: a “party barrel” to be sold on Christmas Okawara dreamed up the idea after overhearing a couple of foreigners in his store talk about how they missed having turkey for Christmas Okawara hoped a Christmas dinner of fried chicken could be a fine substitute and so he began marketing his Party Barrel as a way to celebrate the holiday who climbed through the company ranks and served as president and CEO of Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan from 1984 to 2002 The Party Barrel for Christmas became almost immediately a national phenomenon associate professor of marketing at Emlyon Business School in France He has studied the KFC Christmas in Japan as a model promotions campaign “There was no tradition of Christmas in Japan Advertisements for the company’s Christmas meals show happy Japanese families crowding around barrels of fried chicken. But it’s not just breasts and thighs – the meals have morphed into special family meal-sized boxes filled with chicken, cake, and wine. This year, the company is selling Kentucky Christmas dinner packages that range from a box of chicken for 3,780 yen up to a “premium” whole-roasted chicken and sides for 5,800 yen the packages account for about a third of the chain’s yearly sales in Japan It also helped that the stores dressed up the company mascot In a country that puts high value on its elders the red satin-suited Sanders soon became a symbol of a holiday This phenomenon is unique to Japan – and can seem strange to some outside the country The idea is unlikely to take off in the home of KFC If you brought a bucket of fried chicken to Christmas dinner I&rsquo;d be mad at you“KFC on Christmas It’s one of the strangest things I’ve heard,” Gillespie says “If you brought a bucket of fried chicken to Christmas dinner It isn’t a crack on KFC’s products necessarily The general idea of bringing fast food to Christmas dinner “would be viewed as rude by most anyone,” Gillespie says where around 1% of the population is Christian So the idea that families are going to spend all day cooking a ham or turkey and side dishes just isn’t practical where rituals spread to other countries and get translated in different ways“This is another sign of globalisation where consumer rituals spread to other countries and often get translated in different ways,” Rokka says “It’s not abnormal now to have an Ikea store everywhere in the world This KFC for Christmas is just taking our consumerism and turning it into a holiday.” Ando knows that his country might is alone in celebrating Christmas with a bucket of KFC he sees the tradition as more than just a company promotion It&rsquo;s about getting the family togetherFor Ando he’s still planning to get KFC for his kids this year But he goes to a bakery for the Christmas cake the family will gather around the KFC bucket and just as his children will do in another generation “It’s kind of a symbol of family reunion,” Ando says and then there just happens to be chicken as part of it.” To comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Capital, please head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter. 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Kunio Ōkawara, mechanical designer of many Gundam projects including the first television anime series, has created a robot mascot character for Inagi City in Tokyo Prefecture At the city's request, Jet Inoue, an episode director for the Gintama' and SD Gundam Force anime collaborated with Okawara to create the nashi pear robot mascot Local citizens will choose a name for the new character who was introduced to the public on October 22 Okawara also designed a robot mascot character for Minami Uonuma City in Niigata Prefecture earlier this year The old lady robot Basama Robo's ultimate weapon was kirizai a local specialty food made up of minced pickled vegetables and fermented soybeans (natto) Source: Sankei Shimbun All four artists have previously worked on separate properties for Tatsunoko Pro They appeared together for a press conference to promote the exhibit on Friday and show their completed art pieces Amano drew a large grey-scale piece of a Gundam unit with hints of blue The Final Fantasy artist told the press that it was the first time in his life that he drew a Gundam and also the first time he ever used oil paints adding that he felt it was important to capture a sense of playfulness Takada revealed a piece featuring Ken from Gatchaman The artwork isn't new to the exhibition and was previously drawn for the cover of Anime Busience magazine about three years ago Takada is actually a long-time fan of Gatchaman since it first debuted when she was in college She was hired at Tatsunoko Pro after visiting the studio about once a month while the show was airing Akimoto also drew a character from Gatchaman The press conference was also attended by voice actress Fumi Hirano (Urusei Yatsura's Lum) and anime director Hiroshi Sasagawa (Gatchaman, Yatterman) The "Rough∞Picture" exhibit will open on April 2, 2019 with approximately 800 pieces of artwork on display. The exhibit will include more artist on artist drawings with Amano's interpretation of Creamy Mami and Akimoto's version of Armored Trooper Votoms Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, Comic Natalie Reading"The Design Museum Supermarket..." Kentaro Okawara and Charlotte EdeyIn the store created by Bombay Sapphire the museum shop’s shelves will be stocked with beautifully wrapped essential items such as loo roll so it's guaranteed to be an eye-popping experience in itself promotes the message that “creativity is essential” as shops begin to open in the UK while galleries and cultural institutions remain closed under lockdown restrictions The Design Museum has suffered a 92 per cent drop in its usual income streams during the pandemic so Supermarket shoppers will also be supporting the institution in a difficult time for the whole sector plus a special edition Bombay Sapphire bottle and Fever Tree tonic by Ruff Mercy “The past year has been really challenging for artists who haven’t been able to show work or collaborate as normal,” says Camille Walala in a statement “Supermarket is a great way to not only support the Design Museum but also shine a spotlight on the ten brilliant young artists who through this project have a new platform for their work.” Design Museum director Tim Marlow adds that the installation is “an opportunity to rethink about what we buy who profits and what we consider to be essential We can’t wait to welcome visitors back to our museum” Supermarket is open 21-25 April at the Design Museum on Kensington High Street Work in progress shots of Camille Walala's interior design alongside some Supermarket products Design Museum and Bombay Sapphire: Supermarket full product range (Copyright © Design Museum and Bombay Sapphire Further Infodesignmuseum.org/whats-on/supermarket Jenny Brewer Jenny is the online editor of It’s Nice That She was previously It’s Nice That’s news editor Get in touch with any big creative stories The New York-based creative studio embodies the fishing brand’s uniquely high standards by carefully balancing illustration A first for the international design agency’s New York office Piotr’s arrival suggests not only a shift in the design industry but one in public behaviour With a potato print-like technique and a logo inspired by lines scored into fresh dough this identity pays homage to all the artisanal techniques of a traditional small town bakery As the deadline for the 2025 competition approaches Pentawards’ latest trend report reveals how designers are using packaging to communicate powerful messages This Brussels-based studio brings together its founders’ varied experiences in projects that centre around texture The South Korean designer uses Matisse-inspired techniques in her vibrant brand identities The French design studio brings an artisanal family food business back to life with an identity that brings a more modern audience to the table The Malaga-based studio is dedicated to getting the nitty gritty right with cultural and artistic projects that boast immaculate editorial layouts and thought-out identity systems for all kinds of creative clients popular culture and science for obscure and unexpected references that steer them away from established styles Having transformed her practice to become a graphic designer this freelancer utilises her unique creative background with brilliant results centred the water kefir’s colourful packaging around ‘the mother’ in homage to the drink’s ‘mother culture’ Tuma Store is the brand for people “taking care of themselves and their surroundings” designmuseum.org/whats-on/supermarket The designs are for a three-person motorcycle with a bear face The designs are on display at a "PriPara Cafe" collaboration at the Cafe Oase store inside the Shinjuku Wald 9 theater in Tokyo until March 18 Falulu is far away in the heart of the PriPara world in Puransu The sparkle is disappearing from the idol sacred ground PriPara and Falulu sends an SOS message to Laala and her friends and they work together to save the PriPara world Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version LOS ANGELES - Inside an editing bay on Warner Bros.’ Burbank lot Gareth Edwards listened carefully to the sounds of war spool out from a cluster of speakers The young director kept his eyes locked on a high-definition screen as crimson flares illuminated the night sky over Oahu watching as explosive blasts demolished stands of trees and helicopters in mid-flight violently plummeted to Earth threatening a battalion of soldiers tearing through the Hawaiian jungle “I’m always trying to get a bit of ‘Apocalypse Now’ into anything I do,” said Edwards back in January when the soft-spoken Brit was still in the throes of completing his Hollywood debut But it wasn’t a conventional war movie Edwards was crafting; rather Edwards’ “Godzilla” reboot might not necessarily inspire comparisons to Francis Ford Coppola’s meditative epic but there’s no question the would-be blockbuster has apocalyptic concerns in mind draws inspiration from Ishiro Honda’s original 1954 classic Edwards presents a cautionary tale about environmental collapse and the dangers of nuclear energy An early flashback to a reactor meltdown in Japan recalls the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster that devastated the east coast of Japan – which the director admits could surprise audiences expecting pure summer movie bombast “But we tried to respectfully show that we opened a Pandora’s box when we started doing all this stuff but (the film points out that) we should be very careful in terms of this amazing power of nature that we’re trying to control Written by Max Borenstein with a story by Dave Callaham “Godzilla” pits its 355-foot-tall title character against a new monster which stands for Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism played as an adult by Taylor-Johnson (“Kick-Ass,” “Nowhere Boy,” “Anna Karenina”) after Joe leads them into a quarantined area of Japan and plunges them into danger an explosive-ordnance disposal expert just back from a tour of duty in the Middle East must put his naval skills to use to make it back to San Francisco and his wife and their young son as giant monsters rain down destruction across the globe The ensemble cast also includes Juliette Binoche David Straithairn and Sally Hawkins and Ken Watanabe as researchers with a personal connection to the marauding M.U.T.O “Godzilla” arrives as Edwards’ second film; his first 2010’s “Monsters,” he wrote and directed himself and paid for partly with his own savings But he aspired to give the big-budget movie the same poignancy as the crowd-pleasing sci-fi cinema that initially inspired him the late 1970s and early 1980s films directed by George Lucas there’s certain key emotions you’re going to provoke and feelings you’re going to try to create for the audience,” Edwards said in a separate interview at the end of April “I’m always looking for where’s the bit where they might tear up – even if it’s not tearing up in a sad way just that you’re so much in awe of what you’re looking at that you get goose bumps and you start to well up ‘Close Encounters (of the Third Kind)’ does that for me.” When Godzilla rose out of the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki emotional chord with a ravaged nation decimated by the atomic blasts that ended World War II which saw the radioactive dinosaur-like beast emerge from the ocean to demolish Tokyo astutely used genre to address the horrors of war and connected with a traumatized The most expensive movie Japan had then made “Godzilla” elevated the profile of production company Toho to international acclaim – though on the occasion of its U.S the film famously was dubbed into English and new scenes with actor Raymond Burr were added to help “Godzilla King of the Monsters!” appeal to American audiences as he was originally known – has starred in 28 live-action feature films many of them gleeful B-movies that pitted the giant lizard against some equally enormous foe (usually actors wearing rubber costumes) with such titles as “Son of Godzilla,” “Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster,” “Godzilla vs Although he’s remained a fixture in video games comic books and other avenues of popular culture Godzilla has had a mixed track record at the box office of late Roland Emmerich failed to launch a new “Godzilla” franchise for the CGI era with his critically drubbed 1998 film – though that movie did earn $379 million at the worldwide box office The character most recently anchored “Godzilla 2000,” directed by Takao Okawara in which he saved Tokyo from an evil kaiju that arrives in a UFO Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens © Copyright 2025, The Spokesman-Review | Community Guidelines | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy