Saturday, October 25, 2008

Happenings: Japan C

This afternoon, Miss Fashion and I went to Felissimo Design House on 56th St & 5th Ave to check out the 11-week celebration of Japan product design, known as "Japan C." On Monday, the exhibit will begin its final week, but for 10 weeks, each week has had a theme--for instance, paper products, Japanese make-up, household products, or Japanese foods, which was the theme this past week. The nice thing about going today is that you can see products from the entire run of the showcase all at once. And next week, they're having an auction to sell the items being displayed.

Don't be fooled by the anemic displays on the first floor. There's a lot more to see on the four floors of the design house. Some of the stuff they're showing you could just as easily find at a Japanese grocery or department store--stationary, Hello Kitty figurines and bento boxes, for instance. But there were a few items that jumped out at me.The freeze-dried Koya tofu you see on this table caught Miss Fashion's eye. Just soak in water, and you have tofu!Okurin--officially marketed as "recyclable gift bags" - these bunny shaped canvas bags unzip at the mouth and hold things. I love that the Japanese so love to give gifts they've developed an eco-friendly way to do it.Cedar laptop case, anyone?Not like we haven't seen stuff like this before, but how cute are these persimmons, each with their own facial expression?

Nezca--Swarovski-studded rope essentially. Crafters, let your imaginations run wild.Random dogs in aloha shirts.At first glance, a platter of lovely cakes and parfaits...On closer examination, they're made of towels!
A "file cabinet" style recycling in-home recycling station. Perfect for cramped Manhattan kitchens!

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