Nipponica

The pavilion's exterior adopts a minimalist design inspired by the Japanese traditional aesthetic of "wabi-sabi," featuring two triangular buildings with wooden facades juxtaposed by an illuminated, suspended cube.

Under the cube, visitors will find an open-air courtyard with a performance stage, allowing them to explore music, dance and other entertainment, as well as cuisine. Images to be shown at the pavilion are expected to include U.S. landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge and the Grand Canyon.

Quite lack the design and the understatedness that is absent from many American monuments. Should be a good fit for an expo. Looking forward to seeing more pavilion designs to see if there is going to be a cohesive theme or architectural chaos.

Craftspeople have now started laying tiles, which are made from mudstone and red clay sourced from the prefecture.

Carpenters plan to cover the roof with about 60,000 tiles by the end of this year. The reconstruction of the main hall is scheduled to be completed by autumn of 2026.

Great that the castle restoration is progressing. I was lucky to visit it before the fire and I hope that the restoration is just as majestic.

The annex, once busy as a public bathhouse, was closed in 1973 due to ageing and a decline in visitors caused by the closure of the Kishima Coal Mine and the spread of home baths. It was restored to its original state in 2003, housing bathrooms with colorful decorative majolica tiles and a bath said to have been built for Emperor Taisho (1879-1926).

Some beautiful architecture at this onsen in Saga.

Being one of Kurokawa's earliest works, it is also a representative example of the "Metabolism" architecture movement.

Each room is highly independent of the other, and although the design makes it technically possible to replace each room (capsule), in practice, it has never been done because of the difficulty of replacing only some of the capsules. It was intended for the capsules to be replaced every 25 years (the first time in 1997) since completion.

This is a really cool preservation tech demo that shows the interior of a section of Nakagin before it was demolished in 2022

A reportage of stations along the circular JR Yamanote line in Tokyo, capturing the hustle and bustle at the heart of the world’s biggest urban area. In service since 1885, the line is the city’s oldest, most important and most famous, with millions cramming on to the 35km (22-mile) route’s distinctive green cars every day

Some nice photography inside of the transport infrastructure that keeps Tokyo alive.

During the Yamato Period (300-710), this village was one of the earliest capitals of the nascent Yamato state, even meriting its own aptly named Asuka Period (552-645) — a time of cultural blooming and political consolidation (indeed, it was during this era that the country of Japan began to refer to itself by the modern name of “Nihon” instead of the archaic “Wa”).

A cycling tour of this former capital does sounds like a relaxing way to spend a day. Lots of ruins from the earliest eras of human settlement in Japan to see.

"We would like to charge around $30 for foreigners and around $5 for residents," Kiyomoto said at the symposium on cultural heritage and natural disasters.

When asked about his reason for the $5 fee, Kiyomoto told reporters Monday that he wants "to avoid raising the admission fee for local residents."

For cultural sites like castles, I think a higher admission fee could be appropriate for certain tourists from higher wealth countries. But grouping all tourists in a single high-cost bucket is unfair for people from less developed nations. But the challenge is obvious in devising a pricing strategy like this. You can't expect a passport check at a ticket window.

When viewed from an angle, the building resembles a ship without the bow and stern, forming a U-shape with gentle curves. According to the company, it is thought that the design was in fact inspired by a ship, since the headquarters was built on the site of a former shipyard.

I love the ugly concrete buildings that seem native to modern Japan and the unique design choices made to make them stand out. This is one example with an interesting curved base to keep fumes from coming into open windows.