My Favorite Japanese Design Blogs

Posted By Nathan Hoernig

Updated September 9, 2015

What’s in this for you?

We spend a good amount of time on Japan-related blogs. Our main interest is (surprise, surprise) design, but we look at a whole variety to be honest. Today, we’d like to highlight 6 blogs that will litter your life with intrigue, clever posts, great material and amazing design (not just graphic).

If you’re interested in seeing more about what goes on in the creative world of Japan, you’ll definitely find this article worth checking out. Subsequently, it’s pretty safe to bet that you’re gonna love our recommendations.

Now that we’ve got your attention, let’s start this party!

Spoon & Tamago

Spoon-Tamago Website Screenshot

Spoon & Tamago tops this list for one very precise reason: exclusivity. It’s easy to find recycled stuff on the web, but somehow, this blog always has unique content. We love it. We just wish we knew their sources!

This husband and wife team covers pretty much everything: from product design to photography. As long as creativity is involved, Spoon & Tamago are involved as well. Definitely subscribe to this blog.

Design Made In Japan

Design Made in Japan Logo

Just as it’s name says, Design Made in Japan features various design projects that originate in Japan. The collaborative nature of this blog gives it a great variety of content too. They actually accept articles from anyone who would like to submit, of course, it’s up to their discretion which content makes it to the homepage. We wish it was updated a bit more frequently, but that also gets us all the more excited when a new post is uploaded. Check it every week or two for something new, and learn about some of the latest and most intriguing projects coming out of Japan.

neojaponisme

Neojaponisme Logo

Neojaponisme is not only a challenging name to say, it’s articles are also quite often a challenge to understand. This long-winded, hyper-eloquent, metaphor-laden blog specializes in topics and subjects you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

It’s a bit of a struggle to get through one article but if you can truly focus in on the articles and try your best to grasp onto the emotion and detail (with the help of a dictionary by your side), you’ll walk away intrigued.

Not all posts are short stories however and even the image-fueled works are extremely interesting. Check it out, but only if you’re a native-level English speaker and you’re ready for a learning experience.

stormfromtheeast

Stormfrontheeast Logo

stormfromtheeast is a blog that carries more creative and interesting content for those with a minimal attention span. Short and sweet posts. That’s the beauty of this blog.

Head to the main page by clicking the image above and hop into the “journal” page for my preferred viewing experience.

Gurafiku

Gurafiki Logo

Gurafiku” is the romanization of the word “graphic” as pronounced in Japanese. This blog is written by a designer who has spent time living in Japan and knows where to find all the visual candy you could ask for.

This blog is basically a smattering of Japanese posters, illustrations, art and other great stuff for the eyes.

If you’re just looking for something fun to look at or perhaps need inspiration for a design you’re working on and would like to input some japanese-style, head to this page.

Our favorite way to navigate the site is using the “Popular Tags” category in the sidebar to filter down by category. This site also features a lot of famous artists, so that’s another way to run around in there.

STYLE4 design

Style4Design Logo

STYLE4 design is a blog that focuses less on graphic design and more on clever product design (not just from Japan, but all over the world). That being said, as long as its clever and desirable, you’ll likely find it here. Similar to Gurafiku, mentioned above, this blog is highly visual. You’ll find some tidbits, explanations and introductions to the designs but if you’re not literate in Japanese, well…

Anyway, the great thing about the blog is that despite your bewilderment towards Japanese characters, just flipping through the photos will suffice. Everything is self-explanatory and We even find ourselves skipping the Japanese anyway.

It goes something like this:

“Oh, that looks cool, what is it?”
Looks closer.
“Oh, I get it. That’s fudging awesome!”

Disclaimer: Actual quotes may be edited or adjusted for suitability and content.

And that’s pretty much how it goes every time.

Please share!

We’re dying to find more blogs or sources for inspiration, content and amusement. Do you know of any Japan-related blogs that offer up a healthy dose of fabulousness? Do tell!


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