iCandy

uhm, nice idea but the company that made these iCandy might be in hot waters with Apple. Via DigitalPretzel

The Story of Lilly Chou-Chou (Riri Shushu no subete)

It's a pretty peculiar movie to begin with. It is beautifully shot but the story is sometimes drifting in the "ether". The story of a group of high school kids growing up absurd in Japan's pervasive pop/cyber culture, for them life sucks. They seek "salvation" through pop star savior Lily Chou-Chou, embracing her sad, dreamy songs and sharing their fears and secrets in Lilyholic chat rooms, while tackling school bullies, teen gangs, parents, school etc. Seems that they are perpetually trapped in everyday troubles, their lives inevitably intertwined between real and virtual identities, and then a final logging-off from innocence. This is a movie that requires patience to watch and a heart to understand the weird society of the Japanese culture. This is filmed with an eye for light and colur and an exquisite soundtrack. Directed by Shunji Iwai. Official Site

Eco-Products 2005

From 2005.12.15 at 10:00 To 2005.12.17 at 17:00 at the Tokyo Big Sight "Eco-Products" is the largest eco-related exhibition in Japan. Over 150,000 people from all walk of life gather to this exhibition to exchange their views on spreading eco-products and protecting the environment. At Eco-Products 2005, 502 companies & organizations will be exhibiting. Discover new eco-products, eco-services, and eco-concepts. Address: Tokyo Big Sight 3-21-1 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0063 Phone: 03-5530-111 Fee: Free Entry Yahoo (Japanese) Mobile Map (Japanese) 3 minutes walk from Kokusai-tenjijo-Seimon station on the Yurikamome line

5 Minute Candle

I thought this is clever and innovative, most of all, FUN! The 5 minute candle all packaged in a matchstick pack. i love it! ^ ^ Designed by Zinoo Park.

Canvas Strap Watch

This LCD watch, PXR-5 , is designed by Michael Young. The strap is canvas. Available with strap in white, blue and brown and face in polish or satin finish. TwentyTwentyOne has it. Also in the US at Charles & Marie's Soup du Jour.

About Michael Young Among some of the most successful and exciting designers of his generation, Michael Young was born in Sunderland in 1966 and graduated in 1992 from Furniture & Product Design at Kingston University. While still a student he began working with Tom Dixon at Space Studio in London and in 1994 launched his first collection of furniture in Paris and Tokyo. With support from the E&Y, Michael Young set up MY-022 Ltd in London. In 2000 he founded M.Y. Studio in Iceland with his partner and wife, Katrin Petursdottir. Working between London and Iceland his clients include: Cappellini, Magis, Rosenthal, Laurent Perrier , Danese E&Y, Dupont, Dunhill , amongst others. Young’s work has been exhibited in the Design Museum in London, the Musee d’Arts Decoratifs and Centre Pompidou in Paris, Neue Sammlung in Munich and the Portuguese Museum in Lisbon. Michael was Guest of Honour of the Interieur Design Biennale in Kortrijk 2002 and more recently has set up an office in Taipei to concentrate on projects in Shanghai and Beijing. He is designing interiors in Antwerp and Berlin for Mandarina Duck and was recently commissioned to design two buildings in Taipei.

Monacca Bag

Designed by Takumi Shimamura, this bag is made from Japanese cedar - the highest grade of wood material. Due to the nature of the wood, machinery cannot be used and so each bag is sewn by hand. The handle and trimmings are made of leather and the interior in canvas. This bag fits a 17 inch PowerBook G4 nicely and one can assured of the quality and its design beauty since it comes from the artistic hands of a country religious of quality and design. Monacca

Eye Patch

Yes this watch is not available anywhere else except Japan. It's called the Eye Patch by Cabane de Zucca, produced by Seiko. This is another fun watch for the girls. Well-designed and much ahead of the trend. The polka dot pattern is also widely used in the new LV and YSL collection, and yellow is just the next IN color. The other colors available are black, white and aqua blue. Going for ¥13,650 at retail. i dig the little detail of the fact that they extruded the brand on the side of the band. The band is of rubber material. ps. you might be able to find this in Hong Kong as always they have a way of getting watches from Japan to peddle on the island. :)

&Design

Icon Watch by &Design

Designed by the design group &Design in Tokyo, the Icon watch is inspired by pixels (dots) on the computer screen. If you take a look at their other products, it's really fun! They took the pixel idea and applied on everyday products, which makes life a lot less serious! Also the LED watch which reconsiders how to read time, obviously based on the LED lights concept.

LED Watch by &Design

Check out their site for other fun stuff.

Seiko's Ultra thin sleek machines

e-ink by Seiko

e-paper by Seiko

A friend popped this into my email today. woah~Seiko's pushing the envelope again! I am psyched!

It's the first wristwatch that uses electronic paper and Seiko is only releasing 500 units in January worldwide. The ultra-thin braclet-wristwatch features a bendable e-paper trimmed in stainless steel which makes it a high-tech accessory without the geeky look. The low power display uses a technology called *electronic ink*. A black-and-white stripe pattern on the watch changes every hour. I think it's perfect for the girls, finally a COOL watch for chicks, no? NAA