Pingmag, “the bilingual Tokyo based magazine about design and making things,” and its sister publication, Pingmag Make, a weekly series of profiles on Japanese crafts, is an amazing source of information and inspiration from Japan. The publication went on an indefinite hiatus earlier this year, but Pingmag’s website still exists as an extensive online archive of posts about traditional and contempoarary Japanese craft, design, and material cuture. It has been a favorite of ours because of its detailed photography showing firsthand anything from how indigo dye or kimono silk is made, to a survey of Japanese packaging, (old and new), to a tour of shop signs and barber poles around Tokyo.
above are a few images found in thier archives… steamed dumplings wrapped traditionally in bamboo grass, soy sauce packaging popular during the annual cherry blossom season, and melon popsicles.
See the gallery for a further selection from thier archives… but you can explore for yourself here.
from a post about the color black: eggs being removed from cooking in the Hakone hot springs, which dye thier shells naturally
