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JAPAN’S NEW WORLD•••

Japan is looking to the future after the 2011 disaster that helped it reassess what’s important. Through innovation, intelligent processes

and its resilient people, Japan is sharing its new vision. •••

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KENMEI NAGAOKA

Seeking specialNagaoka, the founder of D&Department stores, is a retailer with an agenda. A designer and longtime advocate of stemming throw-away habits, Nagaoka has spent more than a decade canvassing the archipelago in search of well-designed everyday items – wooden plates, porcelain tea pots, steel bento lunchboxes – from small-scale producers. He promotes the durable over the disposable in an effort to get consumers in big cities to think about artisans in remote locales. Nowadays he’s on the road 200 days of the year for his latest project: a guide of every one of Japan’s 47 prefectures aimed at design-minded travel-lers who are more interested in finding local artisans, retailers and designers than a typical tourist. Nagaoka hopes that highlighting the work of these creatives can stem the brain drain to Japan’s big cities that has sapped towns and small cities of young talent. d-department.com

MAMI KATAOKA

Pop artTokyo has Kataoka to thank for the buzz it now generates in the art world. Since her arrival at Mori Art Museum – Tokyo’s contemporary art venue overlooking Roppongi Hills – and rise to chief cura-tor, she has sought to feature contemporary artists – from Ai Wei Wei to Santiago Cu-cullu – in the museum’s vast 53rd-floor space. But she’s also used her post to bring more attention to up-and-coming Japanese and Asian artists, a big draw for art aficionados, and has set out to redefine the museum-going experience as both intellec-tual and open to all. mori.art.museum

NAOMI KAWASE

New classicsKawase’s idea for the Nara International Film Festival began with a simple thought: how to use movies to connect her hometown in western Japan and the outside world. Now in its third year the festi-val isn’t just about showcas-ing the work of young direc-tors. Kawase is also creating opportunities for filmmakers to work in Japan and to chip away at her country’s hard-to-penetrate cultural mystique. Kawase’s own documentaries and movies have a raw inten-sity. She was the youngest person to be chosen for the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and in 2007 her film The Mourning Forest won Cannes’ Grand Prix. kawasenaomi.com

MASAMICHI KATAYAMA

Brand ambassador Katayama, the founder of Wonderwall in Tokyo, is the king of retail design. To admirers, his shop interiors are “consumertainment” – an attempt to capture the way his minimalist and playful designs can surprise, evoke nostalgia and trigger excite-ment in customers. Kataya-ma’s work for fashion brands such as Uniqlo, Mackintosh and Nike spans the globe from Tokyo to Paris, London to New York and has solidified his reputation as one of the most gifted practitioners in his field. wonder-wall.com

YUGO NAKAMURA

Design’s futureArtist, designer and com-puter whiz, Nakamura, of Tokyo-based THA, is widely recognised as one of Japan’s pioneering web and digital graphic designers. Nakamura is known for coming up with striking websites and ads for the likes of Uniqlo, Louis Vuit-ton and Microsoft. Many of his online creations respond and morph in ways that resemble video games and are programmed to tap user-generated content. His appeal goes beyond the corporate realm. The Centre Pompidou in Paris and Design Museum in London have also shown his work. tha.jp

People•••Profiles of the men and women who are stars in their professions and a key to Japan’s rising soft power. •••Mention Japanese exports and it usually conjures up images of cars and gadgets. But high-end manufacturing isn’t all there is to Japan. There’s plenty to offer on the cultural side and it’s not all anime, J-pop music and humanoid robots. Architects, art curators, filmmakers and designers are helping to shape and rejuvenate Japan and its image in even more important ways.

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Introduction•••A nation that knows the hardships of disaster is enriching skills, culture and technology on the road to reconstruction. •••

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New ambition:Tourists are coming back to Japan. We profile the attrac-tions and secret spots off the beaten track that make a trip to Japan memorable.

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Stay ahead:Looking to the future, Japan’s space programme is helping the nation and the international community bet-ter understand our world.

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People:The five entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, brand mavericks and artistic talents that will help push Japan into a new era.

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Safety first:In a country exposed to the elements and huge forces, technology has been central to Japan’s story and its recent successes.

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Urban magic:Japan’s cities are bristling with creative ideas and connected by a rail network that leads the world.

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Keep it clean:We look at the green technology helping Japan become a sustainable and innovative environment.

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Life skills:How Japan’s research capabilities combined with technological inspiration are pushing healthcare forward. 06 / 08

Moving minds: The culture of Japan, looking beyond national icons to reveal the artisans and initia-tives keeping creativity sharp.

Welcome,The tasks following the March 2011 disaster were so numerous as to seem overwhelming: cleaning up debris, finding shelter for survivors, rebuilding roads and schools, reconnecting water and electricity. But Japan didn’t have to struggle alone.

Thanks to a global outpouring of money and supplies, rescue and doctor teams and volunteer clean-up crews, Japan experienced a reawaken-ing. Shock and trauma gave way to a renewed sense of purpose. Many Japanese were determined to move forward quickly as a way of showing just how much the support and aid from around the globe had helped. Now the government also has a blue-print for the future. Approved in July, the “Rebirth of Japan” plan prioritises reconstruction in the disaster-hit areas and pinpoints the country’s most promising sectors for growth – clean-tech, healthcare, agriculture and small to middle-sized enterprises. The talk these days is of building cities anew – cities of the future, running on renewable energy – not just restoring them to the way they were. And as the national mood brightens, tourists who stayed away are coming back in droves. It only takes one look at the new Shinkansen bullet trains, reopened businesses and satellites blasting into space to realise that Japan is again brimming with new projects and ideas.

•••

Editor:Kenji Hall

Researchers:Junichi ToyofukuNaoko Nishiwaki

Photographers:Kohei TakeShinichi ItoMasahiro ShodaNorio KogaMari Nishi

Illustrators:Masao YamazakiCozy Tomato

COVER IMAGE:Mount Fuji towers over the reflective waters of Lake Kawaguchi. The Japanese are proud of Mount Fuji, the sacred mountain that’s a spiritual comfort and emblematic of Japan’s renewed ascendency.

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NEW BUILDS

Architectural aidArchitect Shigeru Ban is used to designing big-budget buildings for high-profile clients. But since the mid-1990s he has also spent a lot of time working on projects for a very different clientele: disaster victims and war refugees. After the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 struck the northeastern coastline, Ban’s Tokyo-based firm mobilised volunteers to build partitions from rigid paper tubes and canvas drapes at 49 emergency shelters to provide privacy for thousands of people sleep-ing in public buildings. Later, in the seaside town of Onagawa in Miyagi prefecture, Ban’s team turned steel shipping containers into low-cost, stackable multi-storey apartment blocks (pictured right), a paper-built reading room (pictured top right) and a community centre. Ban’s next project is the Transitional Cathe-dral, an A-frame paper tube-and-timber church in Christchurch, New Zealand to rebuild after February 2011’s quake. shigerubanarchitects.com

TOKYO SKYTREE

Climbing higherFew countries would dare to build a tower as tall as Tokyo Skytree (pictured on the left page and left) in a crowded, earth-quake-prone city. The 634m broadcast tower opened in May 2012 after engineers and architects from builders Obayashi and architecture firm Nikken Sekkei – two of Japan’s construc-tion industry giants – considered every tiny detail during years of research. They had to ensure it wouldn’t topple in a typhoon or magnitude eight earthquake, and used computer software to test every tube. Construction on Tokyo Skytree was nearly complete when the 2011 earthquake struck Japan. It shook the tower but caused no damage.

01 Dual-column design: The Japanese call it shimbashira – the concrete inner column that’s attached to the steel exoskeleton – had never been tried in a tower. Its two layers help to nullify swaying. 02 Shock absorbers: For Skytree, Tokyo-based hydraulics specialist Kayaba System Machinery spent three years developing high-speed shock absorbers, each 2.5m long.03 Quake simulation: Nikken Sekkei’s computers tested Skytree’s structural design using historical quake data and simulations to gauge how every piece in the tower would react down to one-hundredth of a second.

Safety first•••Taking a look at how Japan is us-ing technology, engineering and ingenuity to rebuild for the future after a natural disaster. •••Preparation against disasters counts for a lot in Japan. Japan has experienced the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Great East Japan Earthquake in the past 20 years. In summer, typhoons attack from the south. And when offshore tremors occur coastal communities brace for the possibil-ity of a tsunami.

It’s no wonder that Japan’s scientists, engineers and policymakers have spent decades building up defences against the forces of nature. Seismologists run simulations to anticipate where big tremors will strike. Builders fortify offices, schools and homes to be quake-resistant. For all the preparation, nobody in Japan has any illusions about guaranteed safety. So just as much thought goes into responding to a disaster. And it’s clear that the ingenuity that fosters readiness can also speed the recovery and offer hope for the future.

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Powerful ideas•••In the prefecture of Fukushima, the aftermath of an unthinkable disaster has become the launchpad for a new era in clean energy and exciting design ideas.

Nearly 3,000 buildings in Minamisoma, a coastal city in Fukushima prefecture, were damaged or swept out to sea by the 2011 earthquake and tsu-nami. But local officials have no intention of just going back to the way it was before; instead, they want to build a city of the future. By 2050, Minami-soma aims to become a more liveable, eco-friend-ly city. Renewable energy will be promoted and dependence on nuclear power will be reduced. Officials are planning for a more compact city with central high streets and residential areas. Homes will be energy-efficient, equipped with so-lar panels and batteries to store electricity until it’s needed. In June the city announced that Toshiba would break ground this year on Japan’s largest solar-generation facility with power enough for 30,000 homes flowing by 2014. futurecity.rro.go.jp/en

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MOVING DESIGN FORWARD

All trained upKen Okuyama knows how to find an uncompromising balance between design and technology – he spent years at Pininfarina designing Ferraris. But his role designing Japan’s fleet of E6 Shinkansen bullet trains has forced him to raise his game. “The E6 is more specialised because fewer Shinkansen trains are made,” he says. “There’s so much craftsmanship that goes into building these trains. They’re handmade.”

To build the complex yet sleek nose section of each E6, workers at Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries have to pound and sand the train’s casing by hand before welding it to the main cabin. The attention to detail is vital for aerodynamics as the train speeds up to 320km per hour. At 13 metres, the nose helps limit tunnel boom, while the other contoured pieces allow all trains to be able to run in heavy snow.

When the E6 Shinkansen enters service in 2013, it will con-nect Akita prefecture in northeastern Japan to Tokyo. The E6 Shinkansen will stop for about two minutes to attach to another Shinkansen arriving from Aomori on the way to Tokyo. Okuy-ama thought a train connecting communities should inspire business workers and tourists. “I also wanted Akita residents to love it,” he says. It wasn’t enough to build trains with the world’s most advanced technologies. “I felt the design had to symbolise that,” he says. “The train carriage is red on top and when you see it from above it looks like a red arrow – as if pointing to the future.”kenokuyamadesign.com/en hitachi.co.jp/environment khi.co.jp

TRAIN TRAVEL

Inner beautyPlenty of craftsmanship goes into Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains, but cabin interiors tend to be the same. Not so with the Tsubame 800. Kyushu Rail-way (JR Kyushu) hired Japa-nese artisans to create distinct interiors: maple or gold-leaf walls, armrests of plywood, seats covered in Nishijin-ori patterns from Kyoto and even window shades made from Japanese cherry trees. jrkyushu.co.jp/english

CLEANER WATER

Cash flowOnly one per cent of Earth’s water is safe to drink. Enter Japan’s Nitto Denko Hy-dranautics. The 94-year-old Osaka firm turns seawater and wastewater into drinking water and water for farms and high-tech factories, using reverse osmosis filters (mem-branes, essentially). Coun-tries where water is scarce, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, use the filters. membranes.com

HANEDA AIRPORT

Ideas take flightBig airports have a tendency to look the same. But when the new international terminal at Haneda Airport in Tokyo opened in October 2010 after an expansion and exten-sive renovations, it made a statement: this travel hub is made in Japan. That goes for every one of the restau-rants and retailers in the terminal, a collection that includes convenience store Lawson, 108-year-old Ginza stationers shop Itoya; toy store Hakuhinkan and shirt maker Kamakura. Branding an airport might seem odd but it was crucial for Haneda, which was getting a large addition to its international wing after a period of neglect. The extra runway extending over Tokyo Bay adds an extra 60,000 flights and seven million passengers annually who arrive from and depart to the US, Europe, and other parts of Asia. haneda-airport.jp

WATER PURIFICATION

Clear winnerIn many countries, the debate over drinking water comes down to this: filtered or bottled? Products in Japan like Mitsubishi Rayon’s Clean-sui home-use purifiers remove rust, bacteria, pesticides and lead. The company’s filters began from a simple idea: why not make a water filter from material used for artifi-cial lungs? Clearly, it worked.cleansui.com

Urban magic•••Japan’s cities are a marvel of efficiency and intelligent design in sometimes difficult geography. The country’s technologies offer a model for others to follow. •••When author and futurist Arthur C Clarke said that the best technology is indistin-guishable from magic, he might have been talking about Japan’s crowded cities. They work in a way that is hard to find in other metropolises around the globe. Decades spent investing in and building up homegrown technologies and expertise is only part of the story – delivering top-notch service is the ultimate goal.

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Shinkansen•••Japan’s Shinkansen network continues its commitment to excellence.

Rarely has rolling stock packed in so much technology. As part of the wider national Shinkansen network, East Japan Railway’s E5 Hayabusa Shinkansen bullet train, which debuted on the Tokyo-to-Shin-Aomori route in December 2010, is designed to run quieter, faster and on less energy than its predecessors. Its 15-metre protruding nose limits tunnel boom while its bottom skirt and pantographs for overhead electric cables suppress noise as the train tops 300km per hour. Inside, the Gran Class car brings airline-style luxury and JR East’s safety record is pristine: not a single death or injury even during earthquakes. Meanwhile, Central Japan Railway hopes to export its know-how on everything from trains to safety systems to overseas markets. Its high-tech control system manages railway traffic and conductor schedules so everything runs per-fectly, with an average delay per train at less than 40 seconds and staff on hand to make time fly. jreast.co.jp/e; english.jr-central.co.jp; westjr.co.jp/english; jrkyushu.co.jp/english

RENEWED DRIVE

Plugging inThe race to design the ideal eco-friendly car is gathering pace and leading the field is Toyota’s Prius Plug-in Hy-brid, unveiled earlier this year. The car acts like an electric ve-hicle for short errands, where a recharge point isn’t too far away, but for long trips its ultra-fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrid design kicks in.toyota-global.com/ innovation/

WASTE RECYCLING

Finding the energy Dumping organic waste into the sea used to be standard prac-tice for producers of shochu, a Japanese distilled tipple made from rice, potatoes or grain. But more than a decade ago, as en-vironmental laws changed, 16 distillers in southern Japan known collectively as Southern Green Union joined forces to invest in a facility that would lower waste without significantly increasing energy costs. What they got, courtesy of Japanese engineering firm IHI, was a multi-stage plant, with a methane-fermentation reactor, that treats wastewater and captures and reuses biogas to generate energy. Distillers use the energy to tackle waste: and byproducts that would normally get discharged are turned into fertilisers and feed that can be sold to farms. It’s a model for boosting green credentials.ihi.co.jp/en

COTTON RECYCLING

Full circleTowel-making is a tradition in Imabari that dates back more than a century. But nowadays towel companies in the city, in Ehime prefecture, southern Japan, aren’t only in the business of production; they’re also recycling towels. With technology developed by Japan Environment Planning, a Tokyo startup, old towels become biofuel for the machinery at factories that make new towels. The project, called Imabari Cotton Recycle, is helping to raise awareness of local environmental concerns. jeplan.co.jp imabaricottonrecycle.com

FRESH THINKING

Eco shopsCan a rooftop lawn make a retail shop “green”? Ministop, a major Japanese convenience store chain, thinks the question is worth exploring. It’s one of many ways retailers in Japan are experimenting to make their shops a little more eco-friendly and to slash their energy costs. Ministop has set energy-saving targets per shop by 2015. To meet its goals, Ministop has been testing a next-generation shop with LED lights, solar panels, and energy-efficient refrigerators, freezers and ventilation sys-tems, and it’s already begun a phased rollout to some shops. Only two Ministop shops have rooftop lawns but the green-ery’s cooling effect has the company considering an expansion to other locations. ministop.co.jp/english

Keep it clean•••With a focus on raising energy ef-ficiency and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, Japanese compa-nies are showing the way forward in clean technology. •••The Japanese are masters at saving energy. It’s only natural. After all, the resource-scarce country has to import more than 80 per cent of its energy which adds to the cost of doing business. To ensure Japan’s competitiveness, the government has been an active promoter of low-energy technolo-gies for decades. That has fueled an in-novative streak, leading to the world’s most energy-efficient cars and refrigerators. It’s also made companies and consumers more willing to embrace clean technolo-gies. From solar panels to fuel cells that convert natural gas into hydrogen, Japan is constantly on the lookout for new power alternatives.

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A new leaf•••A Japanese eco-friendly innovation is redefining why leaving your car at home can help the environment.

This may sound too good to be true but there is a car that can supply electricity to your home during a blackout: Nissan’s Leaf electric vehicle. The Leaf-to-Home technology, now available in Japan, draws on the energy stored in the car’s lithium batteries when needed through a power unit made by Nichicon, a company in Kyoto. There’s enough juice in the batteries – 24kWh – to keep the lights on and the refrigerator running in the av-erage Japanese home for two days. Not bad for a car that burns no gasoline and emits no CO2. The Leaf can also reduce the load on a city’s power grid if recharged at night and tapped during the day when electricity use usually peaks. The best place to see it in action is at the Kankankyo house, built by Sekisui House and located next to Nissan’s headquarters, in Yokohama, one of 11 cities in Japan’s “FutureCity” Initiative.nissan-global.com futurecity.rro.go.jp/en

VISIONARY TECHNOLOGY

Watch this spaceJames Nakagawa (pictured right) set out to help a friend with diabetes. In 2003, he set up Mobile Healthcare and created the service Lifewatch-er that lets patients track ev-erything from what they eat to blood-glucose levels. Patients take photos of meals and send them to an online database that assesses nutritional value. Several hospitals and clinics in Japan are using the service. lifewatcher.com/english

MOBILITY AIDS

Big stepsIt looks like a lightweight leg brace but Honda’s strap-on prototype device, called Stride Management Assist (right model), has a built-in battery and motors that help the wearer walk. The automaker has been developing the technology for more than a decade to restore mobility to people with difficulty getting around. There’s also a sturdier version the Body Weight Support Assist (left model) with a saddle, hip-to-ankle frame and shoes equipped with sensors to measure the force of the wearer’s walk. The technology comes from Honda’s robot research programme, says project leader Jun Ashihara, and might be used by factory workers and the elderly. The company is drawing up plans to produce and sell the devices soon.corporate.honda.com/innovation/walk-assist

STEM CELL RESEARCH

Positive growthScientists have used stem cells to clone dogs and sheep. But these days stem cell research generates excitement for a different reason: these building blocks of life could one day repair damaged organs, blood cells and nerves. A team at Kyoto University’s Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), led by Haruhisa Inoue, is working on yet another use. The lab has turned stem cells into motor neurons (a type of nerve cell) with abnormalities found in patients with amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a fatal disorder that attacks the brain and spine and leads to the eventual loss of muscle use. The lab’s success in making these cells gives doctors a new way of testing experi-mental treatments and drugs on human cells without the risk of actually trying them on humans. cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/e

NEW RECORDS

Tohoku Medical MegabankThe 2011 earthquake that hit Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region robbed cities and towns of hospitals’ doctor and patient records. Local officials wondered how they would cope without enough medical staff to care for communities. Now a 10-year project from Tohoku University and Iwate Medical Uni-versity could offer a solution called Tohoku Medical Megabank, a so-called biobank. It will create a massive repository of digital patient records, DNA samples and disease data by 2016. Ulti-mately, Masayuki Yamamoto, a professor of medical biochem-istry leading the biobank project at Tohoku University, says the hope is that it will establish the Tohoku region as a centre for innovation, attracting more doctors and researchers.megabank.tohoku.ac.jp/english

Life skills •••The high quality of life in Japan means residents are living longer and the nation’s technology is evolving to match the pace•••Adversity can inspire innovation. Japan’s response to the March 2011 disaster is evi-dence of that. Facing a shortage of medical professionals in earthquake-hit communi-ties, Japan is now looking to digitise patient records and modernise the medical system in one of its regional cities. The country has taken a similarly optimistic approach in other areas. For instance: the swelling ranks of elderly Japanese. Any other country with a population that’s graying as fast as Japan’s might worry, but the Japanese have tackled the problem head-on. They’re look-ing to use robots to improve medical care and quality of life for seniors. Technology might let doctors check in remotely on pa-tients at home and new futuristic research could give doctors the tools to develop treatments that are tailor-made for patients.

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Testing times•••Japan is drawing on a broad range of different medical expertise to help push science into new frontiers.

Pioneers in science tend to devote their careers to lab work. Masayo Takahashi is cut from differ-ent cloth. A project leader at Riken’s Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Takahashi is an opthamologist who also knows the ins and outs of a promising field of research: stem cells. The hope is that these cells can be the starter material for new body tissue in transplants and treatments from Parkinson’s disease to diabetes and that pa-tients can use donated cells stored at banks. For Takahashi, treating people is the goal. In 2013 she is expected to be the first in the world to test a type of stem cell iPS, or induced pluripotent stem cells, made from a person’s skin, on patients who suffer from age-related macular degeneration, an eye condition that can lead to vision loss. “This is just the first step of preliminary testing on a few patients,” says Takahashi. “It will take another 10 years of data-gathering to show that stem cells are safe and work as they’re supposed to.” cdb.riken.jp/en

MARCHE JAPON

Homegrown successThe weekend farmers’ markets – organised independently in seven of Japan’s biggest cities but branded collectively as Mar-ché Japon – aren’t just an assemblage of stalls. They’re a small, hand-picked group of farmers and food producers who act as ambassadors for their trade and stand for a high standard of quality. Along with local produce, visitors can find cuisine and products here from all over Japan. It also helps that the markets resemble festivals. Now in its fourth year, the markets have won a steady, loyal following. “It’s about having city resi-dents communicate directly with farmers and producers,” says Hirokatsu Morohashi, who organises the market at the United Nations University in Tokyo. marche-japon.org

SAKE’S EVOLUTION

Brewed to perfection Most sake makers in Japan brew only dur-ing the frigid winter months and rely on the instincts of the master brewer, or toji. Not Hiroshi Sakurai. The president at Asahi Shuzo, a brewery nestled in the mountains of southern Yamaguchi Prefecture. He has done the unthinkable and taken control of his brewery away from the toji. Instead Sakurai built a fermentation lab and temperature-controlled rooms. The result: a junmai daiginjo, the Dassai brand’s premium sake. Japan’s other well-known tipple, shochu, is a fiery distilled drink (on ice) that’s been gaining in popularity.asahishuzo.ne.jp/en

COMMUNITY LIVING

Sharing the loadThe March 2011 earthquake that caused a tsunami to wash over northeastern Japan destroyed the livelihoods of farmers, fishing communities and food processors. It also reminded many Japanese how intimately their food is tied to local communities. Within months of last year’s disaster, the Japanese government was urging the public to boost stricken farmers, brewers, sweets makers and bakers. The call was similar to a national campaign, dubbed “Eat to Support”, that aimed to raise awareness for the plight of domestic farmers and promote the increased consumption of domestic agricultural produce. Soon buying Japanese sake, soy sauce, desserts or even vegetables became more than just a transaction. It became a statement of support for producers struggling to get back on their feet. syokuryo.jp/tabete_ouen

TOKYO RETAIL

More in storeTo get a glimpse of the future of fashion retail, head to Tokyo. Start off in the Ginza district where the Fast Retailing Company has just opened its new flagship Uniqlo shop (pictured above left), a 12-storey glass temple of spinning mannequins in affordable, well-made basics. Cross a bridge to the Dover Street Market, where Comme des Garçons doyenne Rei Kawakubo has handpicked art and fashion labels for a store whose concept is beautiful chaos. Across town, in Hara-juku and Shibuya, it’s select shops like Tomorrowland, Beams and United Arrows that demonstrate the Japanese skill of mixing and matching the best of home, European and American design. And the city’s backstreets host a thriv-ing ecosystem of one-room specialty shops: FilMelange for ultra-soft high-quality cot-ton undergarments, Steteco (pictured left) for a modern take on traditional attire, and Soph. for sharp streetwear.

Moving minds•••Arts in Japan have always been intrinsic to its identity but new investment allows the country’s cultural exports can travel further.•••

The Japanese government’s latest “Cool Japan” plan is far more targeted than ever before and heading out on the road. For example: a fashion exhibition in Florence, a food festival and pop-up clothing shop in Singapore, an animation festival in Mumbai, a hospitality and services pavilion in Beijing. With smart strategies, the government is forming collaborations with the corpo-rate sector, turning to the likes of ryokan operator Kagaya, property developer Mori Building and online dining guide Gurunavi. At home, efforts are also being stepped up with a full schedule of food, fashion and art events dubbed Tokyo Spring/Autumn, and the Creative Tokyo Forum, where creators and businesses get together to start new collaborations. If all goes to plan, Japan’s cultural exports could double to ¥17trn (€175bn) by 2020 to make Tokyo an even more attractive destination.

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Year-round craft •••Initiatives giving Japanese craft a fresh look and designers a chance to collaborate.

A broom, a tea strainer, an oven mitt and a soy sauce dispenser are the kinds of everyday items that can be found in most Japanese homes. But when Japanese artisans and contemporary designers team-up to put their own spin on the most standard objects the results are stunning. By doing so, they draw attention to the country’s tradition of craftsmanship that has won a world-wide fanbase. Japan’s dedication to preserving skills can be seen in brooms and baskets sold by Matsunoya, a shop in Tokyo, or the soy sauce dis-penser made by family-owned kilns in Seto, Aichi prefecture for Ceramic Japan. It’s in the wooden tableware designed by Rina Ono and Masanori Oji and made by Takahashi Kogei, in Asahikawa, Hokkaido prefecture. And it’s even in the canvas oven mitt that’s a collaboration between Drill Design and textile brand Jobu.365things.jp/en.html

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LUXURY HOTEL

Regal relaxationWhen the owners of Tokyo’s Palace Hotel tore down the building in 2009, many Japanese wondered whether they had lost an old icon of hospitality. The plans called for a rebuild but would the new hotel be a soulless place? Three years and €1bn later, those worries have been put to rest. The Palace Hotel, which reopened in May, is a tasteful mix of classic Japanese hospitality and design – kimono-clad attendants, modernist chairs and a full range of international cuisine, from Teppanyaki to French is available. It’s a much-needed sprucing-up and not a moment too soon – the competition for luxury hotels in Tokyo is very close-run. palacehoteltokyo.com/en

EASY ACCOMMODATION

Simple pleasures Japanese inns, or ryokan, feature stripped-down design, from the gardens and the onsen (hot spring) bath to the yukata robe and the kaiseki meals in small portions, everything is fussed over and impeccably prepared. It all forces you to slow down, to take a breather. And yet it’s strange that ryokan rarely make “top hotel” rankings which are biased in favour of the boutique and high-rise offerings. For an escape, there’s Murata Ryokan, a complex of 12 guesthouses in the small onsen town of Yufuin, on Kyushu. Its harmonious mix of traditional farmhouse and modern furnishings was the work of architecture and design firm Simplicity and reflects the kind of understated elegance that defines the ryokan experience.sansou-murata.com

FRONT RUNNER

Sports tourismEven before Tokyo hosted its first marathon, in 2007, the city was a runner’s paradise. It only takes a lap or two around the Imperial Palace, a 5km loop with views of the moat and tile-topped outer walls to grasp why. And it’s not just the scenery. Breathe deeply: not a whiff of the soot or smog that you would expect from a metropolis of 13 million people with cars zipping about thanks to tough emissions laws and lots of hybrid cars. Of course, for runners the city tour-of-choice is the Tokyo Marathon in late February, with a course that winds past Tokyo Tower, past the department stores and fashion outlets in Ginza, and over the bridges to the breezy man-made islets that sit atop Tokyo Bay. tokyo42195.org/2013_en

New ambition•••Attracting tourists after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami was a challenge. But now the Japan Tourism Agency is inviting more tourists than ever before. •••The slogan was just two heartfelt words. “Thank you.” Launched in early 2012, Japan’s tourism campaign wasn’t meant only as a display of appreciation for the help and donations following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It was also a bold statement: Japan is back! Communi-ties are rebuilding, getting back to work. Only a year after the number of tourists dropped 28 per cent, the Japan Tourism Agency is now expecting 9 million visitors, a jump of 44 per cent. The agency’s hope is to double visitor numbers by 2016 and top 25 million in 2020. Its short-term plan is to host Visit Japan Travel Mart for travel industry professionals in November. They’ll be shown around Tokyo, offered seminars on Japanese culture, and led on overnight trips to Hokkaido, Kyushu and Okinawa, so they will be able to offer tips to travellers who want a similar experience.

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Old favourites•••Eco-tourism makes the most out of Japan’s richly varied natural wonders.

Pristine forests at Yakushima (pictured right), Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeologi-cal Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land (pictured above) and the animal kingdom of the Ogasawara Islands. They’re not on most tourists’ itineraries for Japan but these Unesco World Heritage sites are high on the list of destinations the government is eager to preserve and promote. Eco-tourism isn’t big in Japan but Unesco World Heritage sites like Yakushima and the Ogasawara Islands could change that. It also encourages local communities to get involved in protecting traditions and natural surroundings from urbanisa-tion and environmental destruction. Japan boasts 16 Unesco sites, including the well-known shrines and temples of Kyoto and Nara and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Not only does Japan support its own renowned World Heritage sites but it has intensively supported Unesco’s Japanese Funds-in-Trust programme to help countries, including Bolivia, Morocco and Uzbekistan.whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/jp/

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Stay ahead•••The race for new technology in Japan is a balancing act between innovation and conservation.•••There are three big new ideas for the future of Japan: disruptive technologies, cross-border collaborations and open innovation. They’re aimed at pioneering advancements to save on energy and lower Japan’s dependence on fossil-fuel and mineral imports. And of course, developing smarter systems to forecast natural disasters.

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Space to grow•••It’s not just technology on the ground that Japan excels in, its space projects are helping shape a new world view.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s satellite GCOM-W that blasted into orbit in May is picking up weak microwaves from Earth and beaming home data. As part of an international Earth observation satellite constella-tion, it will look at water in its many forms, be that oceans, clouds, ice or soil moisture. The informa-tion is giving climatologists a real-time picture of droughts, floods and extreme weather patterns, where sea temperatures are rising and falling and how quickly the polar ice caps are melting. “We know that climate change is happening but there’s no way to directly observe it so we look at indica-tors and water is a crucial one,” says Keizo Naka-gawa, the project manager. JAXA’s satellites don’t just monitor weather; they were key in restoring telecommunications to northeastern Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 disaster. “It’s not just about developing new technologies. We constantly ask ourselves, ‘what’s the benefit?’” says Nakagawa. jaxa.jp/index_e.html

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