Wired’s slideshow Vintage Japanese Robots Storm Sci-Fi Museum shows 13 pictures of neat toys, like Mechagodzilla bellow. The toys are from the personal collection of the designer Tom Geismar, from Chermayeff & Geismar, which has been collecting for decades. Those and many other robots will be presented in exhibition Robots: A Designer’s Collection of Miniature Mechanical Marvels at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, in Seattle, through October 26th. More images here.
Related posts:
The Weapon Shop
Mark Bergin Toys
Robots and monsters
Robots: museum and sculptures

Takorantis is the site of the Japanese studio Takorasu, “Las octopus” according to a weird on-line translation. On the Takorasu portfolio you will find their work of wonderful illustrations and animations with robot-like giant animals, which transport tiny whimsical steam worlds; midis from their animations, images of character design, and images (reload the page) of a web comic (now closed). Those steam worlds are inspired on the 19th century machinery and the middle ages European cities. For more information about it, watch the short video bellow by Diginfonew. (via armchair aquarium)

Some mothers are better than others, I mean, when the issue is kids’ lunch box. Biggie, from Lunch in a Box: Building a Better Bento, is one of those dedicated, talented and with a lot patience, mothers and wives, in her case. She makes those adorable lunch boxes in bento style, and shares recipes, tips and techniques of their preparation. She’s also a proud creator and admin of those Flickr groups: Lunchbox Recipes and Kid Eats.

Related posts:
E-obento
Bento Yum
Cooking Cute
Cute bento boxes
Bento Windows & Bento Art

I don’t remember having seen wood toys prettier than those by take-g toys. Takeji Nakagawa, aka Take-G, creates adorable toys and crafts, like the wonderful wood robots. The robots and his other crafts are actually art works, sold only at exhibitions and art galleries. About his work:

Yosegi-Mokuzougan, or joined wooden block construction, is craft skills where combinations of original and unique colors and textures of different kinds of wood are utilized to express artistic patterns. In Japan, the Hakone-Odawara region is famous for this traditional handicraft. Products of the Take-g Toy’s have expanded this traditional craft skill, which usually employs two-dimensional patterns, by using three-dimentional patterns, instead. We use four different kinds of wood, a keyaki (a Japanese tree of the genus Zelkova), a teak, a walnut, and a white ash.

Arata Sasaki interviewed Takeji Nakagawa for Hitspaper. The interview is available in Japanese and English.

The site e-??????????? (e-obento) documents the beautiful daily bento and other lovely food creations of a Japanese mother. Each has a brief story and a list of ingredients. Some of them have grades for nutrition, design, speed and saving. All in Japanese, but the translator helps a little if you want to try any of them. (via Make)
Previous Bento posts:
Bento Yum
Cooking Cute
Cute bento boxes
The Meaning of Food
Bento Windows & Bento Art

Bento Yum is an adorable food blog about Bentos. Most of entries are composed by pretty images of Abigail’s Bentos and the what’s on them, with descriptions. There are also recipes, tips and information of where you can find Bento stuff. Not a fan of Japanese food? Don’t worry, there are Bentos prepared with food of other cuisines. (via BB-Blog)
By the way, if you live in São Paulo and get excited with the idea of created cute bento boxes too, go to the Liberdade (a Japanese neighbourhood): they have all this kind of things, including the delicious star-shaped senbei (salgadinho japonês de peixe) on the picture above. I know, I bought a package of them last time I was there.
Previous Bento posts:
Cooking Cute
Cute bento boxes
The Meaning of Food
Bento Windows & Bento Art

Japonism or Japonisme, the original French term, which is also used in English, is a term for the influence of the arts of Japan on those of the West. This tendence had a huge influence in the works of artists as Vincent Van Gogh,Manet, Pierre Bonnard, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Mary Cassatt, Degas, Renoir, Monet,Camille Pissarro, Paul Gaugin, Klimt and many others.
Japonisme is the name and theme of a blog. Full of beautiful images, the blog is an eye candy. Don’t be shine and go explore the archives. But, if you aren’t familiar with the movement or with that kind of art, try the last posts with vintage magazine covers I, II, III and this one.

This Japanese site has a small but nice collection of vintage album covers, and their inside images, of TV shows for children, I think. The images and the translation point to cartoons and film, but I can be wrong. I know that at least two of those were Tezuka Osamu creations: Princess Knight, on this page, and the image above. And I know that, because I used to watch a lot of Japanese cartoons in the 1980’s, specially those from his studio. (via Canta Piriquito Canta)
Related post: Album Cover Art Collection of Links

It’s Friday and it’s thirteen! I’m going to make my contributions to Friday Cat Blogging and some horror. I hope you enjoy.

Jaakko, a The Groovy Age of Horror (NSFW) contributer, posted about Biglie Humane (The Human Balls), a fumetti with giant children who likes to play with tiny, compared, humans. Cool, but not the best part. Those kids have a giant kitty that likes to play, as all the other cats. In the place of insects or toys, the cats play with those tiny humans. If you saw any time a cat playing, you are able to imagine the lovely (horror) scenes.
PS.: My condolences for you kitty Jakko. Take care.

The Mystery of the Haunted Vampire always celebrate the Fridays with an special Vampire Kitty Friday post. This Friday cookie jill gave to us a great cultural contribution from the Japanese folklore, telling to us about SaruDama: The Vampire Cat of Nabeshima.

Here’s a classic Japanese tale dating back to the Hizen daimyo of the Sengoku Era (1568-1615). It presents a Shinto perspective of the spiritual dimension of Nature itself, here depicted in the form of a large cat who not only consumes humans, but then supernaturally changes its form to become that human, after which it interacts and easily deceives everyone it encounters.

My last contribution to this Friday Cat Blogging is the remarkable image of the two angry – and cute – baby snow leopards at the Zoo Berlin, via The Pet Blog. Ten-week old snow leopards Lanak, left, and Askai hiss to photographers during their first appearance in the Berlin Zoo in Germany. And they are right about hiss to the photographers: flashes are annoying.

The Japanese have an incredible talent to transform everything in something cute. From illustrations to condoms, passing through packages and “plush food“. Everything can be kawaii in their hands. That’s why a bento site called Cooking Cute isn’t a surprise. They have a gallery with several images, also available at Flickr, showing that bentos can be cute too. The enthusiasts can try the recipes and take a look at the impressive list of Bento links and resources. (via The Pet Blog)

More cute bentos: Bento Windows & Bento Art, Cute bento boxes and Funny sausages.