Best Made‘s latest ode to fine tool making is their new “Higo” knife, aka the Higonokami. The Higonokami is a famed Japanese blade that has been made by the Miyamoto Manufacturing Co. since the 1920s, and has grown to prominence with over 50 other manufacturers also making the blade. Best Made’s slim profile version is crafted of laminated Japanese white […]

Well it’s that time of year again when we recap what we think were the best footwear offerings of 2013 — be they boots, slippers, high-tops, low-tops, sandals, whatever (OK, clearly no sandals). Like many of y’all out there, we have a soft spot in our decrepit hearts for sneakers, and shoes of all sorts, […]

The influence of motorcycle culture on Japanese label Neighborhood’s output has always been ubiquitous — unsurprising, as its founder Shinsuke Takizawa has been involved in the customization world since day one. Their new jacket pays homage to the 2-wheeled world by biting the motorcycle jacket design, throwing a spin on it by substituting leather for […]

Converse Japan takes the timeless Chuck Taylor All Star silhouette and crafts them in three high end materials, packaging them as their “Workcloth” collection. The three high-tops feature the Chuck’s tractional All Star patch on the side, white outsole and white eyelets, but switches things up with three premium materials:  “duck” beige (below), “herringbone” grey […]

We’re long time fans of the people over at Best Made, who specialize in handcrafted goods that live up to their name (our favorite probably being the Axe & Axe Sling). Now they’ve teamed up with world renowned Japanese swordsmith/knifemaker Toshiki Nambu to craft a set of Jiro Ono-worthy kitchen knives. The 71-year old artisan […]

These short art films are often beautifully made, and here director Danielle Levitt does a nice job of emoting the inchoate ambiance of being in Japanese motorcycle modifier Shinya Kimura’s workspace. But sometimes it feels like a tease, and you desperately want to get a longer format version where you can actually sink your teeth […]

The ancient Japanese technique of recycling cloth called “Boro” is the inspiration for Converse’s latest inception of their classic Jack Purcell silhouette. The high-top shoe is part of Converse’s high-end First String collection and features the namesake patchwork upper matched with a classic rubber Purcell sole. You can get a pair at SOTO for about […]

Japanese artist Maso Kinoshita constructs highly detailed sculptures of mythological creatures and gods, except he goes one step further by envisioning them as if from those amazing Body Worlds exhibits — stripped skinless to expose the pure biology. The skinless gods are carved from stone, and include Ganesh (above), as well as a slew of […]