Malmö: December 2009

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

+J for UNIQLO Spring/Summer 2010

After the success of the first collaboration Jil Sander and Uniqlo will in early January 2010 release the second +J collection . Sounds to me like a good enough reason for another Japan trip...

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Transcript Issue 1.1 - Shinkansen

As I sat on my seat in carriage number 6 on the Hikari super-express bullet train to Kyoto, I came to the realisation of how a high speed rail network that is safe, reliable and efficient can transform a country. Passing Mount Fuji at 300km per hour on the clearest of days after a typhoon had just swept through Tokyo, I was struck as the sheer magnificence of a rail system that has a 99.5% punctuality achievement rate. As the train conductor bowed on the way out of my carriage, I bought myself a bento box and surmised that this is a fine example of how you manage people movement.

The first Shinkansen train line started operating in 1964, and heralded a new age of travel in Japan and with continual expansion you can travel to nearly all major cities by speed train. The busiest line is the JR (Japan Rail) Tokaido line which runs between Tokyo and Osaka carrying 151 million passengers in 2008. Currently JR is busy building new lines that will be used by new Maglev trains that are capable of reaching speeds of 550km per hour. It is anticipated that this will cut the journey from Tokyo to Osaka from 3 hours to just under 2 hours making it possible to be in Aoyama for a business meeting in the morning and be back in Namba tucking into takoyaki for supper. In a time where air travel is increasingly cutting back its service levels due to extremely high overheads, Transcript feels that this is the long haul travel option

of the future.

Transcript challenges state governments of Australia to follow this lead because bureaucracy is no longer an excuse for inactivity. The Shinkansen rail network is a perfect example of what foresight, planning and funding of infrastructure projects can achieve in a country that prides itself on efficiency.

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Monday, December 7, 2009

Transcript Issue 1 - Japan

Malmö is proud to present the first in a series of posts titled Transcript. Transcript is a fortnightly online journal that explores objects, companies, people, moments and places in the world that inspire and constantly open up our eyes.

The first series of Transcript will focus on Japan. Having recently spent a month travelling from the madness of Tokyo to experiencing onsen on Kyushu Island and then back through the serene streets of Kyoto, we became slowly enveloped by the country’s undeniable beauty and the politeness of its people.

It is a place that overstimulates the senses yet has amazingly tranquil moments of stillness. Where bullet trains co-exist with beautiful old bicycles; where automated toilets are used by 90-year-old grandfathers; where vending machine food coexists with the highest grade of sashimi Tuna. Who would have thought that in the busy centre of Shibuya you could stumble upon an old auntie on a back street – presumably called Yuki-san – grilling the most tender of yakitori skewers. She has probably been grilling these skewers everyday for the last thirty years and it is this continual dedication to a single craft that Transcript totally respects.

Ultimately, Japan is a country of contrasts. And as these contrasts are too diverse and too overwhelming to cover in a single post, Transcript will look into Bullet Trains, Vending Machines, Japanese Menswear and Japanese Select Shops in the next four issues.

Wishing you a happy holiday period.

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