With the doors officially open down at the Felissimo Design House in NYC, New York-Tokyo has decided to take a look at the exhibit and see what all the fuss is about. The curators of Japan C took the opportunity to furnish this house with entire bedrooms and dining rooms worth of Japanese housewares that exude a creative flair. Robotic toys for the kids sit on shelves, while other trinkets wait on windowsills for an imaginary denizen of the house. It’s a simple, but clever and effective method for displaying this varied collection of items.

Four floors of Japanese culture overload await those curious enough to step into the halls of Felissimo, and to give you a taste of what to expect, hit the jump for a gallery of select photos.

For part three of our interview series surrounding the release of Anime Toonz Vol. 4, we “visit” Japan and get the skinny on what is happening in DJ A.Q.’s world. Having worked in music production since 1999, A.Q. has been a huge fan of the anime aesthetic both visually and aurally. It comes across in many of his trance-influenced productions, and made him an obvious choice for this project. Let’s hear what he has to say about his two loves, music and animation. Interview after the jump.

In celebration of all that is quirky, all that is kawaii, and all that is inspirational about modern Japanese consumer culture has just recently opened courtesy of the Felissimo Design House. Japan C will run at the Felissimo town house from August 16th to November 1st, 2008, showcasing everything from minimal-inspired chairs, Japanese robot designs, and towels shaped like pastry rolls.

The idea is to take simple fundamentals from everyday life, arranged in such a way that their individual beauty is highlighted. A number of creator talks and demonstrations will also be taking place during the exhibits 11 week stint.

Curated with assistance from design mavens Tobias Wong and Josée Lepage, the Japan C exhibit looks to be a major event this fall for Japanese culture junkies of both the high and low brow. More detailed information after the jump.

Shin Tanaka’s paper toys have been causing quite a stir lately, as we have reported in the past. Aside from being featured in the House of Liu exhibition at the APW Gallery in downtown NYC, Shin’s artistic handiwork will grace an upcoming hoodie exclusively available here in the apple.

His design is a collaboration with Good Shepherd Clothing, and will be for sale at the Michael K store in Soho. Featuring leather stars running down the hoodie’s front, a little blue guy poking his head out of the front pocket, and Shin’s own graffiti-styled reworking of the Good Shepherd logo on the back, The piece has a flair that perfectly complements the two visual minds coming together. Look for it on Michael K’s store shelves this fall.

By NYT

Hayao Miyazaki is back to smashing box office records in Japan again. His latest feature film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, only took about 31 days to reach the 10 billion yen mark (that’s about $93.2 million for us on the other side of the pond). Apparently no other film since Miyazaki’s previous outing four years ago, Howl’s Moving Castle, has been able to accomplish this. Granted, neither of them were the behemoth that Spirited Away was, but still, a feat worth celebrating for a filmmaker who undoubtedly deserves the praise. Still no substantiative word yet, though, on a U.S. release of Ponyo.

Miyazaki’s’ Ponyo’ Earns 10 Billion Yen (via Variety)

By Stewart Smith

Welcome to part two of our interview series commemorating the release of Anime Toonz Volume 4, the remix compilation featuring a host of worldwide dance music masters. This time we turn the spotlight to Berlin, where Jason Forrest, better known as DJ Donna Summer (no, not the disco era diva!) makes plenty of musical moves. Though he’s got his hands full running his label Cock Rock Disco, orchestrating the notorious Birthday Party event series, and DJing all over Europe, Forrest squeezed in a bit of time to put together an extremely aggressive hardcore remix for the compilation, and spent a few minutes answering some questions for us. Interview after the jump.