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Forbes
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
How To Experience The Best Of Ginza, Tokyo
Follow Ginza's bright lights to great shopping, dining and hotels. iStock-Sean Pavone Everyone has a reason to visit Tokyo. If that reason has anything to do with fine dining, fast cars or fine boutiques, you'd be wise to ensure a visit to Ginza, a neon-lit, inner-city district of opulence that is, unlike most of central Tokyo, relatively quiet after 10:30 p.m. Ginza was home to Tokyo's silver mint in the 17th and 18th centuries, soon becoming a commercial center and hub for wealthy merchants with streets lined with shops, theaters, teahouses and upscale warehouses. Today, it still attracts Tokyo's well-heeled locals and jet-setters as it is home to some of the world's most exclusive fashion stores and showrooms. But there's more than just shops in Tokyo's most upscale district; you can experience, unwind and dine in Ginza, too. Stay at the Tokyo EDITION, Ginza for subtle sophistication in the center of it all. The Tokyo EDITION, Ginza Well-situated in the middle of the neighborhood is The Tokyo EDITION, Ginza. Designed specifically for those who wish to explore the shops, restaurants and cultural experiences of the district, The Tokyo EDITION, Ginza is within stumbling distance of every hot spot. Created by Japan's architect of the moment, Kengo Kuma, the property has 86 rooms stylishly appointed in whites and warm walnuts and decorated simply with fresh flowers, lanterns and, of course, The EDITION's signature faux-fur throws. The boutique hotel has complimentary bikes and a fitness center. For guests who wish to experience full-service amenities such as a spa and swimming pool, sister property The Tokyo EDITION, Toranomon is just a 15-minute taxi ride. Find all sorts of unique gifts at Kyukyodo, a store founded in 1633. Terry Elward Where to Shop in Ginza Ginza is Tokyo's most prestigious shopping district, so it goes without saying that you'll see things here that don't exist anywhere else. Kyukyodo is Tokyo's renowned paper supplier, specializing in incense and calligraphy supplies. Founded in 1663, this small store on the main crossing at Ginza is the perfect place to pick up a bespoke scroll, a notebook of handmade paper, a beautiful Japanese fan or other unique gifts. Another centuries-old Japanese institution is Ginza Mitsukoshi, a department store that originally focused on kimonos but now sells luxury goods from all over the world. The basement floor is a mecca for lovers of beauty products, both men's and women's, offering both traditional Japanese beauty goods and limited editions of products from the world's best brands. For those looking for even more exclusive items, head to Wako. Famous for having some of the world's most expensive watches, Wako is worth a visit for its other opulent jewelry and homeware displays as well. The Imperial Palace has immaculate gardens, bridges, tea houses and more. Terry Elward What to See in Ginza You can't visit Ginza without stopping by Nissan Crossing, a gallery of the famed manufacturer's state-of-the-art dream cars and classic vintage models that are otherwise unseen by the public. Upstairs in its Crossing Cafe, Nissan showcases its technology by preparing lattes with images of the customer's face or one of the Nissan models laser-etched on the milk foam. Ginza is also just a short walk from the Imperial Palace, which is the main residence of the emperor of Japan. While the palace itself is not open to the public, its gardens are always worth a visit. The spaces include historical gates, tea houses, bridges and guard posts. The gardens are well-tended and provide beautiful displays of Japanese flowers, trees and plants. A free tour of the grounds can be arranged online ahead of time. Where to Dine in Ginza Being so close to the palace will inspire you to partake in a traditional royal banquet or kaiseki. There are several famous kaiseki options in Ginza, from the difficult-to-book Nihonryori Ryugin, run by prominent Japanese chef Seiji Yamamoto, to the cozy, 10-seater Ginza Kousui, which focuses on seasonal produce from Shizuoka Prefecture. Each kaiseki restaurant strives to offer varied Japanese flavors — experiences range from six to 14 courses — with a focus on the freshest meat, fish and produce; the best presentation; and authentic, from-the-heart service. Our advice: book well in advance, arrive hungry and don't be in a rush — these meals can stretch three or four hours. Punch Room serves retro vibes and unforgettable cocktails nightly. The Tokyo EDITION, Ginza Where to Drink in Ginza After a long day of shopping and sightseeing, stop by Punch Room at The Tokyo EDITION, Ginza. Serving a vintage London private club vibe nightly, the cocktail bar pours punches inspired by the regions of Japan and international locations and mixed with the freshest local fruits and fine imported champagne. One of our favorite options is the Matsuri Punch, a chocolate-banana treat. There's an extensive mocktail menu for teetotal partiers every night as well. And live music livens the place up even more on weekends. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes Forbes Travel Guide's Best Hotel Bars For 2025 By Jennifer Kester Forbes 18 Undiscovered Beach Getaways By Forbes Travel Guide Forbes From Anguilla To Australia, Forbes Travel Guide's 2025 Star Award Winners By Jennifer Kester Forbes 5 Best Sparkling Wine Houses In Northern California By Katie Sweeney
Metropolis Japan
24-06-2025
- Business
- Metropolis Japan
Why Wooden Architecture Is Making a Comeback in Japan
The 'woodification' of Japanese skyscrapers is a testament to innovation and offers hope for a greener construction industry By Gendel Gento W350 Plan SUMITOMO FORESTRY & NIKKEN SEKKEI. Concept and Timber Engineering: Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd. Architectural and Structural Design: Nikken Sekkei Ltd Wooden architecture in Japan is reaching for the skies. Often reserved for low-rise buildings, timber is finding its way into taller and larger structures. As the country aims to cut carbon emissions by 60% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, wood is re-emerging as a green alternative to steel and concrete. Japan's forestry policy promotes responsible harvesting and replanting to balance timber production and ecosystem health. With forests covering 67% of the country, harvesting mature trees and replanting younger ones boosts carbon absorption and biodiversity. As trees age, they absorb less CO2, so harvesting them could actually boost climate change efforts. Timber certification programs, such as those under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council (SGEC), ensure that construction timber comes from well-managed forests. This creates a closed-loop system where forest resources are renewed and preserved for future generations. Japan's locally produced timber reduces its carbon footprint associated with importing materials. Timber has shaped traditional Japanese architecture for centuries, but postwar reconstruction favored cement and metal, especially for earthquake-resistant skyscrapers. Today, technological advancements and the push for sustainability are making high-rise wooden buildings an appealing option. Japanese architects have been at the forefront of this timber renaissance. Kengo Kuma used certified wood from all 47 prefectures in Japan for his iconic National Stadium, the main venue of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Osaka Expo 2025 Pavilions And this year, another global event features its own wooden superstructure. The pavilions of the Expo 2025 in Osaka are encased by a 20-meter-high ring that is two kilometers in circumference, making it one of the world's largest timber structures. Designed by Sou Fujimoto, the ring incorporates wood from the Fukushima areas hit hardest by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. This underscores architecture's role in fostering social and environmental progress, turning disaster recovery into a global showcase for innovation and sustainability. It also symbolizes harmony, connection, and sustainability to align with the Expo's theme of 'Designing Future Society for Our Lives.' Engineered wood at this monumental scale and structural integrity uses advanced technologies such as laminated timber (CLT). This combines strength, durability and fire resistance to meet rigorous safety standards for public use. Prefabrication techniques allow structural components to be assembled off-site with precision, reducing waste and construction time. Port Plus, Yokohama—A Pioneering Case Over in Yokohama, Port Plus is Japan's first all-timber fire-resistant high-rise building. Built by Obayashi Corp as a training facility for its staff, the first-floor columns, in particular, can withstand a blaze for three hours. Earthquake resistance is also a common point of contention for wooden buildings. But Port Plus achieves high seismic performance by incorporating a seismic isolation structure. To achieve the same dimensions as a concrete building, the building uses a new method for unifying columns and beams. This includes using rigid joints without steel connection components and newly designed wood joint panels, increasing strength via insertion. The wood creates a relaxing space, and the lighting, ventilation and scents increase wellness and comfort for visitors. The accommodation rooms' flooring is made of a new soundproof material. Obayashi claims that Port Plus consumes less than half the energy of a regular comparable building. Ginza Takagi, Tokyo—A Hybrid Approach Built along Sotobori-dori in Ginza, the eponymous building by Takagi is a 12-story structure about 56 meters high. The lower eight floors are made of steel, but the upper four floors use wood. This hybrid method offers an alternative for when an all-timber structure is not feasible. Or, for renovating and enlarging existing structures sustainably. Crafted from certified Japanese cedar from Tokyo's Tama area, the wooden structure was designed by Tatsuo Yamaji. The architect previously worked at Kengo Kuma & Associates, a leading firm in modern timber architecture. Designed to resemble a wooden box and evoke a sense of warmth, the project aims to add architectural diversity to Ginza's historic district. The building features restaurants on the basement and ground floors, retail on the second, offices from the third to eighth, and more eateries on the ninth and tenth. The highlight is a sauna spanning the eleventh, twelfth and rooftop floors, complementing the wooden design. W350 Plan, Tokyo—A Daring Vision The future looks promising for timber supertall skyscrapers. Nikken Sekkei and Sumitomo Forestry have teamed up to offer an ambitious vision of what such a future could look like with their W350 Plan. While only a research and technological development concept with no actual plans to build it, it's a bold example of where wooden architecture in Japan might be headed. The project envisions a city connected to forestry through timber high-rises, including offices and commercial facilities to promote urban environmental sustainability. Plans to recycle leftover timber for smaller buildings and use waste wood as fuel for biomass power generation, on top of the reduction of CO2 emissions during construction, would reduce the global environmental impact. The 350-meter-tall building itself includes a wooden frame structure 80 meters in diameter. It's reinforced with steel-embedded wood columns, including some components made of a wood-steel hybrid. Structural frames are covered with renewable wood panels that set the tone for a natural setting, including greenery, wind and natural light, elements usually lacking in conventional skyscrapers. Greenery in particular is a defining feature of W350, with foliage rising from ground level and dotting the structure all the way to the top. The developers envision a city that cultivates biodiversity and allows for small pleasures such as listening to birdsong, feeling the breeze and enjoying the sunlight.
The National
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Turkey's Odunpazari Modern Museum invites creatives to explore link between nature and humans for anniversary
In the quaint town of Odunpazari in Turkey 's Eskisehir region, the Odunpazari Modern Museum has spent the last five years bridging the gap between rural culture and cutting-edge art by well-known artists. The striking museum, designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates, has become a landmark, crafted from timber inspired by the area's history as a wood market, as well as the charming traditional Ottoman wooden houses in the town. To celebrate its fifth anniversary this year, OMM, as the museum is also referred to, is presenting Creatures of Comfort, a large-scale exhibition that brings together 25 international artists and designers. Their works explore the relationship between form and function, blending natural elements and human-centric design to bridge the gap between urban life and nature. 'Beyond being a museum, OMM was envisioned as a space for connection, dialogue and discovery,' director Defne Casaretto tells The National. 'The exhibition reflects OMM's mission to foster new ways of seeing and being in the world: thoughtful, playful and rooted in curiosity.' Running until July 20, the show curated by Idil Tabanca offers a host of contemporary artworks and fantastical designs, which often blur the boundaries of painting, sculpture, installation and furniture design. The featured works imagine new ways of reintroducing nature into our daily environments, creating space for organic forms and textures to co-exist with the domestic and urban realm. The show unfolds through three interconnected sections: Formations, Bloomcore and Creatures. These categories are united by a central theme, the process of Earth's formation and the emergence of life. 'Formations represents the geological evolution of the planet,' Casaretto explains. 'Artists working with materials such as stone, rock, sand, salt and lava explore the sculptural forces of nature, such as wind, rain, heat and time, positioning nature itself as the original sculptor. Bloomcore marks the second phase of nature's progression: the development of plants and ecosystems. 'In this section, artists draw inspiration from the natural world's rich colour palette, engaging with pigments, patterns and organic forms,' she adds. 'Creatures focuses on the appearance of living beings. The works in this section take cues from the forms of humans, animals and microorganisms, reflecting the dynamic and ever-moving essence of nature.' The New Zealand-born, Paris-based design duo Batten and Kamp (Alexandra Batten and Daniel Kamp) are showing three pieces in the Formations section, all made from natural stone and steel. Their Steel and Stone chair is as simple as the name suggests – a minimalist steel sheet shaped into a seat supported by a boulder. Odd Balance, is a sculpture vase with a small metal receptacle 'growing' from a small rock. 'The works are from our Shelter to Ground series, which we launched in 2020 and has been evolving ever since,' Kamp tells The National. 'The series began as a rejection of working digitally and feeling stuck at our desks. We wanted to find our way back to the physicality of design, and part of why we love these works is that they are difficult to make. 'They required us to spend hours upon hours searching for the stones and go to the streets of Mong Kok in Hong Kong to work with metal benders. Our influences are always evolving, but it seems we always come back to deep history, to the unique nature of Aotearoa New Zealand, to the formation of continents and the universe at large, and always science fiction,' Kamp adds. 'We zoom right out and look at life in the macro; very rarely do the works comment on our world as it is now.' Over in Bloomcore, several works by American designer Misha Kahn offer a different aesthetic, full of large organic shapes in bright, contrasting colours. The pieces, ranging from furniture and carpets to spatial artwork installations, are abstract, bold and playful. Latent Longing, a side table and artistic piece, is made of many amorphic stained-glass pieces in purple and pink with metal frames, reminiscent of clusters of microorganisms or replicating cells, combining traditional craftsmanship with a contemporary edge. 'A free-spirited approach to improvising with new production methods while roping in traditional craft media often lends a new texture or language to an otherwise familiar process,' Kahn says. 'For instance, the console in aluminium and glass uses the sand-cast metal as frames to cast the hot glass in, so the glass takes on a kind of harassed taffy texture and the sand texture on the aluminium is a sharp contrast. 'The visual language overall borrows from so many things and I try to keep it quite loose and unexpected,' he adds. 'The large printed table in the show pulls a bit from art nouveau mouldings and the Toys 'R' Us Super Soaker section, with bits of seed pods and other natural elements. I think it's in this mix that I can find some new magic.' Though the museum is off the beaten path for most visitors to Turkey, an excursion to OMM and the town it calls home is well worth the trek.
Zawya
02-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Aldar unveils master plan of $11bln Fahid Island in Abu Dhabi
ADX-listed Aldar Properties has launched the master plan for Fahid Island, with a upward revised gross development value of more than 40 billion UAE dirhams ($10.89 billion). More than 6,000 luxury residences, ranging from apartments and townhouses to ultra-luxury villas, are planned on the 2.7 million square metre island with a 11-km coastline, the developer said in a statement on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The first residential development will be the Fahid Beach Residences, a collection of seven buildings, each featuring 65 residences, Fahid Island is one of the largest mixed-use residential masterplans launched in Abu Dhabi, said Group Chief Executive Officer Talal Al Dhiyebi. Japanese architects Kengo Kuma and Koichi Takada have designed two separate residential concepts on the island. Further residential developments are being designed by London-headquartered ACME and UAE-based NAGA Architects. In February 2023, Aldar Properties said it paid AED2.5 billion to buy Fahid Island, a 3.4 million sqm land bank located between Yas Island and Saadiyat Island, to build a new waterfront development. The project's gross development value was then estimated at AED 26 billion ($7.1 billion). (Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon) (
Khaleej Times
02-06-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Abu Dhabi to have first wellness island, launches Dh40-billion project
Abu Dhabi's real estate landscape is set to expand with the launch of Fahid Island — a new Dh40 billion masterplanned destination by Aldar that promises to redefine coastal living with a focus on wellness, sustainability and community. The 2.7 million square metre island, unveiled on Monday, will feature more than 6,000 high-end homes, a 10km fitness corridor, 4.6km of beaches, and a dedicated waterfront promenade. It is being billed as Abu Dhabi's first coastal wellness island and has already received Fitwel certification, making it the first island in the world to meet the global healthy building standard. Located between Yas and Saadiyat islands, Fahid Island is designed to offer seamless access to Abu Dhabi's leisure, cultural and aviation hubs, including Zayed International Airport, all reachable in under 15 minutes. Aldar said the development includes residential offerings by renowned architects such as Japan's Kengo Kuma and Koichi Takada, along with London-based ACME and UAE-based NAGA Architects. The first homes to be released, the Fahid Beach Residences, will comprise seven mid-rise buildings, each with 65 apartments. Plans also include townhouses and ultra-luxury villas. "Fahid Island is the latest chapter in our journey to create world-class communities that reflect the values and ambitions of the UAE,' said Mohamed Al Mubarak, Chairman of Aldar. 'It builds on the success of Saadiyat and Yas Islands to offer a new benchmark in premium waterfront living, wellness, and sustainable design. With more than 30 per cent of the masterplan dedicated to natural spaces — including mangrove forests, gardens, and shaded trails, the island aims to integrate nature into daily life. The 10km Berm Park will serve as a landscaped wellness corridor with three cycling routes connected to Abu Dhabi's larger cycle loop. Aldar has also partnered with a leading international education provider to establish a school on the island, in line with the emirate's ambitions to position itself as a regional hub for educational excellence." The development's social heart will be a 2km promenade featuring retail, dining, art installations, and public spaces, while the Coral Drive retail boulevard will include boutique stores, cafes, a ballet school, and concept outlets. Aldar Group CEO Talal Al Dhiyebi said the launch comes at a time of "incredible demand from both local buyers and overseas investors,' adding that Fahid Island is one of the largest mixed-use residential masterplans to be launched in Abu Dhabi. Alongside Fitwel certification, the island has also received LEED City and Communities Platinum precertification and is targeting Estidama 3-Pearl accreditation, reinforcing its sustainability credentials.
