"The Iris Blossoms"
From late June to early July is the time of year when the Iris blossoms beautifully. In Japan these flowers are known as ayame and they grow where there's a lot of sunshine and in well drained soils. But for hundreds of years the iris has been mixed up with another flower, the kakitsubata, which is confusingly also known as the Japanese iris. There is even an idiom: izure ayame ka kakitsubata (いずれあやめか杜若) which roughly translates to "it could be ayame or kakitsubata" and refers to two things that are equally beautiful and difficult to tell apart.
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the spoon & tamago dispatch
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08coffee
We begin our newsletter this week in the northern-Japan region of Akita where we found ourselves on the hunt for good coffee, and decided to stay for the excellent packaging design. The quaint coffee shop 08coffee just happened to exist at the cross section of two things we're very passionate about.
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Marie Asaba
Next, we swing by the Kiyosumi-Shirakawa neighborhood of Tokyo to check out the solo exhibition of illustrator Marie Asaba, a Yokohama-based illustrator who depicts children, animals and plants using delicate expressions and bold compositions.
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RIP Kimiko Nishimoto
Lastly, we bid farewell to an artist who brought so many smiles and laughs into the world. Kimiko Nishimoto, known for absurdist self-portraits, passed away on June 9, 2025. She was 97.
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tidbits from all corners of Japan
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In a new study, researchers from Keio University found that there is a direct correlation between public libraries and mental health: the more public library books a municipality has, the fewer residents require long-term nursing care
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Here's a short thread on the rags to riches story of Anzu, the abandoned toy poodle who managed to become one of Japan's first small canines to work for the police force.
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Summer Collection
“In summer the nights. Not only when the moon shines, but on dark nights too, when the fireflies flit to and fro, and even when it rains, how beautiful it is!”
This is a famous verse from Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book, a fascinating, detailed account of Japanese court life in the eleventh century written by a lady of the court. In this particular chapter (haru wa akebono), she writes about her favorite times of day during each season: In spring it is the dawn, In autumn the evenings, In winter the early mornings and In summer the nights.
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