Spoon & Tamago Author Johnny Strategy on Contemporary Japanese Design

By Stephen Watson
May 24, 2011

Sometimes the experience observing a place from a great distance can make things appear clearer than that of viewing them first hand. Using a virtual telescope lens from his home base of New York City, Johnny Strategy, the artist and design blogger behind the website site Spoon & Tamago, reports on the current design scene in Japan, the country where he grew up.

Turning his keen eye towards the country's latest innovations in fine art, architecture, and product and graphic design, he unites Japan's rich design history with its flair for sleek modernism. While on the surface, modern day Japanese culture can feel entirely foreign from our own, Japanese design blogger Johnny Strategy's appreciation of the simple things—a place to live, objects to eat and cook with, items to wear—the distance between our two countries doesn't seem to great.

While Japanese design—from traditional Zen gardens to envelope-pushing anime—is always inspiring, the enormous challenges of the past few months make this the perfect time to appreciate Japan.

+green by sinato: This new organic restaurant exemplifies modern Japanese design (featured in Spoon & Tamago).

The Inside Source: What is the significance of the name of your Japanese design blog, Spoon & Tamago?

Johnny Strategy: Spoon & Tamago means spoon and egg, tamago being the Japanese word for egg. It was derived from an online personality test my [then] future wife and I took many years ago. It likened my wife to a spoon and myself to an egg. The details remain murky, but we liked the associations that an egg and a spoon had—think egg and spoon race—and decided to play along. Spoon & Tamago actually started off as a personal diary for us, which morphed into a wedding blog and then a baby blog. If you trace it all the way back, I've actually been writing under the name Spoon & Tamago since 2004.

The Inside Source: I understand that you were born in the U.S. but brought up in Japan. How would you describe your relationship to Japan now?

Johnny Strategy: It's a very similar relationship to the one I have with the U.S. because it's been about 10 years since I came here from Japan. But I suppose I would consider Japan to be my first home since the landscape of every childhood and adolescent memory I have is from there. But with that said, I've also been away long enough to be able to take a more objective view of Japan. As with every country, Japan has its pros and cons. Whether I ever want to move back there is a constant struggle for me.

The Inside Source: How often do you travel back to Japan? Where areas do you visit?

Johnny Strategy: On average I go back two or three times a year. My parents live in Tokyo—and have lived there for the past 29 years—so unfortunately, I end up spending all my time in the city. There are so many beautiful places that my parents took me to as a child that that I would love to revisit, but have not had the chance.

The Inside Source: Your Japanese design blog includes so many interesting things, often things that have never been seen before in the U.S. What were your reasons for starting the Spoon & Tamago design blog? What types of Japanese designs do you look for?

Johnny Strategy: I love to write, I love design and I love Japan, so it just made perfect sense for me to begin cataloging all the lovely things I was finding on the web. I realized that one of the ways I could add value was by seeking out unique products or designs that hadn't been widely seen by a western audience. This usually meant going directly to the source of creation: usually the designer's Japanese website. I also try and provide some form of unique commentary by overlaying my experience in Japan and my academic background in the arts.

The Inside Source: What are some of your personal favorite Japanese design items? Any particular things that you can’t live without in your own home?

Johnny Strategy: I'm a bit biased because I got my start in the world of design through Japanese ceramics. But I have to say it's the pottery that I find myself coming back to time after time.

Spoon & Tamago

Ryota Aoki | potter: Strategy says Japanese ceramics, like these by Ryota Aoke, are among his personal favorite Japanese design elements (pictured in Spoon & Tamago).

Spoon & Tamago

Match Striker by Ayumi Horie: These ceramic match holders that also function as strikers are another more modern example.

The Inside Source: It's such a good time to cast the spotlight on all the cultural contributions that Japan has made to the world. Are there any elements of design that make something uniquely Japanese?

Johnny Strategy: That's a really good question. There's no easy answer and I'm guessing there are numerous dissertations that have attempted to address the topic. One thing that always strikes me as uniquely Japanese is the spirit of redesign—an inherent understanding that an object is never perfect. It can always be improved upon and refined. I think it's from this mentality that arises a minimal, simplistic form that can often be visually identified as being Japanese. This, combined with a deep reverence for nature, and hence the materials that go into creating an object, is perhaps one of the foremost identifiers of something that is uniquely Japanese.

The Inside Source: Any recent developments in Japanese design that you predict might eventually have a larger global impact?

Johnny Strategy: Like I mentioned above, Japanese designers are always contemplating materials. I know a furniture company that, using recycled wood shavings, is developing a clay that mirrors the look and feel of wood when dried. There is also a design studio that is presenting acrylic "transparent wood" at the Milan furniture fair this month. The western world has begun taking note of Japan's emphasis on materials but, given the increase in concern for natural resources, I think Japan still has a lot to contribute.

Frames by Nosigner: "One thing that always strikes me as uniquely Japanese is the spirit of redesign-an inherent understanding that an object is never perfect," says Strategy. The designer set out redesign the cheval glass mirror, an object, says Strategy, "that has remained largely unchanged since the late 18th century."

Milano Salone del Mobile 2011 | Nendo: Japanese design blogger Johnny Strategy cites this new "transparent wood" as an example of Japanese designers' fascination with new materials.

The Inside Source: What are your favorite places to view Japanese or Asian art?

Johnny Strategy: When I want to get my Japanese art fix, it's usually driven by artist, rather than location. But I have to say, the Japan Society in Manhattan has really upped their game in recent years. They've done a great job curating some very exciting art shows and have also been instrumental in organizing fundraisers for the relief efforts in Japan.

Spoon & Tamago

Concert For Japan: The Spoon & Tomago blogger cites New York's Japan Society as one of his favorite places to see Japanese art. He also commends it for being "instrumental in organizing fundraisers for the relief efforts in Japan."

The Inside Source: Besides modern Japanese design styles, you sometimes include Japanese food and recipes on your blog. What are some of your favorite Japanese dishes? Any special Asian meal ideas that that remind you of growing up in Japan?

Johnny Strategy: Japanese food puts such emphasis on presentation—everything from color, balance and proportion to the type of dish used for serving. It would actually be very fitting if I devoted an entire category to food. I can't live without Japanese food. In fact, we eat Japanese food on a daily basis at home, consuming white rice two, if not three, times per day. But there are some dishes that are really hard to replicate living in the States. My go-to foods when I'm back in Japan include ramen, sushi and mentaiko (pollock roe) pasta.

The foods that set me off on a path of nostalgia are the omatsuri (festival) foods sold by street vendors, such as takoyaki (round pancakes with octopus), okonomiyaki (flat savory pancake) and yaki-soba (fried noodles). Just thinking about them brings back the lanterns, the drumming and firecrackers.

tommy sushi by Paramodel: "Japanese food puts such emphasis on presentation," says Japanese design blogger Johnny Strategy, who frequently features Japanese food and recipes in his blog.

The Inside Source: Is there any favorite hard-to-find Japanese condiment/spice/ingredient that you can buy on eBay online auctions?

Johnny Strategy: Mirin, a sweet rice wine, is essential to Japanese cooking and can be found on eBay. Name a Japanese dish and nine times out of 10, it will contain mirin. Ginger is another ingredient, usually a topping, found in many Japanese dishes. Perhaps the most common is hiyayakko, a cold and refreshing tofu dish served up in the summer. But raw ginger is hard to come by. And even if you find it, it’s a hassle to peel and grate it. Which is why the Japanese invented tube ginger. My parents would say the only thing that comes in a tube is toothpaste, but the convenience of tube ginger makes it a staple in our house.

The Inside Source: What do you think are some good Japanese things to look for on eBay that you might not be able to find elsewhere?

Johnny Strategy: The first thing that comes to mind is the awesome Porter bags by iconic Japanese brand Yoshida. I occasionally see them in Barneys, but by and large, they are hard to come by in the U.S. There are also a lot of nice Seiko watches to be found as well. And if you are a fan of Japan’s fast fashion brand UNIQLO and don’t line in New York, eBay is probably the next best place to turn to.

The Inside Source: Know of any recent 'sold out' limited edition or collectable design items from Japan that might be available on eBay?

Johnny Strategy: It's not recent, but Porter did a limited edition collaboration with the artist KAWS in 2007. As far as I’m aware, they all sold out, but one recently surfaced on eBay. If you’re more of a contemporary art person, you can snag a Takashi Murakami “Flowers Heaven” print. These were done in 2010 and there were only 300 made.

On eBay, online sales for items in the Home & Garden category with the term "Japanese" are up 14 percent in the past 30 days compared to approximately one year ago. Here, select eBay finds inspired by the Spoon & Tamago aesthetic.

Roll over items for details