Latest news with #Otani
Hypebeast
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Otani Workshop's 'Tanilla' Sofubi Series Makes a Summer-Ready Return
Otani Workshopis back with the third installment of his sofubi figure series, this time teaming up with Tokyo'sKaikai Kikifor a duet of new colors for his signature character, 'Tanilla.' Known for its cute and cheeky charm, the finned and fanged monster now comes in pink and yellow, following earlier green andwhiteeditions. As summer settles in, the upcoming collection embraces the sunny hues of warmer months ahead. The drop includes a soft-toned peach version, paired with aqua blue eyes, alongside a bold yellow Tanilla, which made its debut at the latest edition ofArt Basel Hong Kong. First introduced in 2022 as a series of sculptures, Tanilla has since become a central figure in Otani's kawaii craftsmanship, appearing in painted, ceramic and bronze forms. A nod to the artist's childhood love for dinosaurs and natural history, the character's name is a portmanteau of 'Otani' and 'Godzilla.' January 2024 marked a big month for the monster with the Tanilla Tanilla Tanilla solo exhibition at Kaikai Kiki and an illustrative capsulecollaborationwith Dior. The new 'Tanilla' figures are set to release atTHEiCONin Taipei starting June 27. Head to Kaikai Kiki'spagefor more updates and information on the drop.
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Business Standard
21 hours ago
- Automotive
- Business Standard
Yamaha rolls out 5 millionth bike from Chennai plant, marks 10 years
India Yamaha Motor (IYM) has rolled out its 5 millionth two-wheeler from its state-of-the-art Chennai factory, marking the completion of 10 years of manufacturing operations in Tamil Nadu. Over the past decade, the Chennai plant has become a cornerstone of Yamaha's global operations, serving both Indian customers and export markets. The 5 millionth two-wheeler from the facility was an Aerox 155 Version S. More than 30 per cent of the factory's total output is exported, reflecting its manufacturing strength and global relevance. The factory currently manufactures Yamaha's hybrid scooter range, including the RayZR 125 Fi and Fascino 125 Fi, along with the performance-oriented Aerox 155 Version S. For exports, the facility also produces the FZ series, the Saluto range, and the Alpha scooter—reinforcing its role in delivering Yamaha's trusted quality to diverse global markets. 'The Chennai factory holds strategic importance in Yamaha's global manufacturing network. It exemplifies our unwavering focus on people, processes, and products—driven by skilled employees, synchronised operations, and a strong commitment to global quality standards,' said Itaru Otani, chairman, Yamaha Motor India Group of Companies. 'As one of Yamaha's most modern manufacturing facilities worldwide, it has supported India's mobility aspirations while reinforcing its role as a trusted exporter to global markets. As we celebrate the roll-out of the 5 millionth two-wheeler, I extend my deepest appreciation to our dedicated employees, vendor partners and passionate customers who have made this journey possible,' Otani said. 'We will continue to progress, and the Chennai factory will keep playing a major role in addressing the evolving customer demands in Indian and overseas markets,' he added. Spread across 177 acres, the Chennai factory operates with a unique integrated model—109 acres dedicated to IYM and 68 acres to co-located vendor partners—enabling seamless synchronisation under a unified 'One Factory' concept. This approach has enhanced manufacturing efficiency, speed, and supply chain integration, making the facility one of Yamaha's most advanced in the world. Over the past decade, the Chennai facility has been consistently upgraded to support Yamaha's evolving premium product strategy—producing high value-added motorcycles and scooters with small to mid-range engine displacements. With India's stringent emission regulations, Yamaha Motor Company Ltd identified an opportunity to position this plant as a global export hub, delivering products that meet the highest standards of performance and compliance. Today, the factory supports Yamaha's portfolio across segments—ranging from premium models for Indian customers to those tailored for markets in Europe, Latin America, ASEAN, and beyond. With its focus on quality, digital systems, and sustainable technologies, the facility is well-prepared for the future of smart and eco-friendly manufacturing. Demonstrating Yamaha's long-standing commitment to sustainability, the plant houses an installed solar power capacity of 4,450 kW, significantly reducing its carbon footprint and supporting green manufacturing practices. The facility incorporates state-of-the-art infrastructure and advanced technologies for zero-water discharge and the recycling and reuse of wastewater. It is also designed for maximum use of sunlight, and the buildings are compatible with solar power system installation.
Tokyo Weekender
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tokyo Weekender
The Beauty of Broken Things: The Artist Using Kintsugi To Heal Emotional Wounds
This article appeared in Tokyo Weekender Vol. 2, 2025. To read the entire issue, click here . On a quiet side street in Tokyo's Ogikubo neighborhood, sunlight streams through the windows of a small antique studio filled with ceramic fragments, brushes, powdered gold and bowls in various stages of repair. The air carries the earthy scent of lacquer while the yellow and silver trains of the Chuo-Sobu Line occasionally rumble by. This is the workplace and studio of kintsugi artist and teacher Yuki Otani. If you're even slightly interested in Japanese culture, you're likely familiar with the concept of kintsugi: the practice of repairing broken pottery with lacquer and gold, highlighting cracks rather than hiding them. Despite being a centuries-old practice, it resonates strongly with many people today, both within and outside Japan. It's easy to understand why; kintsugi offers a potent visual metaphor, an acknowledgment and honoring of fractures, an understanding that healing has its own unique beauty. Otani, who goes by the name 'Kintsugi Lady' online, uses ceramic repair as a conduit for emotional renewal. Her students, she notes, are often not just mending broken pottery, but healing parts of themselves. List of Contents: Golden Scars Fixing More Than Objects A Reverence for Imperfection A Future Melded Together Related Posts Golden Scars The word 'kintsugi' came into Otani's life during a period of recovery and reflection. Amid the stillness that followed a major surgery, she came across a simple phrase that resonated deeply: 'All my scars are golden.' The phrase is from 'Kintsugi,' a song by British singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin. The words gave shape to feelings she hadn't yet been able to fully face — the quiet ache of a body changed and the sense that the future she had once imagined was beginning to slip away. Her physical scars were healing little by little, but she didn't yet know how to tend to the wounds in her heart. The words worked like a quiet remedy — something she hadn't known she needed. That realization drew her to try kintsugi for herself. In learning to mend ceramics with gold, she began to see how care and beauty can emerge from change. For Otani, it became its own remedy — reminding her not to strive to erase her pain, but rather to live alongside it with grace. 'To me,' she says, 'kintsugi is a way of letting time become part of the beauty.' As her understanding of kintsugi deepened, Otani — who splits her time between Japan and the United Kingdom — began to notice its quiet echoes in her own cross-cultural life. 'My life itself feels like kintsugi,' she says. 'Not fully one thing or another, but a space in-between where different values meet and something new is created.' Otani's works often blend materials from both Japan and the UK. One notable piece is a Japanese teacup fused with a shard of British ceramic she found at a London flea market. It fit perfectly, as if by fate. This form of kintsugi is called yobitsugi, or 'call-and-join,' where a missing piece is replaced not by the original but by something wholly different. 'It's about finding harmony through what's been carried forward,' she says. 'It's also about gently honoring what something has been while listening closely to what it might become.' Fixing More Than Objects Kintsugi Lady's workshops, held in Tokyo, London and occasionally elsewhere, are about far more than technique. Participants come from all over the world, bringing with them not only broken bowls and cups but sometimes also fractured pieces of themselves. A woman attending her first workshop in Japan remained quiet through the session, silently concentrating. She returned a few days later and began to share her story, telling Otani that her home country was in the midst of war. Something about the process of kintsugi had spoken to her — not in words, but in the quiet, attentive rhythm of repair. 'My country is now in the middle of conflict, but one day, when things are stable, I want you to come teach kintsugi there,' she told Otani. That parting promise — 'Let's meet again' — felt like kintsugi itself. 'It felt like we were both trying to tend to our hibi — a Japanese word that means both 'daily life' and 'cracks' — with care, and carry them toward a better future,' Otani says. In another session, a British woman painstakingly repaired a vase that belonged to a shop she once ran with her late husband; a honeymooning couple mended a mug full of memories; a mother and daughter from Taiwan laughed about the plate their cat had broken, now transformed into a 'collaborative art piece.' Even an office worker in a business suit, emotionally drained from her work, left a workshop saying, 'Kintsugi blew all my stress away.' These moments, Otani says, are proof that kintsugi isn't just about objects — it's a way of being. 'It's a lens for how we see the beauty in the world, and how we choose to live in it.' A Reverence for Imperfection In a world driven by disposability and constant consumption, kintsugi asks us not only to consider what we throw away but to reflect on why we do so. 'People often think it makes sense to replace what's broken,' Otani says. 'But kintsugi invites us to pause, to touch the flaw and to listen to the story it carries.' Often, she adds, the pieces that undergo kintsugi aren't antiques or art objects but rather everyday things like bowls, plates and cups — items with quiet histories and personal significance. In this way, kintsugi becomes not only a sustainable practice but a form of emotional ecology — a way of reimagining how we define care, worth and connection. Otani has also begun incorporating materials that reflect this way of thinking into her artistic practice. Through a kintsugi volunteer initiative in the earthquake-affected Noto Peninsula, she met people who harvest and refine urushi — the natural lacquer essential to the craft. 'Many of the people I've met there, who harvest and refine urushi, are not only the foundation of this tradition, but also survivors. Despite the hardship, they continue working to protect what's been passed down.' She now uses some of that lacquer in her workshops, allowing participants to connect with Noto not just through stories but through the material itself — letting their hands encounter a place and its people through the act of mending. This experience also led her to begin planting her own lacquer trees, nurturing a future in which people, craft and nature grow together. A Future Melded Together Otani is currently developing workshops in collaboration with overseas museums and educational institutions, and she hopes to publish a book that captures her reflections and experiences through the lens of kintsugi. Her approach is not about instruction, but about creating open spaces where people can explore and respond to the practice in their own way — through the textures of their personal stories and cultural backgrounds. 'Kintsugi is about fixing — but it's never fixed,' she says. 'It takes many forms. It's simply a quiet way to care for something loved. For some, it's art. For others, a path to healing. What matters is that each person can find their own way into it.' More Info At Gallery Rokujigen in Ogikubo, Otani offers a simplified, one-day version of her kintsugi sessions. To book, DM her on Instagram . Related Posts Yuri Horie's Glittering, Technicolor, Maximalist World An Experiment in Dye: Buiasou's Ingenious, Modern Indigo Creations Daisuke Shimura: One Of Japan's Most Inventive Plant Artists
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Will the Dodgers let Shohei Ohtani pitch this season?
Yahoo Sports senior MLB analysts Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman discuss the MVP's throwing during a live batting practice session on Sunday and what it could mean for L.A.'s chances of letting him pitch this season. Hear the full conversation on the 'Baseball Bar-B-Cast' podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript Moment that stuck with me was the Hasan Kim comebacker. Advertisement It wasn't hit that hard, but it was close to Otani. It wasn't like he was gonna get hurt. Can you imagine if like, Hassan Kim, like, ripped one off Otani's foot? This is why I still don't think Otani will pitch in the playoffs. They would love for him to pitch, they need him to hit. They think they can cobble together enough guys to pitch to cover innings. They do not want to sacrifice Otani, the hitter, and that is why they have slow played this to such a degree. I don't see a world where the 2025 Dodgers completely remove the reins on Otani, the pitcher in a way that they might with a different pitcher, because of what he brings to the hitting side. Advertisement I don't think those leave Otani this year. I don't. I think maybe next year. I don't think this year. I disagree just because I think while They might, maybe they do keep pushing, push, push, push, push, push, and it still doesn't come till after the ulcer break. Maybe he's only starting once every 7 or 8 days. I think he's gonna try to do it. And I don't know what that's gonna look like, but I think, especially since we are now, it's gonna be 2 years removed. I think that he's, he is who he is for a reason, and I think that they're gonna, they're gonna let him try to do it to some degree, but this is an important. Advertisement step because for the last two months, it was just like, all right, well, we'll just have to wait until it looks like he's doing things where it looks like he's close to coming back and I still don't know what this means in terms of how soon it is, and I understand what you're saying that they, they don't want to lose him as a hitter. Uh, but I also still think that those scales have tilted in a way that they, they do need him on the mound more than they do. And, and by the way, that cushion that you're talking about is one game right now. It's one game, and the cushion is that it's the Dodgers and that they always do it, but they have a one game lead and they're about to do this month where they are facing only good teams. So, as you wrote very well on Friday after that, like, we will know a lot more about all of this a month from now because of this situation, and I think Otani is a big part of that.
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Why HMSI is in wait-and-watch mode on EVs before scaling up
Gujarat: As India's electric two-wheeler market heats up, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) is opting for a wait-and-watch strategy, as it sees 2025 as a pivotal year to gauge whether the market will grow or stagnate. This cautious approach is despite its recently announced plans to set up a dedicated EV manufacturing plant within the premises of its existing third facility in Karnataka by 2028. A late entrant to the EV market, the Japanese automaker launched its first two models– the Activa e with swappable battery and QC1 with fixed battery– this year. Although the entry has been slow, the company's leadership team remains committed to a steady pace with the ultimate goal of winning the race. Speaking to reporters in Japanese with English interpretation, Tsutsumu Otani, Managing Director, President & CEO of HMSI, acknowledged that startups pioneered the EV market in India, while legacy companies like TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto are now driving volume growth. However, he noted that despite increasing sales for these OEMs, the overall market has not grown to a significant level. This is because the EV customers are primarily drawn by incentives and the cost advantage over gasoline vehicles. However, if they stop perceiving these benefits, the market may begin to shift, Otani added. For the year ended March 2025, EV penetration in India's domestic two-wheeler market stood at 6 per cent, with sales rising to 11.49 lakh units from 9.48 lakh units the previous year. Bengaluru-based Ola Electric led the segment, while TVS and Bajaj fiercely competed for the second and third positions, surpassing Ather Energy and Hero MotoCorp. Battery replacement cost Otani also drew parallels between the lifecycle of ICE and battery-powered vehicles. While ICE motorcycles typically last 10 to 15 years, EV batteries start to degrade after about five years. At that point, customers must either replace the battery or the entire vehicle, much like upgrading a smartphone. If consumers are willing to accept the cost of battery replacement, the EV market could continue to grow, Otani explained. Though, he reiterated, it is still difficult to predict how the overall market will evolve. He said HMSI is beginning its EV journey at a crucial time and is keen to monitor how incentive trends develop. As the EV market in India enters its fourth year, early adopters will start experiencing battery degradation, marking a key moment when customer perceptions of long-term EV ownership will begin to form. It is worth noting that the automaker's cautious approach also led to its phased expansion strategy for EVs. Currently, the Activa e is available only in Bengaluru and is yet to gain significant traction. The next planned launches, guided by the availability of battery swapping stations, are targeted for Delhi and Mumbai. The EV models are being sold through existing Red Wing dealerships. Honda, which sells scooters with swappable battery technology in Japan and Indonesia, has partnered with OMC Power to support battery swapping infrastructure in Indian cities. Globally, Honda plans to develop both swappable and fixed battery models, launching at least one new model each year starting in 2026. However, the company has not disclosed how many of these will be introduced in the Indian market. Striving for domestic market leadership In India, the company's EV journey contrasts with its long-standing goal to lead the domestic two-wheeler market. Having held the No. 2 position for years, the automaker aims to surpass Hero MotoCorp this fiscal year. To support this ambition, the two-wheeler maker has announced an investment of ₹920 crore to build a fourth production line at its Vithalapur plant in Ahmedabad district, Gujarat. Scheduled to be operational by 2027, the new line will produce 125cc motorcycles and add an annual capacity of 6.5 lakh units, increasing the plant's total capacity to 26.1 lakh units. 'We are aiming for No.1 market share in India by creating a production environment that meets the needs of the world's largest market of 20 million units,' the company said in its official statement. The increased capacity will also support the company's goal of making India its export hub. HMSI, which began production in India in 2001, currently operates four manufacturing plants across the country, including facilities in Manesar (Haryana), Tapukara (Rajasthan), Narasipura (Karnataka), and Vithalapur (Gujarat).
