Designer furniture shops in Tokyo are far from rare, but you'll be remiss if you don't include hhstyle.com, located on Harajuku's Cat Street, to your list of regular stops. Featuring collections that are "exhibited" in the vast showroom space, hhstyle is a must-see landmark on any design-oriented tour of the city. Last month saw the opening of a sister shop next door - hhstyle.com/casa - designed by no less than Tadao Ando.

The oddly shaped, sleek-black-colored retail space makes for a fine addition to the hhstyle.com brand, and if the expensive furniture inside doesn't make it into the homes of most visitors, simply walking through the store is still quite pleasing. Mark it down as a new architectural hotspot to be taken in while admiring the modernist transformation that is currently underway in the area.

When it comes to fashion-related graphic work, the Graniph brand of t-shirts is definitely a leader. Font-friendly - their classic "Helvetica" tee is still a staple - they offer celebrations of graphic imagery on clothing at their chain of Graniph designer T-shirt shops (the latest Tokyo branch is in Parco Ikebukuro). And now have a new venture in the form of a magazine - Graniph Vol. 1: Creators Index Magazine is a catalogue of artists who have collaborated with the brand.

Lacking any written commentary, it simply showcases some representative pieces from each artist, with bio info in English (the same text appears in Japanese at the back, the opposite of what we usually see in Japanese magazines). At a relatively low price of 1000 yen, this thick guide to some of the designers, illustrators, and artists currently working in Japan is certainly worth picking up. It's available at all Graniph shops - have a look at their website for locations - as well as many design-friendly bookstores (either in the magazine section, or in the graphic design book section).

Speaking of Japanese magazines with a bilingual format, it seems that this trend is going through a downturn. The latest issue of the travel magazine Paper Sky has no English text, and the same is true for Composite, which until now had translations of most of their articles in the back. It's difficult to argue with the economic reasoning behind these decisions - the non-Japanese readership for Paper Sky was minuscule - but they do prevent these magazines from having a true international voice, something that needs to happen if a true conversation is to occur between the Japanese design community and the outside world.

If you have an interest in these magazines (as well as others that still offer bilingual content, like ART iT, +81, Axis, and sometimes Casa Brutus) you should take the time to offer feedback and support. Availability is another important issue that needs to be looked at, with the lack of proper international distribution surely impacting sales. There's no affordable way to get these magazines outside of Japan, and this is something that needs addressing.

Last month's column highlighted the engaging designs of Tokujin Yoshioka, and now comes news that his first foray into the wearable market will be with a contribution to the very stylish Issey Miyake series of watches, released through Seiko. The TO (pronounced tee-oh) collection is set to come out in July, with prices ranging from 33,600 to 42,000 yen.

Retailer Uniqlo has gone through its share of ups and downs - a surge in popularity a few years ago was followed by a sudden drop in sales and empty stores when everyone decided that wearing the same clothes wasn't that great a thing. In recent years, the launch of creator-based t-shirt lines has contributed to another upswing, and this year looks like it might have the strongest lineup to date. March saw the Uniqlo Creative Award 2005 Exhibition, held at the Spiral building in Aoyama. The competition for new t-shirt designs saw some very exciting entries - Younosuke Naitou's grand prize winning entry, OYAJI-GOE, was a true standout. Surprisingly, a lot of of the tees were actually on sale at the event for a very reasonable 1000 yen; unsurprisingly, the finalists' designs quickly sold out.

As a follow-up, a Relax-produced all-Uniqlo mook (magazine-book) was released - basically a catalogue in the guise of a style magazine. The retailer is currently mounting an all-out attack on Tokyo fashionistas, culminating with a guerilla-style select shop, appropriately called Seleqlo, at Aoyama's Rocket gallery until the end of the month. The shop features apparel designs by some of the big names in the design world (think Groovisions). A visit on the day after the opening revealed plenty of "sold out" items, and nothing much left to buy. 2005 is looking to be a banner year for Uniqlo.

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the name Dick Bruna is probably his most famous creation, Miffy. But Bruna was also an innovative book cover designer, mostly during the sixties and seventies, and this work is being celebrated through the release of a new stationery collection by Delfonics. Including everything from paperback-sized notebooks and agendas to pens and erasers, it turns out to be a collaboration between Delfonics and Groovisions, who, while staying true to the original strong graphic imagery, have added their signature style to the presentation. The collection is currently on sale at all Delfonics stores (if you don't know where to start, try the basement floor of Shibuya's Parco Part 1).