Five cities in Asia are to be hit by pictures of canned soup, a hamburger and a colorful representation of Chairman Mao, apparently wearing lipstick, over the next two years.

The artworks are traveling as part of the “Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal” exhibition, the biggest retrospective on Warhol’s work ever to be shown in Asia.

Warhol, who died in 1987, is famous for declaring: “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”

The show will start at Singapore’s ArtScience Museum at the Marina Bay Sands hotel on March 17, 2012, and will then travel to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo before it ends some time in 2014.

Specific date and venue details for the other cities have not yet been released.

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Later this month, that bastion of bash-‘em-ups, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), makes a long-awaited appearance in Japan, giving fans an opportunity to see some of the best fighters in the world, including the latest incarnation of B.A. Baracus in the flesh.

The Japanese fight scene hasn’t been quite the same since Pride Fighting Championships (PRIDE) shuttered its doors in 2007.

As UFC holding company Zuffa bought the remains of the old company that year, it’s no surprise the card UFC has put together is a mixture of new Mixed Martail Arts (MMA) stars and former PRIDE stalwarts.

For the curious, or uninitiated, it’s a chance to get a taste of a rapidly growing sport that has deep roots in Japan. MMA is unarmed combat that brings together fighters with backgrounds in karate, Brazilian jiujitsu, boxing, wrestling and various other disciplines.

If it involves pummeling your opponent in a ring, it’s in.

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A study published late last year by a U.S. national newspaper showed a surprisingly large percentage of GPS users suffering from the digital blues to such an extent vacations and even trips to the local store were being dashed against the twin rocks of hope and common sense.

Our intrepid travelers reported being plagued with all kinds of problems: more than a third had experienced difficulties simply finding the right address, a quarter had dealt with convoluted (read “idiotic”) directions and a not miniscule 14 percent claimed they couldn’t even see the screen because of glare.

What wasn’t included in the article was the degree that navigation systems of all shapes and sizes have reduced the collective IQ of the global population, which is a polite way for saying they’ve basically made us more stupid when we hit the road.

Remain in your vehicle, please sir

I was offered a ride the other day, and despite the fact that a mid-afternoon journey by car in Tokyo often ends up taking longer than earning a black belt in any of the martial art disciplines, I accepted.

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A study published late last year by a U.S. national newspaper showed a surprisingly large percentage of GPS users suffering from the digital blues to such an extent vacations and even trips to the local store were being dashed against the twin rocks of hope and common sense.

Our intrepid travelers reported being plagued with all kinds of problems: more than a third had experienced difficulties simply finding the right address, a quarter had dealt with convoluted (read “idiotic”) directions and a not miniscule 14 percent claimed they couldn’t even see the screen because of glare.

What wasn’t included in the article was the degree that navigation systems of all shapes and sizes have reduced the collective IQ of the global population, which is a polite way for saying they’ve basically made us more stupid when we hit the road.

Remain in your vehicle, please sir

I was offered a ride the other day, and despite the fact that a mid-afternoon journey by car in Tokyo often ends up taking longer than earning a black belt in any of the martial art disciplines, I accepted.

read more

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The duo that designed Tokyo’s latest architectural wonder is turning an age-old phrase by that quintessential Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, on its head. “Art is never finished,” said the Italian painter, sculptor, architect and you-name-it-he-did-it. “Only abandoned.”

Sure, if you visit Daikanyama T-Site [Japanese], an upscale retail complex that opened last December 5 in the city’s trendy Daikanyama neighborhood, you might notice that Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein’s creation is not quite done.

On a sunny January morning inside Anjin [Japanese], a chic and comfy café-lounge that sits atop one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, the founders of Klein Dytham architecture (KDa) are told — with polite words and bows — they’ll have to sip their cappuccinos at a different table.

The lighting guy’s arrived. Apparently one of the fixtures is hanging too low.

But while Dytham and Klein might be playing musical chairs (or in this case, musical designer couches), they aren’t planning on abandoning their chef d’oeuvre. They like it too much. Plus, it’s just down the street from their office.

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The figures, compiled by the Japan National Tourist Organization, show the biggest annual fall in visitors since it began keeping records.

Just 6.2 million foreign travelers visited Japan [Japanese, scroll down for English] in the whole of 2011 — down 27.8 percent on 2010.

While the impact of the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear accident are all implicated, JNTO also says the historically strong Japanese yen has caused many potential visitors to stay away.

Country breakdown

By country, the numbers show South Koreans shunned the usually popular Japan trips in their droves. Korea has long accounted for the largest number of incoming tourists to its near neighbor.

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Yoyogi is rarely (well, never) highlighted on tourist maps of Tokyo, but one man is on a mission to bring new life to an area that until 1889 was actually known as Yoyogi Village.

Music producer Takeshi Kobayashi is opening up his own, all-new Yoyogi Village and in the spirit of the literal translation of Yoyogi — “generations of trees” — it is an eco-park filled with shops, eateries and event spaces around a central landscaped garden.

Despite being a stone’s throw from the station, Yoyogi Village is actually tricky to find, with no signage to its side-street main entrance.

But once stumbled upon, it can’t be mistaken, as the entrance itself has the feeling of entering a theme park — or at least a green oasis within an otherwise standard Tokyo shopping district.

A hull-shaped wooden walkways offer an initial choice inside the mostly open-air complex — either explore the upper decking and terrace, or walk through a street of cafés to the greenery in the center.

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Hey little fella — you get both eyes only if I have a great year, ok?

Bright red daruma dolls are a symbol of good luck in Japan, due to their unique shape that allows them to right themselves when knocked over. Apparently, that’s a good thing.

The tradition of the daruma can be traced back centuries to Takasaki’s Shorizan Daruma Temple in Gunma Prefecture, which allegedly asked farmers suffering from famine to make the papier-mâché dolls to sell at the temple for extra income.

Today, the city of Takasaki remains Japan’s largest producer of daruma dolls, accounting for roughly 80 percent of total production. It also hosts the yearly Daruma Ichi (market) on January 6 and 7, although the little red critters can be found right through the early months of the year.

Visitors flock to the town to select their daruma from mounds of the things — from thimble-sized tiny ones up to dolls you’d need a truck to get home.

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At first glance, Okinawa appears to have all the makings of a remarkable, subtropical travel experience — crystal-clear waters, top-notch scuba diving, endless stretches of beach, a generous helping of UNESCO World Heritage sites and delicious local cuisine to boot.

But while more than 5.5 million travelers, the vast majority Japanese, jet to this southern getaway annually, the wealthiest among them are hard-pressed to find what they’re looking for (if they go at all), starting with a suitable place to lay their heads.

“Top level accommodation has been sorely lacking,” said Duff Trimble, whose Toronto-based agency Wabi-Sabi Japan customizes vacations for the bespoke set. “Tourism on the main island is more geared toward the domestic traveler on a package tour.”

According to Trimble, none of Okinawa’s resorts could be considered five-star and can’t measure up to what’s available in Bali, Thailand or Vietnam.

He said the same problem exists on the smaller of the archipelago’s 160 islands, such as Ishigaki, Taketomi and Iriomote in the Yaeyama chain.

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Much has been written about the relationship between the French and their cuisine, but one could also argue that the people of Japan take their love for food a step — or several galloping strides — further. Where else is it common to embark on weekend trips, the sole purpose of which is to sample several varieties of a single dish?

Modern Japanese kyodo ryori, or regional cuisine, is a tourist attraction all of its own, with a signature dish for nearly every major city.

Outside influences

And while some of these foods are undeniably Japanese (sushi springs to mind), many are actually adaptations of dishes that originated in other countries, demonstrating the uncanny ability of the Japanese to take something new and make it their own.

Mouseover the hotspots or click the place names on the map below for a quick spin round Japan’s most notable regional dishes — from Hokkaido in the frozen north to Okinawa in the deep south, there’s good eatin’ across the board.

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