Generally funerals in Japan are a black and white affair, with any color or deviation considered disrespectful. I&S BBDO, a Tokyo-based ad agency was commissioned by Nishinihon Tenrei funeral home to create an unconventional ad. And that they did! "Creative director Mari Nishimura decided to create a real-size human skeleton made from pressed flowers."

The light installation Isotopes v.2 by Nonotak Studio hypnotizes visitors with moving lights, attracting them to the center of the installation. Then, the rhythm and the intensity of the lights continually become more aggressive until they generate immaterial barriers: "it's easy to get in but neigh impossible to get out." The catalyst and inspiration for the project is the Fukushima nuclear disaster and it is meant to echo the way humans approach nuclear power. Watch a video after the jump!

On Friday night, we stopped by the opening of famed Japanese artist and Juxtapoz cover artist, Yoshitomo Nara's newest body of work at Pace Gallery. Featuring his iconic girl characters, presented in sculpture, painting, and sketches, all spaced wonderfully in three large rooms, Nara continues to be one of the most appreciated contemporary artist in the world.

In Japan, instead of Section 8 housing for the low-income residents there is Sect housing. Waka waka.

New York-based, Japanese artist Tomokazu Matsuyama spent his childhood between Japan and America, bring up questions about his national and individual identity. This is reflected in both the style and subject of many of his paintings as he draws influences from both modern art and Japanese art from the Edo and Meiji eras.

This morning we take a look at Japanese photographer Kohei Yoshiyuki's series of black-and-white photographs from the 1970s. Using a 35mm camera, infrared film, and flash, Kohei documented people who gathered in several of Tokyo's parks at night for romantic rendezvous and the many spectators that lurked in the bushes to watch and sometimes participate. The photos are raw, voyeuristic and uncomfortable...

One of the most well-known, influential, and transcedent artists of post-war Japan, Tadanori Yokoo has one of the best styles of psychedelic, meets graphic design, meets poster art, meets traditional printmaking you will ever see. He has had numerous retrospectives over the years, and recently was shown at the Iwate Museum of Art in Morioka, Japan.

We're not sure we would want to stand under this installation of 7000 wooden cubes held together by 36,0000 screw-in hooks by Architect and Professor Ken Yokogawa. Fascinated by the way metal chain armor retains its shape and form, Ken spent two years researching and building his structure, that he calls an inverted question-cube, at Nihon University of Science and Technology.

We weren't quite sure what was going on here until we saw a few different angles of Japanese design studio YOY's latest 'canvas,' two-dimensional-looking hanging furniture pieces. Each piece is constructed out of wood and aluminum and then covered with screen-printed elastic fabric. The 'canvas' is then leaned against a wall and stretches when weight is applied to accommodate the user.

  Tokyo-based artist Tenmyouya Hisashi began his career as a contemporary artist after working as an art director at a record label. He calls his work 'Neo Nihonga,' meaning Neo Japanese Painting. This comes from his bringing together of traditional Japanese art with Western learning and Hip-Hop influences.