Welcome to the first edition of Elements of Japan, a magazine exploring the many facets of this fascinating nation. An element can, of course, be many things: a component, an essential characteristic, or even something so fundamental it can’t be broken down into smaller parts. We’ve chosen to include all interpretations to reflect the diversity of what Japan has to offer.

We’ve borrowed from the timeless wisdom of the Greek four elements — earth, air, fire and water — to categorize each section of the magazine. Earth is represented by the color edocha brown, while Air is paired with a deep blue shade called sora. Fire is signified by shoujouhi red, or scarlet, and Water is light blue, with the fitting name of mizu. 

We hope you find inspiration in the timeless wisdom of the four elements, as well as the amazing artists, destinations and products featured in this issue.

Read Elements of Japan

Flip through the magazine below.

Browse Our Other Special Issues

We publish six special issues per year. Check out what we’ve released so far: