Japan

Why opt for a trailer when you can just choose a homey wood cabin specifically designed for the road instead?

Japanese company Bess recently launched the Imago Iter, a compact cabin-trailer that you can tow behind your SUV or truck. And from the look of it, not many sacrifices were needed to convert the rustic structure into a lmini mobile home.
We’ve seen plenty of campers and trailers that try to approximate the look and feel of Instagram-friendly tiny homes in recent years (some of which pull off the task impressively). Bess appears to have just cut to the chase, building its basic cabin on top or four wheels and equipping it with a tow hitch. Bess knows a thing or two about building cabins, too. The company is known in its home country—which appreciates an ephemeral structure—for its wooden houses, including A-frames and geodesic domes, though the Imago is its first model that comes with wheels.

Inside the Imago Iter 

At its core, the Imago Iter really is really just a portable cabin. It’s made from 70mm thick cedar wood and comes with one of two roofs, matching cedar or plastic membrane. Inside the vehicle, you’ll find a wide-open layout that consists of nothing more than four walls, each fitted with its own window, including a large slide-glass window that acts as the structure’s front door. And that’s it. There are no special features or even basic amenities, like a kitchenette or toilet.
While some may be put off by this, others will see an opportunity to turn the Imago Iter into their dream cabin. The lack of amenities gives you the freedom to set up the vehicle any way you want. You can keep it spartan or stuff its 21.3 square feet of space with a bed, couch and tables (we’d definitely think about adding a bathroom). And because the vehicle weighs just 4,600 pounds—which would be on the low end for an Airstream trailer—you have a lot of latitude to customize before the vehicle becomes too heavy for its own good.
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The Imago Iter is available now for $30,000 to $36,000. Despite it’s relatively light weight, we’d still recommend using a brawny 4×4 or truck to tow the Imago Iter. A video uploaded by the brand shows a vintage Land Rover Defender towing the cabin, and it looks pretty hulking. It’s hard to imagine a crossover doing the same task.

TOKYO — Uniqlo opened the doors of its newest large-format store on Friday, in the historic and culturally significant neighborhood of Asakusa. The store follows the concept of “our neighborhood” and aims to support the area’s local businesses, residents and artisans.
With a selling area of more than 21,000 square feet, Uniqlo Asakusa also boasts one of the longest continuous store windows of any Uniqlo store. It is located in the heart of Asakusa, which prior to the COVID-19 pandemic was bustling with international tourists on any day of the week. The area is known for its historic pedestrian lanes lined with souvenir stores and leading up to Senso-ji, Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple and one of its most significant. It is also a district that hosts the workshops and stores of many traditional craftspeople, some of whom Uniqlo featured in various ways inside the store.

The double-level main entrance to the store is dominated by a giant paper and wooden lantern, which was created by a local workshop and hand-painted with the Uniqlo logo. At nearly six feet per side, it was both the largest lantern the shop had ever created, as well as the first cubic one. In addition, signage used throughout the store was inspired by “senjafuda” votive strips that are a common sight at temples and shrines across Japan.
Uniqlo also collaborated with local businesses on various products to mark the opening of the store. For example, small ceramic plates designed with traditional snack-maker Asakusa Tokiwado will be available for sale in limited quantities, while original tea cups will be given to the first 3,000 customers to spend 5,000 yen or more during the opening weekend. There are also original UTme! stamps that are only available at the Asakusa store to use in customizing T-shirts and tote bags.
Throughout the store, Uniqlo has highlighted products from local shops, from stationery to skateboards, encouraging customers to explore the neighborhood in order to purchase such items and discover others. Other features of the store include a larger than usual space where customers can try on and order tailor-made items, areas highlighting sustainability and fitting rooms that feature artworks by a local artist and photographs of Asakusa from the past and present.