Word: spartanism
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...After years of holding down a day job as a graphic designer, Hisashi Tenmyouya's paintings now fetch $50,000 or more. Unlike Matsui or Kumi Machida, who graduated from Tama Art University, Tenmyouya is self-taught, and he brings an autodidact's passion to his work. At his spartan studio on the northeastern outskirts of Tokyo, he kneels placidly on the floor, surrounded by works in progress, many of them featuring the stylized samurai that have become his trademark. He feels a kinship to their uncompromising independence. "[Famed samurai] Musashi Miyamoto learned his skill on his own, and beat...
...Kahika politely serves coffee in the Hastings pad, a spartan-looking house down a cul-de-sac that is surrounded by a sturdy fence. "Most of our guys have got jobs here," he says. "Only about two or three are in jail." It's mid-morning and younger members in red tracksuits are waking up and tidying the pad. The cupboards are missing their doors, but the kitchen is spotless...
...graphics of the era are as hot as they've ever been. And in buildings by such marquee names as Richard Meier and Jean Nouvel, austere glass and steel have even regained cachet for homes, at least in the world of high-end condo construction. At the sleek but spartan Manhattan condo towers designed by Meier and completed in 2002, no less a traditionalist than Martha Stewart was among the first in line to buy space...
...Japanese minis were once dowdy, spartan econoboxes purchased mainly by consumers who couldn't afford anything better. Japanese called them "perseverance cars" because drivers had to put up with cramped passenger compartments and anemic 50-h.p. engines. That began to change in 1998, when government restrictions on maximum minicar size (owners are eligible for discounts in annual car taxes worth at least $200) increased to 3.3 m long and 1.5 m wide. The bump in dimensions gave manufacturers creative space to build better, roomier models-most now have four doors-and alleviated consumer concerns about safety and comfort. "I feel...
...Woodroffe is not the first to try to adapt capsule hotels to the European market. Stelios Hadji-Ioannou, founder of budget airline easyJet, launched the first easyHotel in London in August 2005, offering tiny spartan rooms averaging 7.5 sq m (most without windows) in the high-rent South Kensington district. Want restaurant service or minibars? Forget it. And you'll pay about $10 a night extra if you want to watch the flat-screen TV. As a result, rates average about $78. Yet travelers appear to have embraced no-frills accommodation. easyHotel's occupancy rate averages 89%, says Roger Powell...