A woman wearing a kimono performs an uchimizu ritual outside a pachinko game parlor in Tokyo June 30, 2015. The splashing of water onto the hot asphalt in summer is an old Japanese tradition meant to cool down the air as the water evaporates. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Japanese artist Hikaru Cho is already well-known for her bizarre and realistic body paintings, but now the Tokyo-based artist has applied her talent to everyday food items as well. In her playful “It’s Not What It Seems” series, she turns common foods into other kinds of food using only acrylic paint and her extraordinary talent.

A woman views the painting “Alegory of Love” by Marc Dennis at the “Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty” museum exhibit in honor of Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary, at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California October 10, 2014. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

A woman joyfully leaps across a body of water, carrying a pheasant-decorated Louis Vuitton bag and a paint palette in the last decade of January 2025 in Coldstream, Scottish Borers. (Photo by Phil Wilkinson/The Times)

A man stands in front of a poster created by artist Tomoko Konoike, one of 20 posters officially selected for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Monday, January 6, 2020. The official posters are out for this year's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. The 20 posters have been created by 19 artists in fields ranging from painting, graphic design, and photography. Calligraphy and Japanese manga are also represented. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

This vase is simple as a piece of cake but it’s so special at the same time – it’s Floating Ripple vase by ooDesign. It’s a piece manufactured in glass that allows any transparent vase to look like ripples in water.
Long-stemmed flowers float vertically in the water and according to the movement of the air, they change their position within the container – so, what can I say? Japanese designers continue to create genially simple and natural-looking philosophic pieces that inspire everybody.

A South Korea university student gets her head shaved during a protest against Japan's decision to release contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, in front of the Japanese embassy, in Seoul, South Korea, April 20, 2021. (Photo by Kim Hong-ji/Reuters)