Lee Chapman’s photographs document the scenes, signages and family businesses of the postwar Shōwa era Japan. They focus on a unique aspect of Japanese life, and one that in Tokyo in particular is rapidly disappearing: the buildings are long past their natural lifespans, and their occupants are reaching the end of theirs. With most of the country’s new buildings resembling those seen in many other cities around the world, the Shōwa era is now being recognised as visually appealing as well as an important period

Are you feeling festive? If not, here are some great and unexpected shortcuts, from fish pie to ‘intermittent wrapping’ to watching a seasonal film every day of December

If I haven’t wrapped up warm and wobbled around in circles, it isn’t Christmas. I can measure out my life in London’s ice rinks. Broadgate Circus in the early 00s, because it was cheapest and I was skint. Several seasons of Skate at Somerset House with my ex, because it was our “romantic” Christmas tradition (actually, he hated skating). This year, I’ll be mixing old and new: Hampton Court Palace, where people have been skating since the 1800s, and the inaugural Skate Leicester Square. As long as there’s a mug of something mulled afterwards, I’m happy. Rachel Dixon, travel writer

Years ago, a regrettable ex-boyfriend bought me a merman Christmas tree ornament so bizarre that it short-circuited my brain, unleashing something primal within me. Ever since, I have scoured department stores, gift shops and the darkest reaches of the internet for more mermaid baubles, like some kind of gay Gollum. I now have more than a hundred, including a flautist mermaid, several Santa Claus mermen and (my favourite) a merperson who is somehow also a pig and a ballerina. Unboxing my treasures at the start of December is both the first gladdening sign that Christmas is upon us and – arguably – a cry for help. Joe Stone, lifestyle editor, Guardian Saturday magazine

The incognito hip-hop act known as EsDeeKid has been identified by online sleuths as Chalamet in disguise. The pair even have the same scarf – case closed

Name: EsDeeKid.

Age: Unknown.

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