kissa nanaha
Tokyo, Japan / 2020

To begin with, Japanese people when welcoming and hosting their guests, skillfully incorporated a strong sense of the seasons into the space. Originally, they arranged the interior by not only exchanging the front and back of the fusuma – Japanese vertical rectangular panels which act as a sliding door and are covered with a paper or material – in the summer and winter but also by setting up hanging scrolls, flowers and other interior installations suitable for that time.

However, nowadays when the design incorporates modern styles and ideas from the Western culture, certainly, the given space has been significantly improved and well used. Moreover, efficiency has been increased and applied materials have become more fixed.

Therefore, this time, by creating a space that can “be dressed”, we have designed a store that could freely change its arrangements and interior decorations depending on the seasons.

In fact, by creating lapstrake walls made of hang cedar planks that are dyed on the surface and bottom in different shades, we have developed three types of wall finishing materials such as a mortar, an exceptionally dark texture and unfinished wood.

Likewise, the table countertop dyed in different color tones on the top and bottom has been designed to turn up side down, and the glass filled in with dry flowers implemented in the center has a flower design that varies according to the changing seasons.

In addition, cushions have been sewn into one piece by using various textures whereas pendant lighting has been designed to be replaced with balls that differs depending on the seasons.

We hope that by this approach the distance between a storekeeper and a customer will shorten and, at the same time, in a such space the sense of hospitality will spread out.

Designed by Masahiro Yoshida
Photos by Keisuke Miyamoto