Spoon & Tamago

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A Weathered Copper Facade Oxidized by Soy Sauce Defines Suetomi’s New Kyoto Cafe

All images ©Daisuke Shima courtesy of G Architects Studio

Suetomi, the well-established Japanese wagashi shop in Kyoto, has started a new brand of café called AoQ. The design for their take-out only café, which stands along Karasuma-dori, a busy street that leads from Kyoto Station, was undertaken by architect Ryohei Tanaka of G Architects Studio.

Detailed Survey Drawings of Tokyo Hotel Rooms by Kei Endo

August 22, 2023 / Johnny / 2 Comments

Kei Endo is an accomplished architect and draughtswoman. And she also enjoys staying at hotels, which was the beginning of a wonderful side-hustle that brought together the best of both her worlds, and resulted in a new book deal. Endo reports on the hotels she stays in through detailed, accurate and colorful survey drawings that capture everything from room measurements and layouts to color palettes and amenities. We featured her work last year and, since then, her sketches have become so popular she’s decided to turn them into a book.

3D Printing and Traditional Wood Joinery Techniques Give Life to the Tsuginote Tea House

August 10, 2023 / Johnny / Comments Off

all photos by Eiichi Yoshioka courtesy Kei Atsumi

Japanese wood joinery dates back to the seventh century and is a craftsmanship technique that involves complicated, interlocking wooden joints that form bonds without the use of nails, screws or adhesives. Practical use of these woodworking techniques, known as tsugite, has been dwindling over the years due to their complexity but a team of designers, after 3 years of research, have unveiled a building technique that combines 3D printing with wood joinery.

MUJI Fans Can Now Rent this Countryside MUJI Kominka

August 8, 2023 / Johnny / Comments Off

MUJI’s new rentable townhouse in Kamogawa

MUJI, everyone’s favorite Japanese lifestyle retailer, has been in the homebuilding business for over 15 years. But in a new initiative they’re calling MUJI Base, the company has begun restorring, renovating and renting countryside ‘kominka‘ townhouses, all stocked with minimalist MUJI merchandise. Their first home is located in Kamogawa, a coastal city in Chiba just an hour and a half drive from central Tokyo.

Mountain Villa in Yamanashi Integrates Landscape and Living Room

August 6, 2023 / Johnny / Comments Off

photos by Daici Ano courtesy Keiji Ashizawa Architects

We have a serious case of real estate envy here. House in Saiko is a holiday home that overlooks Mount Fuji on the shore of Lake Saiko, one of the five Fuji Lakes. Designed by architect Keiji Ashizawa, and completed in 2017, the house integrates landscape and living room through stepping stones that lead from the outside into the inside where a large camphor-wood tabletop evokes the majestic cliffs and beautiful forests that surround the home.

Hida Takayama Distillery is Making Whiskey in an Abandoned School, Aging it in a Local Dam

August 5, 2023 / Johnny / Comments Off

Takane Elementary School and Takane No.2 Dam | images courtesy Hida Takayama

A key strategy to reducing our environmental impact involves integrating principles of a circular economy that prioritizes reuse, recovery, and refurbishment of existing infrastructure and resources. The Hida Takayama Distillery is doing just that with a new initiative to transform an abandoned school into a whiskey distillery.

Fender’s First Ever Flagship Store by Klein-Dytham Architecture

July 29, 2023 / Kushal Jain / Comments Off

All images © Nacasa & Partners courtesy Klein Dytham Architecture

“We want people to come in here, and we want them to fall in love with the idea of playing music,” said Edward Cole, Fender President Asia-Pacific.

Fender, the iconic guitar brand, has opened its first-ever flagship store in Harajuku, Tokyo, riding on the wave of soaring demand of Guitars during the COVID-19 pandemic. The store’s mission is to attract both seasoned enthusiasts and curious newcomers and nurture the love for playing guitar.

Komaeyu: Redesigning the Public Bath to Preserve Traditional Sento Culture

July 27, 2023 / Johnny / 3 Comments

all photos by Ju Yeon Lee courtesy Schemata Architects

The number of public baths, or sento as they’re referred to in Japan, have been in chronic decline since the late 1960s. As the number of homes with their own private bath proliferated, public bathhouses shrank from over 18,000 to under 2000 today. But sento were more than just about improving public hygiene in post-war Japan. They became part of a daily routine, a bedrock of local community, where neighbors would gather and connect after a long day’s work. Komaeyu, located in a western suburb of Tokyo, is part of a budding movement to rethink the role of sento for contemporary lifestyles and preserve sento culture.

All Aboard the Deer Train to Nara

July 25, 2023 / Johnny / Comments Off

all photos by mareiii04

Nara is known for several things including their gorgeous temples and exquisite parks. But the historic Japanese city has another major tourist attraction: their devious deer. If you’re heading to Nara, be sure to try and board Kintetsu Railway’s new Deer Train!

‘Ye Bakers’ is a New Bakery Nestled Inside an Aichi Home

July 16, 2023 / Kushal Jain / Comments Off

In a residential neighborhood, a small bakery is designed to integrate seamlessly with its surroundings while maintaining its commercial purpose. For all that’s written and said about the difficulty of starting a business in Japan, there is one exception. The country’s lax zoning laws make it particularly easy to convert a section of your home into a cafe or eatery. Case in point: Ye Bakers.