“‘Shoten-gai’ refers to a shopping market street, located within the centre of a town in Japan. Our client NMS Co., Ltd.. began producing traditional fabrics 300 years ago, and over the years have gathered more and more Japanese local products which they have introduced to the marketplace through their own shops.
This particular shop ‘Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten-gai’ is a case study, in which relocated and individual locals have built a shopping market in the centre of Tokyo. Each shelf stands represents a different brand covering a variety of districts throughout Japan. In this case, Seki reflect this method into design concept which is ‘Shops in the shop as market’ as these brands in a shop called ‘Shoten-gai’.
The electrical signboards are essential element of ‘Shoten-gai’. In general individual shops on the street are unified by same characteristic signboard which categorized by area and this identify locality. Seki reflect this element into his design and ornamented on each display shelves to consolidate.
The shop was setup in the central section of a corridor space in a midtown Tokyo shopping-mall. In the same way that a city grows and develops by accumulating its people and building up the number of individual shops in one particular area, this shop was designed to reflect a growing market street, within a city central precinct. The layout includes an array of utensils, furniture displays, categorized brands of socks, handkerchiefs, and house hold products; whereas the middle shelves are multifunction display areas meant to resemble central square.
To visualized this ‘Shoten-gai’ as a shop, this emerging local stores extended more and more on the street and became market. He kept the factor such as floor, sealing, walls around this location as city landscape and integrate and transform into the part of design concept.
Credits
Art Direction & Total Design: Yusuke Seki
Official website: Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten-gai
Photos: Takumi Ota
Location :Tokyo, Japan”
