0
0

Our Architectural Works #8

Bonsai Cafe and Tea Room in Aoyama, Tokyo

In a corner of Aoyama, a bowl of matcha while gazing at bonsai. Hidden behind it, a one-mat tea room sealed from the noise outside.

In Aoyama, a district of trends, a Japanese stillness rises unexpectedly.
It is a cafe where one sips matcha while admiring bonsai: a hearth is set into the tea counter, and in the darkened room prized trees glow one pot at a time.

Behind it waits a tiny tea room that gathers a one-mat seat, a bench for waiting, a tokonoma and a water shelf into a single space.
Its entrance, a sliding door recalling a nijiriguchi, is reached over stepping stones set in sand.

Soundproofed for meditation, with a cloud-carved transom and a dry channel of sand and stone, it weaves a single pause into the heart of the city.

A storefront opening to the street

Beneath a dark awning hung with a sacred rope, a lit pine and bonsai stand watch.

A few steps up from the street, and one is already drawn into a Japanese realm.

A cedar sliding door opens to a hidden tea room, stepping stones crossing a bed of sand in quiet Japanese architecture.

Across a sand garden, into the tea room

A cedar sliding door, shaped to recall a nijiriguchi, stands open as stepping stones set in sand lead toward the inner tea room.

With each step, the guest leaves the city's noise behind.

A sculptural bonsai stands framed by green-edged blinds, the counter and a lit niche behind it in the japanese cafe.

Beyond the blinds, a single tree

Green-edged bamboo blinds form a frame, and at its center a single bonsai stands quietly.

Behind, the tea counter and a lit display niche glow softly.

A timber transom carved with drifting clouds glows above a doorway, openwork joinery of Japanese architecture.

A transom carved with clouds

Above the doorway, a transom is carved through with a pattern of drifting clouds.

Light from behind lifts the motif into relief, lending depth to the small space.

  • A dim room of bonsai on stands and tables opens toward a glowing counter beyond, restrained Japanese architecture.
  • A sculptural bonsai stands framed by green-edged blinds, the counter and a lit niche behind it in the japanese cafe.
  • A juniper bonsai is spotlit on a round antique table, the tea counter glowing beyond reed blinds in the japanese cafe.
  • A bonsai on a round table below a small Shinto shelf hung with a sacred rope and paper streamers.
  • A live-edge japanese styleshelf holds a single sprig beside a closed cedar door
  • A sliding door shaped like a nijiriguchi opens to the chashitsu, stepping stones set in sand leading in.
  • Detail of a cobblestone strip laid like a dry stream through pale sand, lit warmly from the side.
  • A rough stone stands on raked sand in a corner where a granite post meets a cedar lattice screen.
  • A long dark counter with caned chairs and a lit niche of tea bowls anchors the japanese cafe.
  • Inside the chashitsu, a long timber bench with round cushions faces a sand-and-stone channel beneath a woven bamboo ceiling.
  • A timber transom carved with drifting clouds glows above a doorway, openwork joinery of Japanese architecture.
  • A cedar door stands open between the counter and an inner room of natural timber, layered Japanese architecture.
  • A silver kettle and tea bowls wait on the counter beside a sunken brazier, the heart of the japanese cafe.
  • A cedar sliding door opens to a hidden tea room, stepping stones crossing a bed of sand in quiet Japanese architecture.
  • The tatami seat of the chashitsu sits raised above a dry channel of sand and stone, a painting lit in the alcove.
  • A small framed painting and a gourd-shaped vase rest in the tokonoma of a one-mat chashitsu.

Architect & Art

Craft & Art

OUR BRAND & INFO.

Legal Notices

wanova

©︎ WANOVA / SATOYAMA Marketing Office Ltd.
Roppongi, TOKYO