Yusuke Seki: Shōtengai

Yusuke Seki designed a shop inspired by Shōtengai, the commercial roads, similiar to European markets, which constellate Japanese cities.

Yusuke Seki, Nakagawa Masashichi Shotengai, Tokyo

Shōtengai are commercial streets, similar to European markets, located within the centre of Japanese towns.

Our client, NMS Co. Ltd., began producing traditional fabrics 300 years ago; over the years they have gathered more and more Japanese local products introducing them to the marketplace through their own shops.

This particular shop Nakagawa Masashichi Shōtengai is an experiment, in which a shopping market scheme is designed in an interior space in the centre of Tokyo. Each shelf stand represents a different brand covering a variety of districts throughout Japan.

The electrical signboards are an essential element of Shōtengai. In general individual shops on the street are unified by the same characteristic signboard categorized by area to identify the locality. Seki reflects this element placing a signboard on each display shelf to highlight the Shōtengai spirit of the project.

The shop was setup in the central section of a corridor space in a midtown Tokyo shopping mall. 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 a central square.