Shimbashi Tamakiya is celebrating its 240th anniversary. The store, which began in the Edo period (1603-1867), prospered with zazen-mame and tsukudani (food boiled down in soy sauce) as its main products. This time, the plan is to move the location of the main store from the Shinbashi address where the store has been located for a long time. The store selling tsukudani,” we were asked to find a form that was appropriate for the modern age, and that looked ahead to the future, and to incorporate this into the spatial design. I sought to achieve a balance between functionality and design, while respecting the stature of the historic brand, with a vision of updating it as a street-front store. The tsukudani brand has been around for more than 200 years, and we wanted to create a new way to sell the tsukudani, a way to showcase the products, and a way to experience the product, I worked on the design with an eye toward establishing new customers for the next generation without letting the brand stagnate. While preserving the robust and “chic” brand image that Shimbashi Tamakiya has built up over the years, it was necessary to incorporate several new approaches into the design. I also created a continuity in the design of the flat fixtures with a minimum difference in height to allow for movement in the product displays. The main counter in the back is also designed with stacked tops, but rather than creating a monotonous visual interest, it is stacked at the necessary height for multiple services. The idea is shared with the flat fixtures so that the design does not deviate from the original design. Paulownia wood is used for many of the fixtures and walls as the main design element of the space. The idea was inspired by the traditional method of selling tsukudani in paulownia boxes, and the store itself is also based on the idea of a “box of tsukudani”. The joint work on the walls is based on the actual allocation of the paulownia boxes handled.
