niime 百科

Encyclopedia of niime

At Tsurukawa, Machida City in Tokyo, there is a round soft impressive building. Some people know that the logo of ‘tamaki niime’ has been on that white building since before spring last year.

Since then, preparations have been going on behind the scenes, making the best of the originality of that building, matching it with the uniqueness of ‘tamaki niime’. On Friday, July 9, the Tokyo HQ of ‘tamaki niime’ will be prepped and open to the public.

This is also another collaboration with one-and-only architectural buildings and one-item products. In the space with soft and free curves of the building, they give new expressions to one-item products of ‘tamaki niime’.

I asked Tamaki and Sakai about the direct store that will soon open to high expectations in the metropolitan Tokyo area.

—— This building is called the ‘TRUSS WALL HOUSE’. I heard you fell in love with this building at first sight, right?

Tamaki

Yes, we did. But before that, I have to tell you why we started looking for a building in Tokyo.

—— I see. I will follow along with your story.

Tamaki

First of all, it all started for the Olympics.

—— I see.

Tamaki

I think it was around December of the year before last.

Sakai

It was before the pandemic started because it was the year before last.

Tamaki

Yeah, we bought it last February, just before the pandemic started. We were excited to have the Olympics here in our lifetimes and wished to be close by, experience it, and hope to stay in Tokyo. So that was our first thought.

—— So, you hadn’t imagined having the store in Tokyo yet.

Tamaki

We thought it would be fun if we could do something for the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

—— I see.

Tamaki

I had that idea on the Shinkansen to Tokyo, where I had to be interviewed. I had been refusing to have interviews except for in Nishiwaki, but I had to go to Tokyo at that time. I hadn’t gone to Tokyo for discussions or presentations for more than ten years. Since we have Shop & Lab here, I didn’t remotely have interviews with them. Even though I answered questions and they understood me well, I felt it was difficult to talk to them as they couldn’t see our background.

—— Because you have to tell everything from your premises.

Tamaki

Yeah, because our extension scale and environment are diverse. It was hard to explain with words…and I was feeling it was getting harder. So I thought it’s better to have them come to see us for interviews or give sales presentations.

—— I see.

Tamaki

It would be better to tell them in the space where all our works are lined up and give them presentations, and I thought the value of our brand would be increased. When I thought up that idea, I thought it would be good to have a store in Tokyo. During the Olympics, people come from all over the world. It’s hard for people to go to Nishiwaki, but it would be nice to tell them that there is a store in Tokyo. That’s the reason we opened our store in Tokyo.

—— That’s how it all started.

Tamaki

And then, we searched the buildings on the websites.

Sakai

Yeah.

Tamaki

Searching the web, I found some weird buildings that came up. We were so excited to see it. We were like, “wow, interesting!”

—— Did it take much time?

Tamaki

It came up immediately when we were searching for a real state agency!

—— Did you look for a place in Tokyo to be another real estate for ‘tamaki niime’?

Tamaki

I wasn’t sure if it was our house or base.

—— It was originally a house, right?

Tamaki

Yeah, it’s a residence.

‘TRUSS WALL HOUSE’ was built in 1993 by Eisaku Ushida and the late Kathryn Findlay. The white, freely curved building stands in a quiet residential area of Machida. The Odakyu line runs beside the building, and its unique appearance can also be seen from the train windows.

Tamaki

It is a round concrete building without straight lines anywhere inside or outside, even the staircase.

—— Is that so?

Tamaki

It’s extremely unique.

—— Hmmm.

Tamaki

It looks like a toy. (laugh)

Sakai

Yeah, it does.

Tamaki

I had a strange feeling; it’s like I got lost in an unrealistic movie world.

—— A movie world?! I can even feel that atmosphere just from looking at pictures.

Tamaki

Specifically, the second basement floor. It looks like a cave. What?! There is a cave in the centre of the city? If it were in Nishiwaki, I would feel different. But here you see the cave in the corner of a residential area in a big city.

—— So you feel a strange disconnect.

Tamaki

When we spent some time there, compared to the Shop & Lab in Nishiwaki, we noticed many different sounds with noisy trains surrounding it next to railroad tracks and many aeroplanes passing above.

—— Urban sounds.

Tamaki

We can hear people speaking when the windows are open. It’s a different place for us who live in the countryside, but we don’t belong there.

—— …?

Tamaki

Do you understand what I mean? Even though the surroundings create the sounds of the city, the place inside feels like a cave. So we feel a gap there.

—— In the building, you feel “unordinary”, right?

Tamaki

Exactly. We feel the sounds leaking from outside are not normal. We feel like listening to the sounds in the movies.

—— There is a filter inside?

Tamaki

Yes, there is undoubtedly a filter.

—— Because you hear the sounds through the walls.

Tamaki

Having walls, we are not visually connected to the outside world, and we can’t peek.

—— Are there any windows?

Tamaki

Yes, there are, but they can’t see us from outside. In a way, it’s an isolated space. You may not understand it if you don’t experience it there.

—— Because of the round building, you may feel like being in a dome that’s separated from outside, right?

Tamaki

You may feel like being in the womb.

—— You may have a feeling of being wrapped up in it.

Tamaki

So you feel instinctively secured and comfortable inside of the round space, but it’s so unique because it’s happening in the centre of Tokyo. I feel like, why does it exist? (laugh)

—— I see.

Tamaki

I understand if it’s on a large scale building such as a museum, but this is a residence. It’s too crazy. I’ve always loved architecture, but creating structures has more restrictions than making clothes. So I am more than surprised by the people who built this house.

—— In the case of creating buildings, they have more difficulties with restrictions and regulations involved.

Tamaki

It’s incredible to know that the original owner of this house lived in this house for more than 30 years.

The owner and client of this building was the truss wall construction company, and he ordered Mr Ushida and Ms Findley to design with the technology to build his own house. Since its completion, it has gained attention by its unique construction method; however, the interior has not been opened because of the personal section.

Tamaki

I hope the people interested in the architecture come to see it since this building has become a shop.

—— I hope so.

Tamaki

Even though we fixed a little bit without changing most of the parts, we kept making the best use of them.

—— (looking at the flyer) Are the shelves where the products of ‘tamaki niime’ are displayed still kept as they were?

Tamaki

Yes, we keep them as they were. That’s how they originally were. We discussed how we could make use of them.

—— There are round submarine-like portholes.

Tamaki

They are foggy, so we can’t see outside.

—— They make us feel like being in a womb.

Tamaki

They take us back to our childhood. It’s entertaining.

—— It’s in Tokyo, that’s a central place for many people to come and visit.

Tamaki

We initially wished to have a connection in Tokyo to Nishiwaki.

—— In a way, it’s also a point of connection.

Tamaki

That’s right. I used to live in Osaka, and I went to Tokyo all the time. That’s why I felt we should go to cities to get high-quality information. But when I started making products, I had to zero in and concentrated on my creation. So I thought I finished gathering information and stayed in Nishiwaki to focus on creating products.

—— You dared not to go out but stayed inside.

Tamaki

But I want our young staff to know the scale of the world and have their own goals. Having a shop in Tokyo would allow us to let our team sell in Tokyo for a day, and the next day, they could see various good things in Tokyo. I think this is a good base for educating staff and developing our creativity.

—— Not only getting information from the internet, but you can also have opportunities to come into direct contact with good products in Tokyo.

Tamaki

I think there are definitely many opportunities to see and get to know things in Tokyo. I think we should encourage that. I hope this will be a good starting point.

—— First, you found a good place you felt good, and then you had a general idea of what you wanted for ‘tamaki niime’. So then you gradually clarified the details of how you tried to use it. Am I correct?

Tamaki

It’s the same case with the Shop & Lab building, and we have had similar things. At the moment, right before my eyes, “I knew it was the right place.”

Sakai

Yeah.

—— You knew it was the right one at first sight.

Tamaki

In that case, we felt it was the right place as soon as we walked in Machida City. The owner also came to Nishiwaki before. He visited Heso Park for business.

An architect, Kiko Mozuna, built the ‘Terra Dome’ at Heso Park, which was also used the Truss Wall method.

Tamaki

When he built it, he came to Nishiwaki for the work.

—— Wow, that was a great coincidence.

Tamaki

He also built ‘Hello Kitty Smile’, the Hello Kitty building on Awaji island. Its twisted curves were made of concrete. It’s a special technology, and I heard that the builders who have those skills are very rare. One of the reasons why we made this decision is because of his connection with Nishiwaki.

After getting the property, they didn’t know when they could open the store because of the pandemic, but they started remodelling and preparing to establish the Tokyo store.

Tamaki

Coming this year, we wanted to open the Tokyo Machida shop. As we wanted to make it a proper centre, we worked on how we should display products and consider how it should be organized.

—— So you have finally decided to use it as a shop?

Tamaki

I wanted to have a place where people could see our products. It’s not only for customers but for wholesalers. Because we no longer sell at department stores, and can’t sell at some stores any more. I thought it would be better to have one secure location for the future. For customers in the Kansai Region, many could come to the Nishiwaki store. But for customers in Kanto Region who know us through ‘Tamask’, we thought they need a real shop. In aiming to increase our customers, we thought it would be the best chance to open a shop in Kanto.

—— I see.

Tamaki

The store is about 100 square meters (1076 square feet), but we want to place many items there because we want to make it an exciting place.

—— How do you make arrangements for the placement of products in the store?

Tamaki

The main floor is the second basement for item display. The fabric store is on the first basement floor. On the first floor, there will not only be ‘tamaki niime shawls’, but we will also be starting to have a ‘tamazon’ corner.

—— ‘tamazon’!!?

Tamaki

It’s more like a variety goods shop. It’s a platform for various things.

—— I see.

Tamaki

‘Tamazon’ is a way to help customers by our staff, including myself, to provide information to customers about our favourite products we recommend. Specifically, the products of Hyogo prefecture that may not easily be available in that region, so we hope we can offer information well.

—— What about the fabric store?

Tamaki

The name of the fabric store is ‘UmuUmu’. We will start selling fabrics. Of course, we will bring fabrics we made, but we will also collaborate with other weavers to develop original fabrics and bring them to Tokyo.

—— Wow, that’s a lot.

Tamaki

We have been working here for a long time, and now we have a hub in Tokyo. I hope that we can deliver good products from Nishiwaki and Hyogo, and we want people to see their value and hope to purchase.

—— I see.

Tamaki

I want to bring fabrics, a variety of goods, our products, and all and want people to get to know them. We have only 40,000 people in Nishiwaki, but they have 400,000 in Machida.

Machida City is located in the southern part of Tokyo, adjacent to the three major cities of Yokohama, Kawasaki, and Sagamihara in Kanazawa prefecture. It was developed as a bedroom community since the 1960s, with the area in front of Machida Station, where the Odakyuu and JR Yokohama lines intersect, becoming a major commercial district. It is also a student town with many private university campuses. Between the residential areas, there are scattered satoyama wooded areas, where suburban agriculture is practised.

Tamaki

When you climb up from the first floor, there is a rooftop and where you can face to Odayuu line. (laugh) It’s just by the railroad, feeling like ‘Have a nice day!’ to them.

—— That’s an interesting view. Previously, Ms Mio Fujita mentioned that the products of ‘tamaki niime’ look differently in different spaces. I think this shop would give a different look from the ‘Shop & Lab’.

Tamaki

I think they are completely different.

—— Would you tell me your expectations and thoughts, please?

Tamaki

I have been struggling with it for the past year. That’s all I have been thinking about.

Sakai

Yeah.

Tamaki

How do you want to decorate? It’s so much fun worrying about it…Mutsumi, do you have pictures?

—— (Looking at pictures of each floor), Ummm, they are great and interesting. They look like a shop and also a gallery.

Tamaki

Yes, they do. We have many deer antlers given by TASHIKA and use them as hangers.

* TASHIKA – A business that develops and produces high-quality, additive-free dog food using locally produced venison in Taka Town, next to Nishiwaki City. Deer antlers are used as hooks on the walls of the second basement floor of tamaki niime TOKYO MACHIDA.

Tamaki

Because of the lack of straight lines in this building, I have a feeling that it is wrong to have normal things here. I removed the regular hangers because it didn’t feel right. (laugh) I have been doing things like that repeatedly. (laugh)

—— Ummm.

Tamaki

I think I will make the final decision on how to display, including the launch, as we actually try it out on the spot.

—— This is a very exciting new place to express the ‘tamaki niime’ world.

Tamaki

We are very excited about it. Thankfully, it’s been a year since we opened the online shop. We think it’s essential because we are here now because of that. The direct store had been down for a while, but they are doing well now that many customers are coming back to the store. I am thankful that they want to take time to come to the store.

—— I see.

Tamaki

In order for ‘tamaki niime’ to extend its wings, it’s definitely better to have a site for people from overseas when they visit Japan, or it’s better to have a place for people in the Kanto Eastern Japan area to get to know us better. This is a kind of challenge. I was so excited about it.

‘tamaki niime’, the Tokyo based store, is an exhibition space to show each item’s attractiveness, which is different from another. It looks like a gallery to make you feel unusual and artistic, but at the same time, I had an impression of home because the building used to be a residence. Creating an atmosphere of personal friendliness must be common in the relationship between one-item products and customers.


—— It looks like a very relaxing place to visit.

Tamaki

When I went there for preparation the other day, the staff came out and said, ‘come in and have a seat’. (laugh) There’s such a kind of atmosphere.

—— There’s a feeling of ‘niime house’.

Tamaki

At first, I wanted the second basement floor to be a meditation room. I thought it also could be a kind of a place for detoxing or purifying.

—— That’s interesting.

Tamaki

It can be a power spot. (laugh) For me, it’s not only for making things, but it’s also for how to exhibit, how to sell, and even how to talk. They are all creation for me. It’s a fun experiment.

—— I see.

Tamaki

What I was reminded of is to make use of ‘what already exists’. We happened to come across this house in Machida and designed it to use it as it was. We did the same thing with the Shop & Lab, right?

—— That’s right.

Tamaki

There was originally a building of a dye factory, and we renovated it. It’s not only easier for us to use that building, but it’s also very important to keep things alive.

—— For the renovation of the direct store, you used shawls for curtains, and made use of other materials you had in stock.

Tamaki

If we try to make it the centre of our activities, we can see many possibilities or challenges. We are looking forward to it.

—— Adding new values without losing the original’s identity needs a high-level sense at the same time, and I think it’s a very intellectual and creative activity. It’s a kind of collaboration.

Tamaki

Yeah, you have to work with original makers.

—— You invite new projects to the original building.

Tamaki

You have to work on adding more histories, not disappearing, but for coming up again. It’s so much fun to make the space better while making use of our products.

—— You are absolutely right. Wow, it’s so interesting.

Tamaki

Anyway, I would like you to come to see it. As we are preparing, people passing by say hello to us. I hope that the shop will be loved by local people in Machida.

Sakai

Yeah.

Original Japanese text by Seiji Koshikawa.
English translation by Adam & Michiko Whipple.