Michael Houlihan, Founding Director General, Japan House London, discusses the blending of commerce and culture within the spaces of the multifaceted Japanese cultural home in London.
In some cultural institutions, commerce is treated as an afterthought or even as an unfortunate necessity. My career in the cultural sector has taught me that commerce and culture need not be at odds, and this is beautifully illustrated in the design and function of Japan House London.
In our home on Kensington High Street, Japan House London rubs shoulders with world-class retailers and cultural institutions and so we strive to embody and embrace excellence in how we bring these two themes into harmony within our spaces.
Cultural retail spaces
Retail history is quite literally built into Japan House London’s location. Our site, a Grade II Heritage Listed Art Deco building, was Derry & Toms, a much-loved department store known for its roof garden, from 1860 to 1970. When London was decided upon as the location for one of three Japan Houses, alongside Los Angeles and Sao Paolo, our task was to create a multifunctional yet cohesive space where guests could authentically encounter Japan. Our site was designed by Katayama Masamichi, one of Japan’s leading interior designers, who also designed London’s Uniqlo flagship store. Since our opening in 2018, guests have discovered Japan across our three floors. Our Lower Ground Floor has been home to fifteen seasonal exhibitions to date (in our gallery space), and we also have a diverse events programme, including film screenings, workshops and lectures. Our Library is next to our gallery space and here guests can discover Japan through permanent collections and changing displays of books. On the First Floor, guests can enjoy Japanese food and drink at AKIRA Restaurant.
At Japan House London, guests enter Japan through The Shop. It is an authentic expression of Japanese monozukuri – the art of making things. The Shop blurs the lines between retail space and gallery, offering guests the opportunity to learn about artists, designers, manufacturers, and regions of Japan through a thoughtfully curated product collection. Also on the Ground Floor are a café stand, offering freshly prepared Japanese teas and coffee and a selection of accompanying wagashi, consciously designed glass booths with regularly changing installations, a Travel Information area where guests can get advice on visiting the regions of Japan, and inviting seating where they can simply relax and take it all in. It is a social and cultural space, reflecting the totality of the experience at Japan House London.
Telling and selling
The Shop at Japan House London is as much about telling stories as it is about selling products. Every item in our carefully curated collection has a label to deepen our guests’ understanding about the provenance of the product, its maker, the tradition that stands behind it, and the region of Japan from which it originates. The Shop includes a wide range of products at a variety of price points, from handcrafted diamond earrings to a toothbrush for children. Ranges such as our simple kitchen utensils show that Japanese design isn’t only about “highbrow” cultural expression; beauty and culture can be found in the everyday, and you can take a piece of Japanese design home with you.
Guests are not pressured to make purchases quickly (or at all) but invited to linger, to enjoy the space, browse the products and learn something of Japan during their visit. All of this makes The Shop a space for learning and engagement, and thus a vital part of delivering the Japan House London vision. This includes our online shop, which not only allows people all over the UK to purchase our products but hosts a wealth of information on Japanese design and craftsmanship for anyone in the world with an internet connection.
Blurring the lines between retail space and gallery
When a guest walks into Japan House London, they are immediately drawn to a booth on the left of the café stand, which is graced with a striking installation from our exhibition. Right now, it is home to a giant ema, a wooden plaque on which wishes are written, typically found in Japanese shrines and temples. This is the first piece in our autumn exhibition, The Carpenters’ Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, which explores the region’s legacy of woodworking skill and innovation. Having the first installation from the exhibition in our retail space gives guests an enjoyable and educational encounter while they are shopping and encourages them to pop downstairs and take in the rest of the exhibition.
At Japan House London, our exhibitions and our retail space complement one another in several ways, and together they are more than the sum of their parts. The Shop always stocks products inspired by our main exhibition. As you may expect from The Carpenters’ Line, many of the exhibition-inspired products currently on sale are made from wood, including wooden ladles, knives, and kits to practise woodcrafts at home. In recent years, we have seen the cultural economy increasingly being used to market products in a variety of industries. In the case of Japan House London, these temporary collections of authentic products are one way that our free exhibitions can generate revenue in a reflective, respectful, and educational manner. It is one of many examples of how cultural, commercial, free, and paid-for activities can be harmoniously integrated. Japan House London offers guests the opportunity to shop, eat, relax and learn as part of one immersive, meticulously curated experience.
Culture and commerce in symbiosis
At Japan House London, commerce and culture have a symbiotic relationship, which recognises that consumerism is itself an expression of culture. The design of our spaces recognizes and nurtures this relationship. Such a business model and 360 degree experience brings a new and dynamic approach to the UK high street – and to UK cultural industries.
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