Tajimi City in Gifu Prefecture is a town with over 1,300 years of history as a producer of Mino ware. Although it is one of the leading ceramics production areas in Japan, in recent years there have been limited bases and places to communicate the charm of this product. In this environment, the Shinmachi Building was renovated from a vacant 50-year-old building and is now the "entrance" to Tajimi, fostering new culture and a flow of people to the pottery town of Tajimi.

The people behind this building are Hanayama Kazuya, who runs Yamanohana on the second floor, and Mizuno Masafumi, who runs Chisou on the fourth floor.

The first floor is the "entrance to the city of Tajimi" and is a space for events and exhibitions. The second floor is "Yama no Hana," which permanently sells pottery from the Tono region, centered around Tajimi. The third floor is used as an exhibition room, and the fourth floor is home to "Jiso," a select shop that handles items collected from all over Japan.

Shinmachi Building is a unique space where pottery, antiques, and people meet. It all began with a seemingly coincidental, yet inevitable, encounter.

The starting point was born from the "fun of communicating"

Hanayama, who originally helped out with the family business in Nagoya, first became involved with Tajimi when he worked as an assistant to a ceramic artist. While creating works alongside the artist and witnessing them being sold, he learned about the background to the craftsmanship and became fascinated by the excitement of communicating that knowledge.

During this time, working with Mizuno, who was the manager of a select shop in Nagoya, he held exhibitions and events using the store's space, which sparked his realization of the potential of this space as a place for communication. Hanayama's desire to spread the appeal of artists and the region more widely gradually took shape.

To put this idea into practice, Hanayama participated in the Tajimi Business Plan Contest hosted by Tajimi City in 2018. He presented a plan to create a base where creators and users could connect and interact, and was awarded the grand prize. This was the impetus for renovating a 50-year-old vacant building to create the current Shinmachi Building.

A place where local and outside perspectives blend

The appeal of Shinmachi Building comes from the blending of the two artists' different backgrounds and perspectives. Hanayama, as a non-local, introduces the appeal of Tajimi's artists and pottery, while Mizuno, as a local, brings in artists from other regions. The encounters that occur at this crossroads create new stimuli and create a flow.

"The charm of the building, the location, and Hanayama-kun's presence. All of these things came together to allow me to imagine the future landscape," says Mizuno. With shops with completely different worldviews on the second and fourth floors in the same building, the store attracts a wide range of customers, and it has become a place where different values naturally come together.

A place for interaction during lonely "creation time"

"Even though there are thousands of active artists in Tajimi, it is difficult to form horizontal connections unless you make a conscious effort yourself," says Hanayama, speaking of the appeal of the place, which is not only a place where artists can interact with customers, but also where artists can meet each other by chance and drop in casually.

"When you come here, you can see the works of artists, and artists naturally come into contact with each other," says Hanayama. He adds that casual conversations and exhibitions within the building can sometimes lead to new ideas and collaborations.

"Creating something is fundamentally a very solitary experience. But encountering someone else's work can suddenly inspire your own creative motivation. I want to cherish those small spark-like moments." Hanayama's words, expressing his desire to continue to see many artists and their works, are imbued with deep respect and affection for those who create things. So that this place can continue to be a "gateway" for someone today. The flame of culture burns quietly yet powerfully today as well.

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Shinmachi Building

Address: 1-2-8 Shinmachi, Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture, 507-0831

Access: 15 minutes on foot from the south exit of Tajimi Station on the JR Chuo Line and Taita Line

HP: https://www.shinmachi-bldg.com/ 

*For details on business hours and holidays, please check the link above.