Imizu, a coastal town in Northern Japan‘s Toyama Prefecture, forms the backdrop of mokkado. Interestingly, the newly opened Chai parlour occupies a meticulously renovated 100-year-old home which also happens to be the birthplace of the founder and also a factory of the equally storied Genpei Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. which manufactures and sells medicines in traditional Toyama style. The company, which now mainly trades in Chinese herbal medicines along with a variety of healthy food products, has established a cozy café on the premises which serves chai and shaved ice based on Chinese herbs. The interior design, created by MUKU design studio, a Tokyo-based practice, sees a cozy, semi-secluded bar with an open, double-height ceiling which lays bare the building’s historic wooden framework.
The adjacent seating area boasts a similar style, and given its open configuration and large windows at the back which allow in floods of daylight, guests instantly enjoy a sense of spaciousness and calm. The seating area sits in the middle of the building, resembling a Doma, an area in traditional Japanese homes which one can enter with shoes on. It’s flanked on one side by an intricately crafted installation comprising a large rock on stilts with lush medicinal herb plants on top. And speaking of greens, the central Doma area is further demarcated on two sides by rope and ivy partitions. The menu at mokkado lists four types of Chai, offered both hot and cold, in addition to shaved ice dishes prepared with with homemade Chai syrup and various tasty toppings.
mokkado
2643-1 Kurokawashin
Imizu 939-0311
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
