Art & Design
Historic timber, contemporary art
and furniture made to be enjoyed.
A Japanese home to live in for a while.
Art and design,
part of everyday life in the house.
Sit in Finn Juhl’s Chieftain Chair, discover Hans J. Wegner’s Circle Chair, or settle into the LC3 seating beneath the old beams. These design classics share the house with contemporary artworks inspired by landscapes, materials and the passage of time.
Izumi is a place to spend time with art and design at your own pace. Familiar comforts and the texture of an old Japanese home make the experience personal.
Architecture and art direction
by Mitsuyoshi Miyazaki of HAGISTUDIO.
Mitsuyoshi Miyazaki
HAGISTUDIO
Mitsuyoshi Miyazaki was born in Maebashi, Gunma, in 1982. After completing a master’s degree at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2008, he worked at Arata Isozaki & Associates before establishing an independent practice in 2011. His projects include the restoration of older buildings as places to eat and stay, particularly in Tokyo’s Yanaka district. Through lectures and Renovation School programmes, he also explores how unused buildings can bring new life to local communities.
Selected projects
HAGISO, hanare, LANDABOUT and Nishi-Nippori Scramble
Sculptural forms
that seem almost alive.
Yasutaka Fukuda
Born in Gunma in 1977, Yasutaka Fukuda studied architecture at Musashino Art University before teaching himself 3D computer graphics and visual effects. He founded FUKUPOLY in 2014. His work spans advertising and music videos, installations, 3D-printed sculptures and immersive digital experiences.
Selected awards
Mitsuko Okamoto Prize, SICF17 (2016); Excellence Prize, Tokyo Midtown Award (2016); Grand Prix, Adobe MAX Challenge (2018)
Art inspired by Mount Makihata
and Hokuetsu Seppu, a 19th-century account
of life in Japan’s snow country.
Ryo Shimizu
Born in Kagawa in 1977 and based in Kanagawa, Ryo Shimizu explores the origins of writing and the meanings we attach to signs and symbols. His works invite us to reconsider familiar experiences and connections. Since 2020, research into the landscapes, plants and wildlife of the Izu Peninsula has informed his exploration of human life before writing and the changes that writing brought.
Selected awards and exhibitions
Spiral Prize, SICF11 (2010); LICC Artist of the Year, London International Creative Competition (2019). Projects include Treasure Hill Art Village, Taipei (2015), and the Fujinoyama Biennale in Shizuoka (2014, 2016 and 2020).
Paintings that capture
the quiet passage of time.
Reiko Kinoshita
Born in Kumamoto in 1982 and based in Tokyo, Reiko Kinoshita completed postgraduate studies in painting at Musashino Art University in 2009. Her work asks whether the passage of time itself can become a painting. She studies the folds, wrinkles and weathering of materials such as cloth and paper, adding fine layers of sprayed paint to reveal the traces they hold.
Selected exhibitions
“Hi No Naka No Ten”, Kiyosu City Haruhi Museum of Art (2015); “Emerging Artists Exhibition”, Ginza Atrium at Ginza Tsutaya Books (2021); and “Kintsugi”, ANA InterContinental Tokyo (2021).
Creative direction and planning
by Toru Iwasa of Jiyujin.
Toru Iwasa
Born in Tokyo in 1967, Toru Iwasa founded a company while studying at Musashino Art University and later became an editor. He launched the lifestyle magazine Jiyujin in 2000. As creative director of Satoyama Jujo, which opened in Niigata in 2014, he brought together architecture, food and local culture; the project was selected for the Good Design Best 100 that year. His work also includes planning, creative direction and operational support for hotels and restaurants beyond the Jiyujin group.
Selected recognition
Good Design Best 100 for Satoyama Jujo (2014); Good Design Best 100 for Hakone Honbako (2019); and a Special Prize at the Cool Japan Matching Award 2019 for Hotel Koo Otsu Hyakucho (2020).
Buried in snow. Maintaining a house in snow country takes constant care.
Inside the entrance was a storeroom, with another large storage space beside it.
The original entrance was on the opposite side, where the kitchen is today.
Today’s bedroom was once attic storage.
The old kitchen was near today’s entrance.
The substantial beams and pillars remain in place.
The house had been sold and used as a holiday home.
There was no view at first. Removing the cedars revealed this extraordinary panorama.
The trees were a windbreak against winter snow. Local people warned us: “Winter will be tough!”
This house, too, was stripped back to its structure and thoroughly insulated.