We’re longtime fans of housewares company Fog Linen, so when we heard that founder Yumiko Sekine had moved into a new house in Tokyo designed with her partner, architect Wataru Ohashi, we were intrigued. “My lifestyle and aesthetic—simple, minimal, a mix of Japanese and Western influences—is common here in Japan, but it may not be familiar to people outside of the country,” Yumiko says. “I spent a lot of time thinking about the best way to inhabit this new space.
“Wataru has been my biggest inspiration in the pursuit of living comfortably with less. As an architect, he lives with very little; in fact, he could probably fit all of his belongings into a single suitcase. I don’t think I could ever achieve that level of minimalism, but I have fewer things than I did before. I call my approach ‘joyfully minimalist,’ because I believe that with less, you can find greater enjoyment in what you do have.”
Located in a quiet neighborhood, the three-level house serves several functions. “We planned the house not only for us to live in but also as a space where we could have photo shoots for Fog Linen. The first and second floor are designed to be open spaces for friends and staff, and our bedroom and bath are on the third floor to allow us privacy.”
N.B.: Read about Yumiko’s new book, Simplicity at Home; to order a copy, go to Fog Linen.
Join us for a tour:
Photography by Masao Nishikawa.
Yumiko and Wataru built an office and store in Tokyo for Fog Line a decade ago. “For that project, we spent a lot of time selecting materials and fixtures; door knobs, etc., ” Yumiko says. “So when we started designing our new house, we found that we still liked the same things. The Fog Linen store and offices are painted white, but for our house’s interior we decided to leave the walls unfinished concrete. We love the texture and the way the interiors feel slightly moody, as in old European houses—a little dark with soft, filtered light. And I can make the visual distinction between my work space and my domestic space from the quality of light in the rooms.”
See more favorite Japanese dwellings:
Shaker/Japanese Simplicity at Ace Hotel’s New Sister City on the Bowery
Box Hotel in Hakone, Japan: A New Boutique Lodge with Views of Lake Ashi
A DIT (Do-It-Together) Renovation in Hayama, Japan
