Since our founding in 2023, Chowa was never merely about crafting Kiribako boxes.
It was, and is, a philosophy — a rebellion wrapped in silence — a celebration of the overlooked excellence that already exists in the world, in harmony with innovation.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
THE BIRTH OF THE CHOWA SPACE DESIGN
As we shared the Chowa philosophy with the world, there came a moment when words were no longer enough.
The spirit of Chowa — that delicate balance between precision and soul — demanded a space of its own.
That was when I reached out to my dear friend Yudai Kanayama, founder of Serious Construction Company, a force that has shaped some of New York’s most soulful landmarks — The Izakaya, Dr. Clark, The River, and others that pulse quietly with authenticity.
I told him: “I want a space that shines a box as the protagonist — a box for Chowa boxes.”
And so began the creation of the Chowa TriBeCa Office — a sanctuary where philosophy found its body.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
In the process, something wonderful occurred: a seamless union of American antiques and Japanese traditional philosophy.
Yudai’s tactile Americana met Chowa’s quiet precision, merging as if they were never apart. From that harmony, we merged our paths — and our companies — to move forward under one name: Chowa.
Together, we now craft both small boxes with Japanese master craftsmen, and larger boxes — spaces themselves — through Serious Construction Company.
Our first and ambitious creation: the Chowa Library in Brooklyn.
Since then, six new creations have come to life — each one a dialogue between time, material, and spirit.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
CHOWA HALL TOKYO — RETURNING TO THE SOURCE
Our latest project, Chowa Hall Tokyo, is sacred to us.
It marks our first commission in Japan — the birthplace of our guiding spirit, the Kiribako.
Located in Nampeidaicho, Shibuya, where I once ran around as a child, this quiet neighborhood carries the energy of post-war rebirth and the ambition that built modern Tokyo.
The site itself — the former estate of Prime Minister Takeo Miki — holds a spirit of integrity and evolution. We were entrusted with transforming his 1970s guard house into a new cultural ground.
Prime Minister Takeo Miki & U.S. President Ford | Credit: Wikimedia
It is not merely a structure. It is a vessel of history — and an act of reverence. This estate has seen many of the world leaders who visited Japan and they have made countless decisions that have shaped the nation of Japan.
To achieve the balance we envisioned, we flew one of our New York craftsmen to Japan.
The result is a space where Japanese sensibility and New York boldness coexist — a living embodiment of harmony.
It breathes. It feels. It is alive.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
Five Elements of Chowa
1/5 ORIGINAL MATERIAL — THE SOUL OF THE KUMBUK
At the heart of Chowa Hall lies Kumbuk, a rare Sri Lankan hardwood once submerged beneath riverbeds for 500 years — dense, dark, and humblingly heavy.
We brought this sacred material from New York to Tokyo, blending it with Lauwan plywood walls that carry decades of patina.
Together, they form a dialogue between time and gravity — a visual equilibrium of weight and grace.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
2/5 DIALOGUE OF CULTURES — JAPANESE SPACE, AMERICAN OBJECTS
Originally designed by Sato Hide, who created homes for Japan’s political and cultural elite, the structure holds an aura of quiet power.
Within its modest 40-square-meter single-story wooden structure, we curated a conversation between Edo-period folk art and American antique forms — between restraint and rebellion.
This is where modernism kneels before heritage, and the ordinary becomes sacred.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
3/5 THE SILENT LUXURY OF YAMAGATA DANTSU
True luxury is not loud. It does not perform.
Our Dantsu carpet, handwoven in Yamagata through more than 80 years of evolving craft, represents this truth.
Yamagata Dantsu has graced the Imperial Palace by Junzo Yoshimura and even the Vatican for the Pope. It is internationally revered, carrying the quiet dignity of Japanese craft into the world.
Step upon it once, and you will never forget. Its texture is deep, rich — ever so calming.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
Thick, dense, and humble, it exists not to shine, but to unify.
Yet in our design, we elevated it — transforming it from something to walk upon into something to sit on.
From support to center. From silence to voice.
This is Chowa’s quiet rebellion.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
4/5 AUTHORSHIP AND AUTHENTICITY — MADE BY HAND, NOT BY NAME
Every piece of furniture was born on-site, sketched directly on the floor, refined through dialogue with craftsmen.
We refuse to design by algorithm or depend on branded objects. There are no designer chairs, no famous signatures — only works made by us, or by anonymous artisans whose hands carried intention centuries before us.
This is our stance against the “Disneyland Effect” — spaces so immaculately staged they become soulless simulations.
We choose the rough beauty of truth over the sterile comfort of spectacle.
A space must carry emotion, or it ceases to be human.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
5/5 PRECISION AND IMPERFECTION — THE SPIRIT OF CARE
In Japanese, there is a phrase: 身を注ぐ (Mi wo sosogu) — to pour your physical self into something.
This is not a metaphor. It is an act of exchange — between the maker’s body and the object, between the divine and the human.
In Shinto belief, every object has a god within it called Yaoyorosu-no-kami.
Our craftsmen work not for recognition, not for price, but to converse with the spirit of the object.
To us, this is true luxury — not perfection, but care so deep it becomes invisible.
In every Chowa space, love is translated through material.
What appears as precision is actually affection.
What feels like harmony is, in truth, human devotion made tangible.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
A NEW DEFINITION OF LUXURY
The world is drowning in noise — abundance without soul.
At Chowa, we are rebelling against this emptiness.
Photo by Yuto Kudo
In Chowa world, new luxury is not a price point. It is not spectacle.
It is the silent depth of something made with intention.
It is the whisper between the human hand and the material that outlives it.
It is harmony born from contradiction — the Japanese aesthetics meeting Western branding and communication — and together, finding Chowa.
This is not nostalgia.
This is the future of luxury:
Human. Honest. Harmonious.
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Spacial Thanks to Yuto Kudo for the beautiful photos.
As a policy at the Chowa Hall Tokyo, Photos are only allowed when taken with film cameras. Digital photos such as iPhone photos are strictly prohibited inside the space.
Ray Suzuki by Yuto Kudo
Yudai Kanayama by Yuto Kudo
