Minimal Space and Blank Space

"Zushiya" was established in 2002 by Artemeister, a Japanese Buddhist altar and ritual article manufacturer based in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima. The company’s origins date back to 1900, during the Meiji era, and it has continued through the Taisho, Showa, Heisei, and current Reiwa eras. Over that time, people's lifestyles and living environments have changed significantly. Family structures and values have also shifted, and the long-standing practice of offering prayers to one’s ancestors is gradually fading.In response to this cultural transition, Zushiya proposes a contemporary “form of prayer” that harmonizes with modern life and resonates with individual style. The zushi (miniature shrine) originated as a cabinet or shelf used to store precious food and tableware essential for sustaining life. Over time, it came to house Buddhist statues and relics, playing an important spiritual role in daily life.This project is an attempt to treat the zushi as a spiritual anchor and to spatially express a modern form of prayer.

We refer to the raw and untouched state of space as a 'Sokukan" (Minimal Space). Often, this term is associated with an unfinished or “skeleton” condition. Yet, we define it more precisely as a space that meets its essential functions without being covered by surface materials—similar to a white model used in the early stages of architectural design. The strength of such a space lies in its neutrality: it belongs to nothing and carries no fixed identity. It is in this absence of definition that meaning can emerge—when something is inserted into the space. From the beginning, we envisioned a Minimal Space in which the zushi, crafted with careful attention to materials and construction, would quietly stand out.

The site is located on the ground floor, facing a popular high-end fashion street, Namiki-dori in Ginza. The narrow street facade requires drawing customers inward along a passage to reach the main interior. This transitional passage was conceived as a Blank Space defined by a gate-shaped volume at the entrance that subtly accentuates the interior beyond. At the end of the passage, we placed a tokonoma-like alcove to receive the customers spatially, creating a point of symbolic arrival. We see this alley space as a threshold between the noise of the outside world and the stillness within—a middle ground that evokes the solemn air of walking along a sando, or temple path, gently guiding customers into a world of prayer. As customers proceed into the back, the space opens up, and they will notice part of the display stand has become a tokonoma alcove. Shifting their gaze sideways, they’ll find a recessed seating area beneath a lowered ceiling, where soft light filtered through Japanese paper shoji screens quietly welcomes them. It is within this unassuming silence that we hope people can sense their own, personal form of prayer.