The high ceilings and concrete make you think that gift_lab was once a factory, but actually it was originally a housing complex first constructed in 1932. During the bombing of Tokyo in World War II, the building was saved by the local residents who used water from the nearby elementary school pool to squelch the blaze.
Goto Toshikazu and Ikeda Fumiko’s design team created the store. They also work on projects to plan commercial facilities, design buildings, and implement interior design. During the days when the cafe is closed they use the place as a studio and workshop. Every Friday they sponsor what they call a “cabin bar”. It is an exhibition of works by young local inventors, developers, and musicians. It is an area where people from both inside and outside the community can blend together.
In the store there is a hollowed out mysterious wooden box. As you look at the box, the owner of the place, Goto Toshikazu, comes over to explain.
“When I traveled around the world, Instead of writing a journal or taking pictures, I recorded a sound from every place. If you like you can have a listen,” he says. While chewing on his words, approach the wooden box and put your head inside.
You can hear a dim sound. A far away bird noise. Taking your head out of the box you notice that a small screen displays the words, “Sound Trip #4. Birds from a park in Shanghai” Once again placing your head inside you can listen to sounds from places like the Milan Cathedral and the Petra Hotel in Jordan.
Originally the store was located in the Ebisu area. But due to an art movement, called “Central East Tokyo”, the design office moved from the west to the east side of the city to a place called Higashi-Nihonbashi. The project’s goal was to renovate areas that have many shuttered stores and open properties, and to create more art exhibitions and events. Through this art project a wave of new entrepreneurs and artists started to live in the Higashi-Nihonbashi area.
The next location he set his eyes on was Kiyosumi-Shirakawa. Like they experienced in HIgashi-Nihonbashi, they had a hunch they could once again breathe new life into this town. The owner, Goto, also operates a cafe and dormitory in Matsudai, Niigata Prefecture. From both Tokyo and Nigata he operates out of two bases, and has adopted the name double local, smoothly maintaining two separate versions of “everyday life”.
While you are traveling you sense a pleasant atmosphere like you are not alone. What remains in your ears are the foreign landscapes heard from the inside of a box, and the sounds of a piano. You can see the neighbors here who stop to take in everyday life.