Steeped in Softness
An Ochazuke Counter in Natural Tones

Set in Kyoto’s Shijō–Karasuma district, Obuya is a dashi-ochazuke counter by Ichinoden, the storied saikyo-zuke house. The second outpost after Eat Paradise in JR Kyoto Isetan, the name is taken from obu ― Kyoto dialect for tea ― a nod to the ancient capital’s everyday culture. In keeping with Ichinoden’s devotion to fine ingredients, the interior translates the gentle character of its dashi into natural materials ― a hushed harmony of taste and tactility.
A wall-length installation by washi artist Wataru Hatano casts a layered texture, as if the umami of dashi were rising to the surface. Facing the installation, the tables run in alternation ― Hatano’s washi tops and laminated 60-millimetre timber tables in a pigmented finish ― a quiet cadence of fibre and grain. Overhead hang washi pendant lights in three scales ― large, medium, and small ― casting the gentle glow of paper lanterns throughout the room.
Along Muromachi Street, a run of windows draws the city in, with a mid-height counter lining the glass. Underfoot and across the counter, Kyoto earth is worked in a sakan finish, its trowelled texture lending the room an unadorned, grounded calm. Wood, soil, and washi set in soft earth tones ― Ichinoden’s Kyoto-bred sensibility drawing character from honest materials and letting them speak their own truth.