Roadside Home and Barbershop in Suburban Japan

This unusually shaped building is a home and barbershop in Gunma, a small town in the Shinto prefecture of Japan. The dual-function space was created by the respective architecture firms SNARK and OUVI for the owners of H.I.D.A.S Barbershop. Both the lower-level storefront and the private areas upstairs are starkly designed and decorated for a fresh, minimalist look. On the upper stories, natural lighting streams in from the windows, and there is a clear view of the surrounding landscape. The rooms are angular, creating many nooks for study and reflection, and they are functionally styled with exposed wooden rafters and built-in shelving. At the very of the house, there is an attic, accessible by ladder, where the residents can store their things and admire the roadside and mountainside alike.

Photography by Ippei Shinzawa