We work ourselves to the bone during the week, in environments that are entirely functional and often don’t have much style to them.  Office blocks with the same tables, the same chairs, and the same orange pair of scissors that everyone seems to have stuffed away in their drawers next to the same blue stapler.  Everything is mass marketed and aesthetically gentrified.

Japan House gives us a taste of the opposite.  The philosophy of Wabi Sabi.  The ‘world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.’  As humans we are all imperfect and unbalanced, we walk different, talk different and have different tastes.  But it’s that imperfection that keeps us balanced and interesting.  The same goes for everyday household items.  Japan House showcases handmade items ranging from paper cutlery, furniture, coin-purses, and kitchen towels.  All made by hand, and with the makers names and stories by each item to tell us the story of the item, and the process in which it was conceived.  Diffusers use natural twigs, wallets are origami folded leather with no fastenings, and bags are made from waterproof crumpled paper!