Umami Mart is a brick and mortar shop in downtown Oakland specializing in Japanese kitchen, table, and bar ware. Once their retail space was secured, Yoko and Kayoko asked Anders Arhøj, a well-known art director in Copenhagen, to take the lead in designing the shop’s interior.
This mix of high and low is carried out throughout the shop.
The store windows face Broadway Street in downtown Oakland.
Simple wooden tables flank the entryway; hamaya arrows are displayed on a white wall.
A detail of the hamaya arrows, handmade by Yoko's mother.
Photograph by Shara Lotfi.
Single light bulbs illuminate the central shrine, designed by Anders Arhøj and built by local company Manual Labor.
Japanese kitchen wares are displayed on a wooden table near the entryway.
Umami Mart's 8-foot tall central shrine.
Decorative ceramics ghosts, or Kitchen Talismans, designed by Anders and Louise Gaarmanns.
A wooden market stall displays their House and Kitchen Ware.