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branding, signage

Shojutaku


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Shojutaku 商住宅 is a newly conceived apartment complex in the heart of Tokyo—imagined as a basecamp for independent spirits and self-made practices.




商(sho) meaning “commerce” and 住宅 (jutaku) meaning “home”, come together to form a space that is neither fully public nor entirely private. Each unit becomes a threshold: a place where living and making, hosting and retreating, quietly overlap. With an investment akin to renting a conventional apartment, residents are invited to open a café, a bar, a shop, a gallery, or an office—allowing everyday life to unfold alongside personal enterprise.

Be it coffee, wine, craft, or art, Shojutaku embraces the pursuit of individual passion. It proposes a fluid way of living, where the boundaries between work and home soften, blur, and eventually dissolve.






The logo takes shape as a character that does not exist—formed by intertwining elements of 商 (commerce) and 住 (living). It is a mark of in-betweenness, a symbol of something still becoming.






This character is paired with a 屋号紋  yagōmon, a traditional emblem once used by merchants alongside their family names—an early form of identity, of presence, of trade.

Across the building, different yagōmons are assigned to each unit number, gently signaling that behind these doors, something more than domestic life is taking place. Layered characters appear throughout the space, quietly tracing the merging of roles, rhythms, and realms.








www.shojutaku.com


Credits

Concept Planning: Makoto Tanijiri / Office yoh Inc., Tsukuru Estate Co., Ltd.
Total Supervision: Makoto Tanijiri / Office yoh Inc.
Architectural Concept Design: Makoto Tanijiri / Office yoh Inc.
Architectural Detailed Design: YURAGI ARCHITECTS
Visual Identity & Graphic Design: Koyuki Inagaki
Copywriting: Mami Wakao
Photography: Hideki Ookura, Koyuki Inagaki




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