Konbini Confessions: Ritual of a Japanese Salaryman

Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a recent spike in mental health issues predominantly among university graduates and young working adults living in Tokyo. Despite this, it is still a stigma to seek help.

 

Inspired by the Minka of the Edo period, a temporary intimate 6m2 timber cabin operates 24/7 along the streets of Shinjuku - similar to a typical convenience store. The cabin creates a dialogue between time and people by evoking the warmth and comfort of a lived-in space through the use of materiality and everyday objects.

 

Additionally, the cabin isolates and allows the participant to view a toned-down impression of the surrounding vigour. In contrast to urban life, the presence inside provides no impulses except the internal.

 

Inside, a wavering scent of a home emanates. Only at home is where a salaryman marks the end of a hectic day - providing a width of relief for the overworked. Unlike the traditional act of keeping still, meditation here eases into a ritual. Participants are encouraged to take a break from the multitasking contemporary madness and self-reflect by penning down their thoughts anonymously in this non-judgemental space.

 

Ultimately, Konbini Confession seeks to invite contemplation and collaboration both as a participant and an observer, providing a new agency to architecture as a platform for cultural discourse on the absence of social interactions and awareness of mental health issues in Japan.