Ginza is a fascinating town, frequently linked with special moments and fond memories. Visits to department stores while holding tightly to a parent’s hand, afternoons in old-fashioned cafés run by one-of-a-kind characters, first dates in special restaurants . . . Ginza is a place like no other.

Hanatsubaki’s “Ginza Memoir” series, hosted by Yoshiyuki Morioka of the iconic Morioka Shoten bookstore, explores the multifaceted nature and universal appeal of Ginza through interviews with guests from a wide variety of fields. With Morioka as guide to Ginza’s hidden charms and diverse narratives, new discoveries await around every corner.

For the final part of this series, we revisit architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai. Here, Jain shares his unique approach to architecture—one that seeks to resonate with the emotions carried within nature itself.

Attuning to the Land’s Emotions

Morioka: I imagine you’ll continue working on architectural projects here in Japan. What kind of vision do you bring to these projects?

Jain: I’ll keep moving toward being “precise enough.” That notion is central to me. Partly due to my own physicality, I’ve always lived in the space between “precise enough” and “imprecise.”

Morioka: What do you mean by that?

Jain: Take something as specific as the size of a tatami mat. In Japan, there is a fixed standard for its dimensions. In India, where I’m from, it’s quite different. Indian music, for instance, is composed in half-tones, and even in architectural calculations, we often work in “half” measures. It’s like a cultural code embedded in our thinking. I want to find that space between “precise enough” and “imprecise.” So wherever I work—whether Japan or France—my approach is to tune myself to the phenomena of that land.

Morioka: Phenomena?

Jain: Everywhere on Earth, we encounter phenomena of light, air, water, gravity, and the land itself. As an architect, what I strive to do is attune myself to the sentiment—the emotion, if you will—of those phenomena. Not sentimentality, but the feeling that each phenomenon holds.

Morioka: How would you describe the difference between “sentiment” and “sentimentality”?

Jain: Love is an sentiment. Compassion, too. Anger and jealousy are also sentiments. They are not sentimental. Sentiments are universal experiences. We may each feel love or anger differently in intensity, but the experience itself is fundamentally shared.

Morioka: I understand.

Jain: Sentiments are here, in the present moment, whereas sentimentality resides partially in the past. Feeling nostalgia or sentimental is not a flaw by any means. But for the projects I work on in Japan, I try to tune myself to the sentiments of the land and its phenomena—the quality of light, the air, the humidity. In doing so, the nature of the place begins to shape the architecture on its own.

The Unique Role of the Hand: To Give and to Receive

Morioka: I believe that inspiration is essential. When we’re moved by something, that feeling inspires us to create in turn. It’s as if inspiration itself creates the future.

Jain: I would say inspiration creates possibility, because inspiration releases us from time. Its effects may manifest in the next moment, weeks later, or even years down the line. Inspiration opens the door to moments yet to come.

Morioka: I completely agree.

Jain: Or, perhaps we’re already inspired without even realizing it. As beings living under gravity’s force, we naturally experience a slight delay in everything. Possibility arrives just a little after us. This is true of “giving” and “receiving” as well—there’s always a time lag between the two. Yet it’s this time lag that makes human expression so varied. You have two daughters, don’t you? How old are they?

Morioka: They’re 13 and 18.

Jain: They’re practically adults now. You shared those early years with them, giving as they received. Now, I imagine they are giving something back to you in their own ways.

Morioka: Yes, they certainly are.

Jain: The hand’s only function is to give and to receive. Craftsmanship doesn’t reside solely in the artisan’s hands but rather in the act of giving and receiving itself.

Morioka: That’s fascinating. In that sense, what is art?

Jain: Perhaps art is simply the act of giving and receiving, done without any prejudice. It’s “non-purpose”—a state where purpose becomes no purpose. And I believe that’s the essence of art.

Bijoy Jain
Bijoy Jain, born in 1965 in Mumbai, studied at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He worked in Los Angeles and London before returning to India in 1995 and founding Studio Mumbai. The studio operates as an interdisciplinary group of architects, engineers, master builders, artisans, technicians and artists across continents.
Bijoy Jain teaches at the Accademia di architettura, Università della Svizzera Italiana in Mendrisio, Switzerland. He also taught as a visiting professor at Yale University in the United States and at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. In 2015, he received an honorary doctorate from Hasselt University, Belgium, for his contribution to the architectural profession. In 2017, he received the RIBA International Fellowship in London.

Yoshiyuki Morioka
Born 1974 in Yamagata. Head of the Morioka Shoten bookstore. Writer. Published books include Around Ginza in 800 Days (Bunshun Bunko) and Forgiving the Shortcake (Raichosha). Also active as an art curator, with recent shows including Children and Radiation, the second stage of an exhibition held jointly with the University of the Sacred Heart (October 30, 2003–April 22, 2024).
https://www.instagram.com/moriokashoten/?hl=ja

Sogo Hiraiwa
Editor/writer
Born 1990 in Takayama, Gifu. Freelance editor and writer contributing regularly to literary, cultural, and fashion magazines. Also involved in planning and editing books, including the Japanese edition of Octavia E. Butler’s Bloodchild and Other Stories (trans. Hikaru Fujii). Translator of Virgil Abloh’s Dialogues (Adachi Press).
https://www.instagram.com/sogohiraiwa/

Nathalie Cantacuzino
Photographer
Born in Stockholm, Sweden. Studied Japanese culture and photographic technique in Tokyo. Shoots in genres ranging from fashion to documentary and lifestyle.
https://www.instagram.com/nanorie/