Life in a Kamakura Kominka with Two Gallery Owners

Walk up a gentle slope in a leafy residential neighborhood of Kamakura, Japan’s historic coastal city, and a traditional Showa-era house framed by crape myrtle trees comes into view.

This is Galerie One, the home and gallery of Thierry and Arrow, a couple who have spent many years moving between Paris and Japan while running galleries and shops. The nearly ninety-year-old kominka, renovated by architect Sano Fumihiko, who trained in traditional sukiya carpentry, is filled with French vintage furniture that feels surprisingly at home in its Japanese surroundings.

We visited in the height of Japan’s notoriously hot summer. Yet even without air conditioning, a gentle breeze moved through the open tatami rooms, carrying with it the sense of the trees and greenery outside.

A Rough Diamond in Kamakura

The couple first encountered the house several years ago. Arrow was the first to visit and immediately fell in love with the garden, with its mature trees and carefully placed stones. For Thierry, it was the architecture itself. As a Frenchman with a deep interest in Japanese architecture, he was struck by the traditional features of the house—the large windows opening onto the garden, the high ceilings, and the beautiful wooden shelving.

The house was in very poor condition, but the couple saw its potential and asked Sano to restore it.

“Working on the design of our galleries is like working on a rough diamond. The beauty is already there; you just need to find the right way to polish it. We always want to keep the original structure while finding ways to make it more beautiful.”

The old tatami was preserved, the wood polished, and the walls painted either white or in colors from Le Corbusier’s palette.

“Our galleries in Paris and Kamakura don’t just look like galleries—they also feel like homes. This has been our concept from the beginning. We want our collectors to feel comfortable and enjoy our spaces as much as we do.”

The Magic Between a Kominka and French Vintage Furniture

Galerie One’s collection consists primarily of vintage furniture by designers such as Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand, and Jean Prouvé.

“There was some kind of magic when we held our first exhibition at our Kamakura gallery. The fit between the 1934 kominka and our furniture was immediate and so beautiful. The teak wood of the Pierre Jeanneret pieces matched perfectly with the tatami floors and the wooden details of the kominka,” Thierry recalls.

To a first-time visitor, it feels like more than perfect harmony. There is a kind of chemistry at work, as beautiful objects from different cultures and eras seem to bring out something new in one another.

“There are a few criteria that influence our choices,” Thierry explains.

The first is the background of the designer. The lives and careers of these designers often intersected: Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand both worked with Le Corbusier, while Jean Prouvé collaborated on several projects with Jeanneret.

Then there is the story behind each individual piece. Their furniture is chosen not only for its design, but also for its history.

Simplicity is another essential quality. “None of our pieces has decoration,” Thierry says. “The design is always very straightforward. The design itself has its own beauty.”

And finally, there is patina.

“We like to see the marks left by more than sixty years of intensive use. Our pieces never look brand new. We enjoy seeing the scratches and the old paint.”

Galerie One is also their home, which means that these pieces—many of which would look perfectly at home in a museum—are part of everyday life.

“The philosophy we always explain to our collectors is that our furniture needs to be used on a daily basis. They are not ‘art.’ You must sit on your chairs, dine or work at your table—not just contemplate them.”

Japanese Crafts, Alive in Everyday Life

A kominka built in 1934, French furniture from the 1950s, and Japanese crafts spanning different periods: somehow, all three coexist here in effortless harmony.

The Japanese pieces range from ceramics by celebrated potter Hamada Shoji to glassware by contemporary artists and small treasures discovered at antique markets. They vary widely in provenance and value, yet each has clearly been chosen with a discerning eye.

Thierry came across a group of Hamada plates by chance in a small antique shop in Kita-Kamakura. He was drawn to their rough, expressive character and decided to buy them. He suspected they might be Hamada’s work, but it was only after bringing them home and consulting books that he confirmed their attribution.

Hamada Shoji was a central figure in the Mingei (Japanese folk craft) movement and played a major role in the modern development of Mashiko pottery. His ceramics can now be regarded as works of art in their own right. Yet in Thierry and Arrow’s home, the plates are used in everyday life—just like the furniture.

Beautiful things, they believe, are meant to be used.

“Some people might be surprised—or even angry—to see us using them like that,” Arrow says.

“That’s something I learned from Thierry. Furniture is furniture, and tools are tools. They were made to be used. If you own something really good, you should take care of it and use it normally. Otherwise, it should be in a museum.”

An unusually shaped glass vessel that catches the eye is by Japanese glass artist Sugiyama Yoji.

“I use it for coffee in the morning, for cocktails at night, and on many different occasions,” says Thierry.

On a wooden shelf in the hallway sits a watering can designed by Jasper Morrison in collaboration with Negishi Industry, a long-established Japanese manufacturer.

Then there are the smaller treasures the couple finds at the antique markets they visit almost every week—objects that may not be expensive, but are special nonetheless.

“Antique markets are so much fun that you end up wanting everything,” Arrow laughs. “But you have to be very selective.”

“I became a minimalist around the age of forty. Before that, I was much more of a material girl. Now, I want the best. Instead of buying cheap things, you have more money to buy the best.”

Choosing Well, Caring for Things, and Living with Them for Years

One moment during our visit seround the age of forty. Before that, I was much more of a material girl. Now, I want the best. Instead of buying cheap things, you have more money to buy the best.”emed to capture the couple’s philosophy perfectly.

A collector happened to be visiting the gallery that day. As Arrow showed them a vintage Pierre Jeanneret chair, she pointed to a mark on its surface.

“Look. I love this scratch when you see it from this angle.”

It was a small comment, but one that expressed something Thierry and Arrow returned to again and again, always with obvious pleasure: how to live with objects.

For them, furniture and everyday objects are not appreciated for their design alone. They are understood through their histories and the stories they carry. Good pieces are chosen carefully, cared for by hand, repaired when necessary, and allowed to acquire the patina that comes with time and use.

From the spacious ground floor, where the original fusuma sliding doors have been removed, a narrow staircase leads up to the attic. Here, too, carefully maintained vintage Charlotte Perriand chairs are arranged beneath the sloping roof.

At the far end of the room—which Arrow calls the “Ikebana Room”—a flower arrangement catches the soft light entering at an angle, almost like a painting. The flowers are arranged by Watarai Toru, an ikebana artist who lives nearby. The couple also sometimes invites friends to enjoy ikebana lessons together.

In this Kamakura home, surrounded by objects that have been chosen, used, cared for, and loved over time, there is a sense of another kind of richness: the pleasure of living slowly and well with beautiful things.