Japan In Focus

Tottori: Kengo Kuma-designed cafe overlooking Tottori Sand Dunes to open in summer

Courtesy of Sakyukaikan
An artist’s rendering of a Kengo Kuma-designed cafe that will be built overlooking the Tottori Sand Dunes

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:25 JST, January 16, 2022

TOTTORI — A cafe designed by world-renowned architect Kengo Kuma that overlooks the Tottori Sand Dunes will open in the summer.

Sakyukaikan, a souvenir shop near the dunes, will build the cafe on an adjacent site to commemorate the shop’s 60th anniversary.

The cafe will be a two-story structure made of a combination of reinforced concrete and cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels made from Tottori lumber, with a total floor space of 190 square meters.

It is scheduled to open around July.

The building will be 13 meters high, and the first and second floors will be used as a cafe. The rooftop will be a covered observation space, where people can eat and drink in the open air while enjoying the view of the dunes.