A "modern teahouse on the move" located in a parking lot with a spectacular view of Mount Hakone.

The Hakone Tozan Railway starts from Odawara Station and climbs up Mt. Hakone Tozan Cable Car, which runs along a rope from Gora Station, the terminus of the Hakone Tozan Railway, and finally arrives at Sounzan Station. This is also the transfer point to the Hakone Ropeway, which descends to the shore of Lake Ashi via Owakudani.

From Sounzan Station, located halfway up the mountain, one can see Sagami Bay and the Miura Peninsula as far as the eye can see, and even the Boso Peninsula on a clear day. In front of Sounzan Station, a round silver Airstream stands alone against the blue sky. This oasis of nature is CAFE Ryusenkei. We interviewed the owner, Mr. Tomohisa Gora.

-First of all, could you tell us about your store?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outAIRSTREAM: We are a mobile café that pulls an American-made travel trailer, the AIRSTREAM (Caravel/1967), with an electric car, the Nissan LEAF, which is the fruit of the latest technology. From our base here at Sounzan Station, we occasionally travel to other locations in Hakone, or are called upon to travel to events in the Yokohama and Shonan areas. We serve carefully selected specialty coffees, each carefully hand-drip brewed, as well as alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, and whiskey, and food such as keema curry and soup.

- The overall design is simple, but what is the concept?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outThe concept is: "a modern teahouse on the move". A tearoom is not a large space, but it has its own universe. When I saw the AIRSTREAM, I intuitively felt that it was a "modern teahouse. The first thing that most of our guests say when they visit for the first time is, "Wow, it's bigger than I thought! I was surprised. After a while, they change to "It's so cozy" or "It's so comfortable, I'm falling asleep. When I hear these words, I am happy to know that the space creation has been successful. For the interior design, we asked a designer who has been a friend of ours for many years and whom we know very well, so we made an immediate decision after seeing the first sketches.

-What kind of customers do you have?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outThe number of foreign tourists is 90% of the total. They come from all over the world. When you are on a trip, everyone is relaxed, so when customers gather together, it becomes a very nice space, and conversations naturally start among the customers. We want people to have a good time in this space. And if the coffee is good, they will be even happier.

-What is the taste of the coffee here?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outThe main focus is on deep roasts, which are my favorite. Since the space is small here, I only hand drip pour one by one slowly.

-What inspired you to open this restaurant?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outI worked for a record company for many years, but ever since I was in my 20s, I always wanted to live in a place with rich nature with hot springs, such as Hakone, Izu, or Karuizawa, when I reached a certain age. I also wanted to open a café about 10 years ago, and I had been writing down ideas in my notebook and on my computer for a long time. About five years ago, I had a turning point when I quit my job at my company, and that was when I realized my longtime dream of moving to Hakone and opening a café. Although my income is drastically reduced compared to my corporate job, I am enjoying my life on a "no stress, no money" basis (laughs).

-Did you like coffee shops and cafes?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outI have loved coffee shops and cafes since I was a young man. Eating out was my hobby. In the process, I started buying beans from my favorite stores and brewing real coffee at home with a KONO-style dripper. I used to frequent the now-closed "Daibo Coffee Shop" in Omotesando. I also liked "Cafe de Lambre," "Chatei Hatomi," and "Coffee Tram," which is a descendant of "Obou Coffee Shop. I like authentic coffee shops. I must have enjoyed the space and time.

-What is a good space for you?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outI think a good store has the philosophy of the owner, the awareness of the workers, and the customers who come to the store, all of which make the store what it is. I like coffee, of course, but I also like the atmosphere of coffee shops and cafes. I just mix what I like and think is good there. In the end, it is the people who bring it to life. This is a space that only I can create, but it may even be increased by 20-30% just because of the wonderful scenery here.

-Has anything changed since you moved from Tokyo to Hakone?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outI can come to Hakone in an hour or so from Tokyo, enjoy a hot spring bath, and return home immediately refreshed. I wanted to live in a hot spring resort with rich nature, not in the countryside. It is easy for my friends and acquaintances to come here from Tokyo, and I see them more often since I moved here. In that sense, the distance between us has a good synergistic effect.

-This Nomad style store is new to you as a business, isn't it?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outI thought: the future is definitely small business. I believe that being compact, or in other words, independent and mobile, is the greatest weapon in the future. We also have to be prepared for natural disasters. I like Wim Wenders, the master of the road movie, and I think the atmosphere of "Paris, Texas" in particular has strongly influenced me subconsciously. There has always been a style of living on the move, as seen in American New Cinema films such as "We Have No Tomorrow" and "Easy Rider. It would be interesting to see the arrival of a modern version of the hippie movement in a positive sense.

-What do you keep in mind when running a business or store away from the city center?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outI was a businessman, and I was forced to follow the world for my work. I don't know if this store will be of any use to you because I didn't create it thinking that this is the way the world works. First of all, small business is about sharing. Spreading the word on the Internet is the best promotion. The store is working day after day, updating and modifying. To be recognized, it is more important to be open every day at this location than sales.

-Social networking is now an indispensable tool to continue this compact style.

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched out: We are in a more virtual age, but we need the real thing, even if it is just a little bit. There is such a thing as the importance of a real store. SNS is only a scheduled harmony, but it is also inexhaustible. I try to take the best of both worlds, the good old and the good new.

-In this sense, the fusion of the analog and digital worlds is clearly apparent in the appearance.

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outThe interior and the Airstream itself are naturally aged, so we were careful to determine how much of the original could be retained and modified to finish the interior. We decided on an electric car because we thought it could be used as a generator, but we had not yet developed an inverter or other system capable of supplying electricity. At first, I thought about towing with an old car for visual appeal, but I decided to use a new electric car because it would affect my work if it broke down easily during transportation, and I also thought about the environmental aspects of the car on a daily basis.

-All the nice tools you use are compact, is it the same in your private life?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched out: Basically the same as at home, but something I can buy more of because it could break when I move around. I chose something that looks good, is easy to use, and does not break. I like mass-produced products that combine design and functionality and are made with integrity.

-All of this is directly related to Gora's current way of life, isn't it?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outI have lived a life in which I have bought expensive and, in hindsight, unnecessary things. However, I believe that it was this seemingly wasteful experience that led me to my current simple lifestyle. Now I live a life of subtraction, trying to find ways to eliminate unnecessary things. There are two types of things: things that I can use while fixing them for the rest of my life, and consumable items that can be replaced.

-What do you see as the continuity and future shape of the café?

silk dried after having been washed in plain water and stretched outThe level of coffee has risen dramatically in the past few years, and the number of coffee shops is increasing. My store is the ultimate nomad style, with a concept that is as stripped down as possible, and I enjoy being on the move. In the future, I would like to travel around the country and stay for a short time in a town I like. I am still in good health, but when I get older and find a good place to live, I would like to make this my permanent store someday.

Gora's favorite personal items

Here are just a few of the items that Mr. Gora loves to use.

The FUJIFILM X10 is a digital camera that I purchased because I fell in love at first sight with its classic appearance reminiscent of a Leica rangefinder. It is compact and highly mobile, so it is very useful for traveling and daily use. The "old man drinking coffee" that is the motif of the "CAFE Ryusenkei" logo was taken at "Cafe Aalto" in Helsinki, where I was traveling.

The book is always within reach of Mr. Gora, and he flips through it and rereads it carefully, each time opening the pages to new insights and inspirations.

Clockwise from top left.
The Book of Tea" by Kakuzo Okakura
In-ei reisan" by Tanizaki Junichiro
Architecture is Poetry: The Words of Architect Junzo Yoshimura
The House of O'Keefe, translated by Kaori Ekuni
The House in the Little Forest - Karuizawa Villa Story" Junzo Yoshimura
Poem of Fire, Water and Wood -Why I Became an Architect-" Junzo Yoshimura

They are very important to me and serve as a kind of lighthouse. Each of them has a different point of view, such as architects, writers, painters, and thinkers, but I think I am drawn to the "symbiosis between people and nature" that plays as a common thread.

For many years, Mr. Gora had been looking at the photo collection of this house and wishing to live in a house like this one day. Fortunately, when she moved to Hakone, she came across a housing complex designed by Junzo Yoshimura, and she is now living there.

Items given as souvenirs and opening gifts. From left, a bird objet d'art by "iittala. ARABIA alcohol lamp. A crystal "Scandinavian God" polar bear, a paperweight given by the owner of AIRSTREAM, an import coordinator, and a French "Pyrex" cup and saucer from the 60s or 70s.

The name "Ryusenkei" comes from the Japanese word "Ryusenkei," which has a beautiful Japanese sound. And we chose "Ryusenkei" from AIRSTREAM, which has a distinctive "R" form. A vehicle that has no boundary between indoor and outdoor activities is a symbiosis with nature. The gift also has animals, birds, etc., each dot coming together to form a stream line."