House Style with Terry Ellis, of Japanese craft and design brand Fennica, at his Tokyo apartment
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing a collection of stories from Issue No.2 of The Modern House magazine, which surveys modern living in and out of the home. Covering design, architecture, interior and lifestyle stories, the magazine is available both in the UK and internationally. Pick up your copy here.
Jamaica-born, London-raised Terry Ellis spends half his year in Tokyo, where he steers the course of Fennica, a craft-meets-design brand that brings together fashion, furniture and ceramics from Japan and Europe. His own apartment there expresses his taste for music, modernist design and the handmade. Here, he shares his house style.
How would you describe the interiors of your home?
Functional and typical of the older type of Tokyo apartments.
The kitchen is not integrated into the living area, as is normal with new flats here; the bathroom has the shower and tub combined in a wet room and part of the living area is a tatami room. Older apartments are usually larger and often have big south-facing balconies, but the drawback is that they do not have the latest standards of earthquake protection.
I collect mingei objects from Japan, as well as those that have been sourced from around the world by Japanese dealers and collectors. Mingei objects are traditional craft goods made for daily use, handmade in quantity by unknown craftsmen using local materials.
You’re happiest here when…
Listening to records.
I enjoy looking for vinyl in Tokyo, especially in Shinjuku. There are still a lot of record shops selling all genres of music, but the selection of jazz records offered here is astonishing – I buy mainly American jazz and some Japanese jazz.
If you could only save one thing, what would it be?
Probably a kimono made to order by a peripatetic Ainu seamstress who moves between Hokkaido and northern Honshu.
I met her to place my order but had almost no input in the look of the finished kimono; she designs and makes the robe in the patterns and colours that she decides will suit the client. The colour of my kimono is natural linen and hemp with a brown border and khaki/grey protection motifs all over the back, which probably means she sees me as a bit of a southern softie. There are accents of indigo floral-pattern fabric appliqués at various points on the robe too.
What was the last thing you bought for the house?
An Akari paper lamp for the tatami room.
I wanted a standing lamp and visited the Akari showroom in Tokyo to choose one. The choice was quick, as all but one of the tall floor lamps were too big for the room. I have long admired Noguchi and was lucky enough to visit his sculpture garden in Shikoku before it was open to the public. I think his stone sculptures have great beauty and serenity, and his landscape works, such as Moerenuma Park in Sapporo, are inspiring.
Top three coffee table books?
I have a lot of museum exhibition catalogues, but no coffee table books.
My top three are The Beauty of Korean Crafts: Highlights from the Japan Folk Crafts Museum; The Beauty of Ainu Handiwork: From the Collections of Yanagi Soetsu and Serizawa Keisuke; and Cecil Beaton’s Bright Young Things, from the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition.
If money was no object, what would you change?
I would remove the bulky medium-rise hotel building above the local station that partially obscures the view of Shinjuku from my balcony.
You’re having people over for dinner – what are you going to cook?
There are a great many restaurants and bars in the area and at least 10 good places to eat nearby, serving everything from curry, sushi and ramen to Chinese, Italian, French and Korean food.
I would order in from the small Japanese restaurant on the street where I usually go for supper, or have people meet there to eat, then walk 100 yards to the flat for drinks and coffee.
What does a Sunday here look like?
I change the flowers and sometimes move pictures around.
The area is usually very busy at the weekend with young people and families browsing the many shopping lanes and the hundreds of vintage clothing stores in the area. All the small parks nearby are full of old people strolling or doing exercises.
Best things about this neighbourhood?
It is historically a bohemian place, with a lot of live music venues and many bars, restaurants and cafes.
There are a lot of temples and shrines and many small parks here. Also, there are many pedestrian shopping lanes and a vast array of vintage clothing stores and some good record shops and bookshops. It is close to Harajuku and Shinjuku, where I work.
How long will you be here for?
It’s a comfortable and functional flat in an area that I find interesting.
I hope to be here for a long time.
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