This is a directly-managed store of MoonStar, a shoe manufacturer based in Kurume, which has been in business for 150 years.

MoonStar has made a wide variety of shoes to meet people’s needs, from children’s shoes, kitchen shoes, and walking shoes to well-designed shoes. The Kurume factory handles a wide range of shoe-making processes, from rubber, canvas, and leather to steel, aluminum, and casting.

To make a single pair of shoes, in fact, requires the accumulation of diverse skills, materials, wisdom, and a variety of handiwork. We aimed to design a store that would allow us to regain a little of our imagination about the background of things and how they are made, which is something we stop thinking about on a daily basis.

Moonstar Jiyugaoka

In addition to selling shoes, MoonStar stores also offer workshops and exhibitions of paintings and photographs related to shoemaking. To enable these irregular cultural activities to continue, a flexible floor plan with movable fixtures and fittings was adopted.

The wooden fittings that divide the open store into four large sections are made of shoe canvas. These fittings can be fitted with movable shelves and mirrors, allowing the space to be used according to the season and events.

The shoe fixtures and lighting were created using various rubber properties through collaboration between Moonstar’s engineering department and a Tokyo-based construction company and designer.

As a store for Moonstar, which aims to be a “community brand that lives amidst the connections among people, communities, and culture,” the project presented the construction action and store space as the groundwork for an exchange of people, skills, and wisdom through shoes.