Akita University of Art Master’s first-year student Kotomi TAKAHASHI conducted the project “Mobile Coffee Stand: ‘Noiri’ in Toorimachi” in front of the Oomachi Nanbanya coffee shop in Akita City, on December 11, 2021.

In her experimental “Noiri” project, Takahashi brews and serves coffee from a small, mobile coffee stand which she sets up in the streets of downtown Akita City.
The project name is a portmanteau of the Japanese word “Nodate,” referring to open-air tea ceremony, and “iri,” the gerund form of the verb “iru,” meaning “to brew (coffee)”. The purpose of this project is to collect specific “episodes” involving various scenes and locations in the city.

Takahashi was able to collect many stories about the area around the shopping district of Toorimachi: about Toorimachi’s former importance as a major street in Akita City’s early days; about the mysterious takoyaki stall which pops up occasionally in front of the nearby supermarket; about the ways the dominance of automobile transportation has altered the landscape.

The date and location of the next “Noiri” are not yet decided, but please feel free to stop by if you happen to see her coffee stand around town.