The Spring of Blooming Flowers in Mirrors: Japan’s Most Beautiful Café

By MOOK Scenic Spots Travel & Lifestyle Network Editorial Department, compiled and reported by Liao Qiyu
 
As spring arrives, cherry blossoms have become one of the hottest keywords for travel and life in Japan. In addition to visiting parks and riversides to admire the blooms, you might want to visit the “Seika / seika-Mirrors café” café in Gifu Prefecture. The café uses mirrored materials on its walls along with the rows of cherry trees lining the nearby street to create a uniquely stunning cherry blossom view every spring.

The “Seika / seika-Mirrors café” café was designed by B andesign Studio. Located next to a row of cherry trees that attract many blossom-viewing visitors each spring, the designers took advantage of this feature by giving the café an irregular shape. They used mirrored materials to connect two small buildings symmetrically like mirrors, allowing the cherry trees to be repeatedly reflected in the wall mirrors, creating a springtime world of blooming flowers within the mirror reflections.

Interestingly, at the corner where the mirrored surfaces meet, a small white stone courtyard and a camellia plant are enclosed. Through the mirrored walls, one camellia appears as three. Since camellias bloom earlier than cherry blossoms, the café offers different scenery in different seasons. Especially in spring, the mirrored world frames the blue sky, the pink of cherry blossoms, and the white of the stones, encapsulating the beauty of the season.