A new neighborhood tavern, "mae" (pronounced "Mae"), opens on Wednesday, October 14, 2026 in Izushicho, Kita-ku, Okayama City. The seven-seat counter tavern is run by Staple Co., Ltd., which has spent a year and a half putting down roots in Okayama and running a space that nurtures creative culture through a variety of events. For Staple, mae is a new venture.
What Running an Inn Revealed About Okayama's Town, Culture and Daily Life
C&C is a small hotel with four rooms that opened in April 2025. Located at the foot of Korakuen and Okayama Castle, in an area that has long nurtured art and culture, it has served as both an inn and a venue for artists and creators, hosting a range of music and exhibition events.
While welcoming travelers as an inn and running a place where local people gather around various kinds of content, Staple came to notice a certain scene in the town: noren curtains going up in the evening and people drifting naturally toward the taverns. It also noticed an Okayama night culture in which people walk from shop to shop rather than finishing the evening at a single place. By taking on part of the everyday life of the community and town that opens up just outside the inn, Staple aims to encourage people to move around the area. mae was opened as the place to put this into practice.
Scenes from C&C, which has built a community through exhibitions, music events and more.
About mae
The Meaning Behind the Name
The name "mae" (前, meaning "front" or "before") carries two meanings. One is that the tavern sits in front of the hotel C&C, which it faces across the street. The other is the ambiguous margins of time that surround a hotel stay: breakfast before check-out, a bar before bed, a quick stop before heading on to the next place. The name expresses the sense of being a place "before" something else.
Logo and Concept: "A Paradise for Adults"
Photo credit: https://konjaku-photo.com/
Izushicho, where mae stands, lies along the Asahi River, where Takasebune boats once carried goods, and it prospered with commerce in the samurai era. The logo overlays the two characters 止 and 刀 as a nod to that history. The concept, 「後先を忘れた大人たちの楽園」 ("a paradise for adults who have forgotten what comes before and after"), also contains a bit of wordplay: take the characters at its front and back and it becomes Okayama's Korakuen (後楽園).
The tavern also aims to offer a touch of exotic atmosphere that carries guests a little way from everyday life. The planned menu reflects this, with items such as mixed noodles and craft shochu distilled in southern, tropical regions.
Space Design
Built With Taiwanese Architects
The interior of mae was designed by 本事空間製作所, an architecture and space design studio based in Taichung and Tainan, Taiwan. The studio mainly works in Tainan on restaurants, shops and the renovation of old buildings. It values handling everything from design through construction itself, working face to face with craftspeople on site to create spaces that make use of existing materials and the accumulation of time. Its notable works include the Japanese restaurant 十平 in Tainan and the complex PARIPARI apt. (パリパリアパートメント).
The hotel and cafe floor of PARIPARI apt. (パリパリアパートメント), a project by the studio.
The restaurants and bars the studio has designed in Tainan have an atmosphere in which locals and travelers gather naturally, spend their own time, and then set off again into the town. Staple asked the studio to design mae because it wanted the tavern, too, to be not a self-contained place but a part of the flow of the town, where people gather and then walk on to the next tavern.
The studio explains its approach to the design as follows:
"The design started from the large window facing the street. Because the interior floor is higher than the road, passersby can see straight into the shop. Making use of this condition, a semicircular counter was placed facing the window. Instead of decorating the exterior wall, the ceiling light and the outline of the counter become the face of the shop at night. Rather than layering on decoration, narrowing down the elements on display allows the atmosphere of the space to take shape with only a few elements."
mae at night, where the atmosphere is created by only the ceiling light and the counter.
The Future of Okayama
Staple says it moved to Okayama in earnest two years ago. It describes the city as an easygoing place with a good climate, a large river and plenty of greenery. Art museums and public art are within walking distance, along with comfortable local independent shops.
While young newcomers and new cultural hubs are increasing, Staple also feels a sense of concern that large-scale redevelopment in front of the station could cost the city its grounded culture. Evenings in Izushicho, where mae is located, are very quiet, and once the sun sets almost no one is left on the streets. Through the activities of mae and C&C, Staple hopes to be one of the places in Okayama where people enjoy coming and going as part of a cultural connection, as if bringing back the area's former liveliness.
Shop Information
- Name: mae (マエ)
- Address: 1-8-22 Izushicho, Kita-ku, Okayama City, Okayama 700-0812 (第二明比ビル 1F)
- Opening date: October 14, 2026
- Planning: Staple Co., Ltd.
- Design and interior: 本事空間製作所 / staple studio
- Graphic design: SOJI
- Hours (closed days): Weekdays 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM / Saturdays and Sundays 1:00 PM to 10:00 PM (closed Mondays and Tuesdays)
- Seats: 7 counter seats
- Floor area: 32 square meters
- Menu: Mixed noodles ¥880 / Assorted shochu from ¥650, and more
- Instagram: @_______mae__
- Google Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/awztH5GFnB269tqe8
- Access:
- 20-minute walk from the Korakuen Exit (East Exit) of JR Okayama Station
- Take the tram from the Higashiyama Line platform at Okayama-Ekimae stop, bound for Higashiyama, and get off at "Shiroshita," then walk 7 minutes
