About KAMENYA OMOTE

KAMENYA OMOTE is Japan's only contemporary mask specialty store.

Founded in 2014 by Shuhei Okawara — butoh dancer, mask researcher, and organizer of TOKYO MASK FESTIVAL — KAMENYA OMOTE grew out of a simple observation: there were plenty of artists making masks who had no idea what to do with them. Okawara did. So he opened a shop to connect masks with the people who could actually use them.

The store is located on a quiet shopping street in Sumida, Tokyo, and has been covered by Reuters, BBC, and media around the world.

What we sell

KAMENYA OMOTE carries three lines online, each made in Japan:

  • That Face — A face-trading art project. Real people sell their faces. We buy them, copy them, and sell them to strangers. You can order your own face — but the point is wearing someone else's.
  • Kitsune Masks — Traditional fox masks reimagined by contemporary Japanese artists, handcrafted using centuries-old techniques.
  • Paper Craft Kits — DIY papercraft by Hayashi Takeo: wearable masks, plus goldfish mobiles and hanging ornaments. Like origami, but you wear — or hang — the result.

Our physical shop in Sumida carries a far wider selection — masks from around the world, by artists you won't find anywhere else.

Where we are

Our physical shop is open on weekends in Sumida, Tokyo. This online store ships worldwide.

KAMENYA OMOTE storefront on the Kirakira Tachibana shopping street in Kyojima, Tokyo
The shop from the street: look for the wooden signboard and the masks behind the corrugated panels.

KAMENYA OMOTE
3-20-5 Kyojima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 131-0046, Japan
Open Saturdays and Sundays, 13:00–18:00. Closures are irregular, so please check our website or social media before you come.
Tel: +81-70-5089-6271

How to get here

The shop stands on Meiji-dori, right at the entrance of the Kirakira Tachibana shopping street.

  • 6 minutes on foot from Keisei-Hikifune Station (Keisei Oshiage Line)
  • 12 minutes on foot from Hikifune Station (Tobu Skytree Line)
  • About 25 minutes on foot from Oshiage Station (Tokyo Skytree), or about 5 minutes on the Sumimaru-kun community bus (green north-east route) to the “Kirakira Tachibana Shotengai Iriguchi” stop

What to expect in the shop

Every mask in the shop can be tried on, and you are welcome to take photos. The fox masks are what most visitors reach for first. The shelves carry far more than this online store: one-off pieces by artists from Japan and abroad, traditional masks, and the That Face series. If you have seen something online and want to see it in person, ask and we will bring it out if it is in stock.

Kitsune fox masks by Komendo on the shelf at KAMENYA OMOTE, Kyojima, Tokyo (August 2026)
The kitsune shelf in the shop, August 2026. Every mask here can be tried on.

The shop has been featured by Time Out Tokyo, and our work has been covered by Reuters, the BBC and others. See Press & Media.

 

Beyond the shop: the makers

Because we are the only shop in Japan devoted to masks, people ask us who still carves them. We answer with a public directory of Japanese mask makers and workshops, compiled from public sources and organised by lineage and prefecture. It lists makers whether or not we stock their work.