My Custom Not Lego Japanese Machiya House

 

Hello brick fans!  I recently made a Japanese style Machiya style house made from not Lego.  It's a continuation of my Japanese building series that I've been obsessed with lately.  

It started with the Japanese Crab/Seafood restaurant, followed by my custom Fujiwara Tofu shop.  Also in my collection are the trio of Cada brand Japanese shops designed by exesandbox.

You can find all my reviews for those buildings by the using the term "japanese style" in the search box of my blog.

The machiya house sits on a raised 16x32 stud baseplate and is two storeys tall.

In case you're not familiar with Japanese architecture, a machiya is a traditional townhouse with a narrow frontage, with earthen walls and baked tile roofs.

The front of the machiya traditionally served as a retail space with sliding or rolling shutters that could be opened to display goods and wares.  See the wikipedia entry for machiya if you'd like to learn more about this topic.

I looked at a lot of pictures of Japanese shops and machiyas so I tried to replicate some of the key design elements for my modular building.

I chose natural earth tones such as gray and brown for the machiya.  The black accents and highlights gives the building a modern vibe.  There is a takoyaki shop on the main floor.  I plan to add a kitchen and for the second floor, living quarters later on.  

I'll provide more details about the takoyaki shop a bit later.

Just like the inside, the rear of the building is still a work in progress.  I'm thinking about relocating the back door to the right hand side to put it under the stairs.

I might also refine the roof structure a bit, but it's sturdy enough and provides a decent looking slope, so I dunno, maybe, maybe not.

In modular form, the rooftop, second floor and first floor are easily accessible.  I have installed a staircase to the second floor but as mentioned earlier the interior is empty at the moment.

Here is the Takoyaki shop.  The front door has a very contemporary look with the wooden slats.  It provides access to the inside of the shop and also to the second floor via the stairs.  I put a small planter and a frog statue on either side of the doorway.  The fabric banner attaches to the underside of the awning.

In lieu of regular windows like in all of my other modular buildings, I used a rollup garage door for the front of the shop.

I bought the roll-up doors from Aliexpress.  They come with all the hinged door panels as well as the tracks on either side so that they can be opened or closed.

If I ever finish the interior, I'll put some minifigures behind the shop counter.   When the shop is closed the takoyaki would be moved inside.  There's room on the counter to  install a display case.

Most of the signage is stickers with the exception of the fabric banner and they all come from the small Sembo Takoyaki stall building set 601065 that I bought back in March 2020.  Even the takoyaki are stickers.

I took the set apart a couple of years ago, but luckily I still had the banner and stickers.  Here's my original Sembo Takoyaki set review.

I replicated the upper window design from the Fujiwara tofu shop but put blinds in the windows instead of glass.  The wooden slats on the right side of the second floor serve to protect the fan/ventilation unit.  I wanted to keep the sidewalk more open so I put the takoyaki sign on the wall of the second floor.

Here's the new machiya building next to the Fujiwara tofu shop on my ever growing Japanese street.

Let me know what you think of my latest creation, thanks for looking!  Bye!

My Custom Not Lego Initial D Fujiwara Tofu Shop (using the Cada C61033W building block set)

 

Good day brick fans!  Today's blog post goes out to all you Initial D manga and anime fans.  I hope you like my highly modified Japanese themed Fujiwara Tofu not Lego shop that I made  from the Cada C61033W scenic diorama set. 

Cada recently held a contest on their Facebook page and I won the gift pack which includes both the Tofu shop facade and the Initial D C55018W Toyota Trueno AE86 car.  I made some changes to the AE86 which I reviewed in my blog post:

https://bricksandfigs.blogspot.com/2023/02/how-i-enhanced-cada-c55018w-initial-d.html

*If you are thinking about buying anything off the Cada website, check out my discount code at the end of this post.

In this blog post, I will review the process of transforming the Tofu shop small diorama scene into a complete modular building. However, I must note that Cada offers a Lego style modular version of the Fujiwara Tofu shop (set number C61031W) that I highly recommend purchasing to save significant time and effort. This set includes 1908 pieces and features a complete interior on both floors, which my own creation currently lacks.

This is what I started with, the Cada C61033W set.

My decision to build the modular Tofu shop from scratch was based on the fact that I already possessed the building's front portion. With this in mind, I wanted to test if I could fashion the rest of the building using my collection of non-Lego bricks. 

To construct my own modular building, I first had to decrease the width of the front facade from its original 20 studs to 16 studs. Then, I had to locate all the necessary bricks for the side walls, back wall, floors, and roof, as well as acquire windows, railings, sidewalk tiles, and other accessories for the building's exterior.

While I managed to retain the front windows and doors, I had to downsize the awning. The Tofu shop's name, which is displayed on the awning, is a large sticker that spans the entire width of the shop. I have not yet affixed the sticker as I am trying to determine the best way to do so while achieving a pleasing Japanese themed aesthetic result. 

From the above picture, you can see the entire length of the newly modified Tofu shop.  The box-like roof structure has been extended further back and a new sloped roof has been added to replicate what I've seen in pictures.

I added two sets of windows on the second floor and two smaller windows at the rear of the main floor, one on the side wall and one on the rear wall.

I included three portable wall mounted A/C units, which the original tofu shop doesn't have.  Don't mind the shitty bricks that form the roof back wall, I ran out of bricks.  :(

More windows here too.

This is one of the plainer wall surfaces.  Luckily, I have all these beige masonry bricks to serve as accents on the otherwise plain walls.

Coming around the front again, I stole the utility pole from the Cada Japanese Bun shop which looks a lot nicer than the one that comes with Cada's full modular version of the Tofu shop.  Wires from the utility pole attach directly to the shop.

The tree is one I borrowed from the Funwhole Wood Cabin set.  I was going to make a tree but this one looked pretty good, so maybe I will copy it again one day to replace the Funwhole tree.

The back fence is my own creation, which I copied from the rooftop box structure. 

My modified AE86 sits on the attached parking pad.  I also added some extra bins and boards to my setup.

These minifigures are supposed to represent Takumi Fujiwara and his dad Bunta Fujiwara.  What do you think, yes or no?

Here's a drone shot from above the shop.  Oh wait, drones hadn't been invented yet back in 1998!

Let me know if I should make interiors for both floors of the Tofu shop.  Right now, there's nothing inside.

All three of the Initial D sets are available for purchase on the Cada website. Use my coupon code ITSNOTLEGO to save 5% at checkout.

Initial D AE86 Trueno C55018W

Initial D Fujiwara Tofu Shop Facade C61033W

Initial D Fujiwara Tofu Shop Modular Building C61031W

Well, that's all for now.  Please let me know in the comments what you think of my version of the Lego compatible Fujiwara Tofu shop.  Did I miss anything important that needs to be added or changed?

Thanks for looking!  Bye!

I made a Japanese style modular building from the Not Lego Sembo 601070 Crab Shop

 

Hello brick fans!  I'm here to show you my latest creation and yes, it's another modular building.

This set started life as the Sembo Crab Shop 601070 which were readily available on Aliexpress about three years ago.  The shop is one of four buildings in a series of Japanese themed facades.  The shops are harder to find these days, with only one or two stores on Aliexpress selling them.

This is how the set came originally before my modifications. It was basically a small building facade with a building that was about 8 studs deep with a minor interior setup.

As soon as I saw this set, I had to get it and turn it into a Lego style modular building.  Well, it's been three long years but I've finally achieved my goal.  

First off you will notice that I narrowed the facade of the shop from 20 studs wide to the standard 16 studs wide to make it consistent with all of my other 16 stud wide modular buildings.  The most challenging aspect of this was trimming off the sides of the fabric awning.  To get a nice straight edge, I used a paper cutter.  

There are four tan coloured arms that hold up the awning and they are attached by pre-made holes in the awning.  To make it fit 16 studs wide, I had to reposition the awning arms and then used a hole punch to put new holes to where the arms attached.

The tiled roof overhangs were originally only 2 studs deep on both the first and second floor. I expanded the roof tiles to be six studs deep.

The vertical sign was moved from the right side of the building to the left.

The entrance to the shop was relocated as was some of the signage.

After losing the one red crab that came with the set, I had to buy some replacement crabs and lobsters from Aliexpress.  That resulted in crab shop expanding its offerings to lobsters and fish as well, hence the new improved seafood setup in front of the shop.  

From the side, you can see that the building's proportions, extending all the way back to use up most of the 16x32 baseplate, which was converted to the MILS system.  To construct the shop building walls, I used a hodge-podge of bricks from various not Lego brands.  Definitely no colour consistency here!  

The first floor side wall can be popped off for picture taking, and the second floor can be removed entirely from the first floor.  The roof also comes off.

The rear of the building is rather plain looking, with only a door for deliveries and an empty crate to be returned to the seafood wholesaler.  I decided to make all the second floor windows asymmetrical, just because.

More unmatched brick colours, yuck!  The white patch of bricks is the background for one of the fish tanks inside.  Those black squares are actually dark tinted windows, courtesy of some set from Sluban.  The crab shop can be displayed either as a standalone building or part of a row of Japanese themed shops.

Before we tour the interior, I just want to say, this awesome crab is purely the reason why I was drawn to this set.  It reminds me of the actually crab restaurants that can be found in Osaka, Japan.  I had to extend the vertical sign out further from the building to make it more visible.  All of the Sembo stickers that came the set are bit too oversized for my liking.

Ok, here we are inside the shop, looking out.  As you can see we have the shop owner displaying his fresh seafood to anyone who will notice.  He's one of the original minifigures that came with the set and he even has a crab on the back of his uniform, which I didn't notice until just now, lol.

I built this giant tank of seafood for the storefront.  At the end of the day, you can actually slide the front door closed.  I borrowed that idea from the Cada Coffee shop.

As you come into the store you are greeted by a large fish tank on the wall and more crates of crabs and lobsters.  The main floor of the shop is divided into two areas. The front of the shop is where you can buy seafood to go, but also if you want to dine in, there is a kitchen in the back, where they will prepare the seafood how you like it.

The kitchen is comprised of an oversized sink to rinse off the seafood before cooking, a counter with various ingredients, a four burner stove, some kitchen pots and pans and a couple of steamers.  I managed to squeeze in some extra storage above the counter.

The original Sembo set provided a small second floor but no stairs to access it.  That's been resolved in my modifications.  More room for crates and stuff under the stairs plus access out to the back.

The fabric curtain that hangs in the archway is called a noren and it came with the Sembo set.  I've just moved it inside from its original location.

Coming up the stairs to the second floor, we find the dining room.  There's three tables with an entire seating capacity of ten customers.  

This restaurant has the traditional raised platform where you dine, sitting on the black cushions which are on the floor.

This picture was taken before I decided to add another window into building.  Oh, here's that beer that we ordered, Kanpai!   There were two other minifigures that came with the Sembo set, but I've repurposed them elsewhere, I think.  All of the figures shown here are from my own collection.

Here's the shop pictured with all of my Cada Japanese themed buildings.  Please check out my reviews for those if you haven't already.

Well, that concludes our tour of the modified Sembo Crab Shop.  If you want to buy the original Sembo crab shop, you can find it on Aliexpress by clicking the picture below or searching for the term Japanese Streetview.  Thanks for looking and see you in my next post! Bye!

Modifications to my Cada C66010 Japanese Tea Shop Building Set (not Lego MOC)

Hey brick fans!  Here's a bonus post about my latest updates to the Cada C66010 Japanese Tea Shop.  You won't see this anywhere else on the web, so you are in for a treat!

In my previous review post of the Cada Japanese Tea Shop, I lamented that the set was not designed on a full baseplate. It's 16 studs wide but not the full 32 studs deep.  In the above picture you can see the original base plate configuration.  In order to fit in with rest of my not Lego city, I decided to make some improvements.

I found that with just a bit of effort, I could incorporate the existing structure onto a standard base plate and make it a MILS system to boot.

And while we're at it, let's make the tea shop a true Lego compatible modular building, so that the second floor can be easily removed from the first floor.

Here's a unique view of the tea shop's first floor interior.  You'll notice that I've removed the LED light string from the inside.  I have a goal of adding Briksmax style lighting in the future.

For both 1st and 2nd floors, I added some studded tiles to allow minifigures to be placed inside.

I didn't have to alter the structure of the second floor at all.

With the second floor removed, the first floor can be seen more clearly.  The sliding back wall still gets held in place.

Functionally nothing has been impacted by modularising the tea shop.  Here's the back wall in the open position.

And here is the back wall in the closed position.  With the expanded baseplate there's room out back to place more stuff.  Here I've just parked a bicycle next to the plants.

Here's the side view.  Oops, I forget to reattach the power line!

I might remove the legs from the A/C unit because they look like they are just hanging there.  Oh and I removed the vending machine because I felt that it detracted from the look of the building.  Why would you need a bottled or canned drink when you can have fresh brewed tea instead?

And while we're at it, why not stick that old sakura tree onto a MILS base plate as well.

Here's my other Cada shop modification posts:

Cada Japanese Steamed Bun Shop C66006 mods

Cada Japanese Summer Breeze Coffee Shop C66007 Mods

And here are my reviews of the original sets, designed by exesandbox:

Cada C66006 Japanese Steamed Bun Shop Set Review

Cada C66007 Japanese Summer Breeze Coffee Shop set review

Cada C66010 Japanese Tea Shop Set Review

Want this set?  Get it from Afobrick.com, and don't forget to get an extra 5% off using code itsnotlego.