Ricoh has announced a brand new GR Space as a communication space and a hub for direct customer contact.
The first of its kind to open in Ricoh's homeland of Japan, the space will be located in Harajuku, Tokyo, scheduled to open its doors on Sunday, August 11, 2024.
The space will serve multiple functions, including acting as a store to showcase the latest and greatest Ricoh cameras – a brand which makes an appearance in our best compact cameras guide. The store will also, of course, offer hands-on with the camera behind the name of the space, the Ricoh GR range.
The most recent GR offerings include the Ricoh GR III, Ricoh GR IIIx, Ricoh GR III HDF, and Ricoh GR IIIx HDF, and have cultivated a community of users passionate about photography.
In addition to being a retail space where you can test out the latest equipment, it will also be a creative space to further harness the community spirit.
Ricoh states, "It will be a space that incorporates the concept and world view of the Ricoh GR series, and we hope that customers and staff will connect with each other to experience the fun of looking at and taking photos, and that it will become a base that expands the possibilities of photography."
The space sounds like a photographer's dream, with a book cafe space where you can relax and look at various photo books with coffee – my idea of heaven and a fantastic way to gain inspiration.
The photobooks featured in the cafe are both domestic to Japan and foreign, chosen by specialty bookstore "Book Obscura" (Kichijoji, Tokyo).
Furthermore, the building also includes a gallery space for displaying photographic works, and various special exhibitions will be held. To mark the opening, a special photography exhibition by Daido Moriyama will be held from August 11 to October 21, 2024.
You may also be interested in our guides to the best compact cameras, the best camera for street photography, and the best coffee table books.