ONBA Flag
In Ogijima (Part I) I wrote a bit about ONBA CAFE but I didn’t really cover it extensively. I touched the surface on my own experience there and gave just a taste into what was happening. ONBA CAFE is a really nice cafe that is connected with the ONBA FACTORY. It is not difficult to find as there are flags at the shop to help you find it within the maze of small alleys and streets at the main village. As long as you are on the correct street, or wandering the central area, you will find it easily enough. The main thing to understand about ONBA is that they are very friendly and very inviting. They have a couple buildings and a simple menu of drinks but the main attraction has to be the atmosphere of the staff. I was pleasantly surprised by their courtesy and friendliness, which may have been partly due to the boredom of living on an island that doesn’t have too much to do and with only a few customers that day, but I would imagine that they are generally friendlier than other places I have been to.
Note: ONBA itself is translated into “pushcart” from Japanese. For this article, I am referring to the shop as a whole as ONBA for simplicity.
ONBA FACTORY
As you enter the courtyard of ONBA, you are struck by how rustic things feel. To the right is a large shed where the ONBA maker makes the ONBA for the entire island. There are a few other things inside the shed and I’m not sure how often they create the carts but it was a very simple setup. I can’t really describe anymore of it as there really wasn’t anything else to really say. The shed is nothing more than a shed with a few tools and that’s really it. There is a lot of space so that whoever is making the ONBA can work under cover from the rain or they can go into the main courtyard and enjoy the beautiful weather if it is nice and sunny. The courtyard is nothing too special as it looked a little unkempt. While it looked unkempt, it was very characteristic of the island and ONBA. I loved how everything was artistic, like the ONBA logo worked into the rocks in the walkway, and the blades of grass trying to grow nicely, but failing to grow everywhere due to everyone walking through the courtyard. If the landscaping was perfect, I doubt I would have liked it as much as the atmosphere would have been too perfect. I think it is necessary to keep that rustic feel in order to blend in with the rest of the island and the rest of the people. Perfection does not equal beauty.
ONBA FACTORY Courtyard
ONBA CAFE (Open Area)
The cafe itself was pretty small. There are a few stools and a counter overlooking the port so you can enjoy the different Meon ships coming in and out of the port. There is also the main interior with a few tables inside and one just outside, but under the cover of the roof. It was a great area to just relax and enjoy a cup of tea. Everything was very well cared for. Nothing seemed dirty or out of place. Some of the more interesting ONBA were inside the cafe and there was a great map on the large centre table. There are still nice views at one table and even binoculars to enjoy the view. There is even a small opean area for children to play with the artistic ONBA. One of the ONBA was designed like a chain and as you pushed it, it would undulate up and down like a caterpillar. It was cute to see some young kids pushing it around and having a lot of fun. I wish I was a kid so I wouldn’t feel embarrassed to play around with it myself. In the open area, there are also a lot of information boards with sketches and photos. Each of the information boards had information on each of the ONBA that were designed for the community and why they designed it that way. It was interesting to see all of them. There is also the main foyer, or shopping area, where you can get all of the items that OBNA sells, as well as ordering drinks. The items were all pretty small and ranged from simple book covers to the typical cell phone straps. While most of the items were really nice, and I wouldn’t mind them, I just couldn’t justify buying them as they would just collect dust in my place as I would never use it and I wouldn’t appreciate it as much as I should. One thing I did want was the hedgehog like brushes. They took cleaning brushes and turned them into a hedgehog like item. It was really cute but I wouldn’t want to use it for cleaning and I wouldn’t be able to keep it for a long time either. I’m sad I couldn’t get more but I don’t regret not purchasing more.
Note: I have been told, and it has been clarified, that ONBA CAFÉ and ONBA FACTORY are indeed one in the same, unlike Il Vento and Tobias Rehberger’s art on Teshima Island. I still feel that the café area can be defined as the café and the factory can be defined by the shed, although they are one in the same. The café is also less of a café and more of a welcoming place on the island.
View from ONBA CAFE
ONBA CAFE Food & Drink
The food and drink are very limited but it is enough to suit the island. Most of the items were traditional coffees and teas. I wouldn’t expect the best drinks in the world but they did have enough quality to ensure that I will be back again if I visit Ogijima again in the future. I never had the coffee but I did have a beer along with some mixed nuts. It was a simple drink but something I shouldn’t have had, but really wanted. I was already a bit dehydrated from walking around all morning but I wanted a beer to enjoy the beautiful setting. In hindsight, perhaps I should have ordered 2 so I could really enjoy the place but I’m not a big fan of Asahi Super Dry. I didn’t have their signature item either but it was still a great place to enjoy a light drink and snack. My only wish is that they had more snacks. I would be very happy to help them out and buy a lot of their snacks at that time but since they didn’t have any, I never bothered to. A couple muffins or something would have been great and I know they can do it. They were really kind and I’m sure they have the time, although money is something that may prevent them from doing more. When I went it ONBA appeared to be a mother and daughter team, although I’m not sure if they are actually related. The older woman seemed to be the owner and mainly kept behind the scenes. The younger daughter figure was very bubbly. When I first went there to see the ONBA, she was full of energy and even prompted us to get more interactive with the art. She ended up running around the island in the morning before she had to return to start her shift. When we returned, she still remembered us and struck up a short conversation with us. It was fun and the people really made the place shine. I’m sure that the mother figure was probably just shy but the daughter figure definitely helped make me want to return with a nice bright smile and friendly disposition that made it hard to leave.
Note: Dave @ Ogijima did clarify that the younger girl is not related to the older woman. She is a volunteer and I wonder how long she will be on Ogijima this year. There is a lot of great information about the Oshima’s who run ONBA and the girl below in the comments section.
Cool onba at ONBA CAFE
A trip to Ogijima, especially for a first timer, can’t be done without a visit to ONBA. I highly recommend it and hope you can make the trek up the hill and make the time to enjoy a drink or two. Time passes quickly as you feel at home and just want to enjoy the weather. I don’t know if I’d enjoy it as much if it was raining but I would definitely spend some time there to just enjoy it. There are other cafes up on Ogijima but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to try them. Perhaps in the future when I return I’ll be able to check them out in more detail, but I think I’ll have to spend an entire day there. Maybe a night at the Sakura Ryokan is in order, but not sure if my friend would be up for it as he has an aversion to all things from the sea.
UPDATE (May 17, 2013): David from Ogijima.com has a great reply in the comments section. This post has been updated to reflect the new information and corrections he has made. Please read his great comment below for more information about this great place!
ONBA CAFE is part of a series of posts on the Setouchi Triennale, and half of a two part series on Ogijima. Follow the links below to read more about the different aspects of the Setouchi Triennale.
- Dru’s Great Setouchi Triennale 2013 Misadventure
- Shamijima
- EAT&ART TARO on Shamijima
- Inujima
- Food of Inujima
- Teshima – Kou and Ieura
- Teshima – Karato
- Eating on Teshima
- Uno
- Ogijima (Part I)
- Ogijima (Part II)
- Megijima
- Naoshima (Benesse Art Site)
- Naoshima (Honmura & Miyanoura)
- Naoshima (Transportation)
- Takamatsu Revisited
- Takamatsu (Setouchi Triennale Edition)
- Ferries in the Setouchi Triennale
Information
- ONBA FACTORY (Official Blog – Japanese)
- Ogijima.com Information
- About the Onba
- ONBA FACTORY (2010)
- “Works ONBA”
- “My ONBA”
- ONBA FACTORY (2012)
Nice post Dru,
However, if you don’t mind let me help you correct some factual mistakes and explain a bit more about the place.
First of all ONBA is not the name of the place, but the name of the carts.
The “real” name of the place is Onba Factory, and the café is not a real café in the sense that it’s not really a business, more a place to welcome people.
The genesis of Onba Factory dates from 2009 as the project was started for the first Setouchi Triennale.
Allow me to shamelessly plug in a few links from my site here.
-About Onbas: http://ogijima.com/onba/
-About Onba Factory: http://ogijima.com/onba-factory/
and the onbas they made for the Setouchi Triennale 2010:
-The “works onba” which are works of art and are more fancy than practical (most if not all of them are available for viewing in Onba Factory): http://ogijima.com/onba-factory-works-onba/
-The “My Onba” that are the Onba belonging to Ogijima’s residents and that were redesigned by the Onba Factory people as part of the Triennale 2010 (well, during the whole year 2010 and even 2011 really): http://ogijima.com/onba-factory-my-onba/
-A more recent post about Onba Factory with mostly quotes from the Onba Factory Book and pictures: http://ogijima.com/onba-factory-may-2012/
I hope they help you get a better idea of the whole thing.
On side notes: the place is managed by the Oshimas. They’re not permanent residents of Ogijima (although they’re kinda becoming more and more, Ms. Oshima recently quit her job to be able to spend more time on Ogijima), but in the past four years they’ve done more than anyone else for the island (they pretty much single handedly turned Ogijima from a sleepy place where nothing happens and where there’s nothing to do into what it is today – with help from the Triennale of course).
Mr. Oshima is an artist. While he’s not exactly famous outside of Ogijima, he’s done more things that you’d think in Takamatsu and around (if you’ve seen the cute stone Oni statues on Megijima or at Takamatsu Station, they’re his – on Megijima, I mean the cute milestones, not the super tacky ones at the cave). He’s also an art professor in one of the colleges in Takamatsu.
The younger woman is not related to them. As I mentioned in your previous post, she’s a Koebi-tai volunteer http://www.koebi.jp/english/ and also one of Mr. Oshima’s student if I’m correct. As opposed to the other Koebi-tai people who go back home every night, she stayed on Ogijima for the entire duration of the Spring session to help around here and there (she also worked on Water Mirror and OGI Project).
The Onba Factory itself (the workshop if you want) is pretty quiet right now, because the Onba Factory project is a bit dormant at the moment. The reason…
Well, first the Onba Factory team was a team only during the Triennale 2010. After that, it was only Mr. Oshima alone. And for the past few months, while he still fixes Ogijima’s residents “my onbas” when needed, he’s been the head of the Team OGI and was extremely busy with that.
I’ve met with him only once since the Spring session was over, but he was being extremely busy with his stepdaughter’s wedding, so we didn’t really talk about anything, but I hope to see him soon (next month?). I assume that for the rest of the year, he will continue the Team OGI project at a slower pace and probably create a few more new Onbas.
Finally the “hedgehog brushes” are not really brushes, but cute miniature onbas looking like hedgehogs and made from brushes (and I own the second ever made, it was my birthday present last year 😉 ). Last year he told me that he was planning on creating a bunch of different little onbas like these (so that people can have their own onba even if they don’t live on Ogijima and even if they live in small apartments), but I assume that this has been postponed because the Team OGI project was launched.
OK, sorry for such a long comment, I hope it was informative. 🙂
Yay, as Ru would say, long post! Don’t be sorry, although I’ll try to keep my side organized too. 🙂
I actually did know that Onba are the push carts. From what I understand, it is some sort of unique way to read it. Some of my own Japanese students were confused when I said it and took a while to think about it.
I will have to do more research into it on your blog. Thanks for the links. I’ll get to them in a few days, provided I don’t forget. I can’t wait to read more.
I thought that Onba Factory/Cafe were one in the same, but had no information to back it up. The factory is for production and maintenance and the cafe was a cafe. Guess I was wrong on the cafe side. Just didn’t know what they made of the two names till now.
If I had a good photo of the “hedgehog brushes”, I might have remembered they were mini onba! I can’t believe I forgot. 🙁 I hope he can create a lot of them in the future. Maybe one that I can’t live without. The hedgehog would make a great gift for a friend back home, but I can’t buy it and keep it that long.
The Oshimas sound like a great couple. Ms. Oshima was really shy when I was taking a picture and ran away. 🙁 I think I saw Mr. Oshima too, but not too sure. The girl, I knew you said it but I didn’t have time to update this post before that. I have been meaning to look more into koebitai but had no time with my many projects happening. Maybe when you write more about the summer edition, I’ll get into it a lot more. As I said, she seems very sweet.
It’s cool to learn that Mr. Oshima created the cute oni. I like them, even if the mile markers looked similar. I’m sure they had small differences that I never noticed. I’ll wait till I go up to the cave next time to really take a look.
Boy, I hope I didn’t miss to reply to something. I’ll re-read it again tomorrow or the day after to make sure I didn’t. Thanks again for the great information. I might (nay, will) have to update this post with that new information. 😀
Dru, thanks for the shout out in the blog again and you’re very welcome.
Concerning the Onba Factory/Café thing. Onba Factory is/was the name of many things. Let’s say it’s the name of the whole project that started in 2009 and hopefully won’t end.
Onba Factory is the place, but also the Onbas themselves as well as the people (formerly the team of 5 artists and craftsmen who worked on it in 2009-2011, nowadays mostly Mr. and Ms. Oshima). So it’s really a concept more than anything.
Today when people talk about it on Ogijima, they mostly mean the place.
Then, the Onba Factory as a place is divided in two (three?) parts: the workshops, where the actual work is done and that is not exactly open to the public and the café, which is the place designed for visitors to rest/have a good time/etc (the third part being the courtyard in between).
I’m surprised that you say that Ms Oshima is shy. Well, maybe she is, but she never was with me, even when I didn’t know her that well. But it’s true that she’s less social than her husband.
The cute mile marker Oni on Megijima are all different from each other. One day, I should take a picture of all of them, but as I rarely go to Megijima, don’t hold your breath.
I guess I should’ve shared my photos from Ogijima and the Setouchi Art Festival
Here is the Hedgehog Onba Cart
So you had the photo! Thanks for taking it.
Yes, yay, nice post, followed by a long comment followed by another long comment followed by The Cutest Hedgehog Ever. 🙂
I want a real onba for my books* and a miniature onba for my desk. (It would look great next to my little porcelain zebra from Africa.)
* Can you imagine how totally nuts I could go in Jinbocho if I had an onba with me?!
I think you need a dump truck for Jinbocho. 😛
Yes, an onba for everything is necessary. I wish I had one, but really no need for it here. It would go unused. Well, maybe a nice onba for Sox. 😀
A dump truck?! 😀 Dru, you know your partner in crime too well!
but will Sox sit still in it? 😉
He will get in, but whether he’ll sit quietly or not is another question…
Rurousha,
As I told you in my blog, a real Onba is a possibility but an expensive one, however, if you really want a miniature one and don’t plan on going to Ogijima in the near future (which would be a shame), I can help with that if you want. 🙂
My biggest dream is to travel to Japan’s other islands (I’ve only been on Honshu). My biggest frustration is that I haven’t been able to do it yet, because I accumulate my holiday for (expensive) (ouch!) trips to South Africa. I promised myself while my mother is alive, it has to be Africa and not Asia …
If I want? Yes, I want! Wait, let me go visit your blog again. ^^
Well, with all the business we will be doing, you’ll be able to afford both. 😉
The other islands are great though. You should go and visit them.
Dru, these little carts would also be great in the Africa-Asia Business Consortium’s subterranean storeroom where we keep our loot. Easy transport/shelf management. 😀
We need to get a few of them. One in Canadian motif, one SA motif, and a bonus of Malaysian and or French. Heck, why don’t we just get the entire country full of them. 😀
The SA one would exceed the speed limit despite its rickety wheels, and it would probably get arrested for reckless driving, but then it would just bribe its way out of jail. 😀
The SA one would be fine. It is Japanese built after all. We just have to make sure a Japanese person does all the maintenance.
Now that’s the spirit. Hahaha