Tōji-ya is a small London house for Japan's bathing culture: bath minerals and herbal soaks, cooling baths for summer, incense, towels and evening tea, all sourced from makers in Japan. We open in 2027.
The name comes from tōji (湯治), the old Japanese practice of going to the hot springs to recover. Tōji-ya is a house of tōji.
Dan Anton
In 2016 I started Lahpet, a Burmese restaurant, as a stall at Maltby Street Market in Bermondsey. It grew into three London restaurants. When we started, hardly anyone in Britain had eaten Burmese food, so the job was teaching people to want something they'd never heard of, without watering it down. That's the job here too.
After a decade of never switching off, I stepped back from running Lahpet day to day in 2025. Baths were a big part of learning to rest again. My first Japanese one, in the mountains above Takayama in 2023, showed me how much better a bath can be, and how much better the things we put in it can be.
I also advise restaurants and operators through Ground Up Projects, and write about the trade.
Kathrin Anton
Kathrin is an art director and photographer, working in beauty and product as Kathrin Werner Photography. She studied biochemistry before she picked up a camera, and she shoots Tōji-ya's photography.
How we choose
- Japan only. We source from Japanese makers, one at a time, and we take their products as Japan makes them
- Honest about the water. Every soak tells you whether it's drawn from a spring or made in the character of one
- No health claims. These are baths, not treatments. We'll tell you what's in them and how Japan uses them
This winter we're in Japan meeting the makers, and writing about it in the journal. If you make something we should know about, or you'd like to talk, write to hello@tojiya.co.uk.
Dan & Kathrin