Hospitality Design - December 2011 - 59

places: japan

perspectives
By Alia Akkam

go east
After the most powerful earthquake and tsunami to have hit Japan in March left the country reeling from widespread destruction, with fears of a nuclear meltdown and a spiking yen to boot, tourism naturally began to slide. According to ﬁgures supplied by the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of visitors to the island nation in September 2011 decreased by nearly 25 percent, from 717,756 a year prior to 539,000. To ensure tourists it’s safe to make their way back to the country, JNTO has done everything from enlisting celebrities like Lady Gaga and posting low-level radiation ﬁgures (surprisingly better than New York and Hong Kong’s) on its website, to wooing travelers over the next year with 10,000 free ﬂights in exchange for online coverage. But the most conﬁdent expression of the Japanese economy making strides may just be the arrival of a slew of new hotels in 2012. Last fall, the St. Regis Osaka, designed by famed Japanese architect ﬁrm Nikken Sekkei and GA Design in London, opened in the city’s business district offering sumptuous guestrooms with gingko and cherry blossom motif Kawashima silk headboards and Japanesestyle bathtubs. Now, Simon Turner, president, global development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, observes that growth possibilities in Japan will likely be driven by conversions. “We have had inquiries from three or four Japanese groups recently who have said, ‘We think in order to compete it would make sense for us to talk to you about converting our hotels to your brand,’” Turner shares. “It’s just a matter of working through getting our brand standards incorporated into these hotels.” In Tokyo, it is a renovation that has the city abuzz. The historic Tokyo Station Hotel, set on the third ﬂoor of the circa-1914 Gothic building designed by Tatsuno Kingo, will re-open in October after a painstaking restoration. London-based Richmond International worked on the concept for the new design, which will include domed ceilings, contemporary English décor, and Imperial Palace views. As Japan explores new avenues for tourism, Okinawa, the prefecture of a few dozen small islands, ﬁnds itself in the spotlight. The former site of a bloody World War II battle and known for its U.S. military presence, it has held little tourism appeal to Americans. But with its subtropical climate and stunning ocean views, Okinawa has long been a vacation haunt of the Japanese. It is soon poised to attract vast international markets when the Kise Bettei Hotel and Spa morphs into Okinawa’s ﬁrst internationally branded property, a Ritz-Carlton in April. Situated on the grounds of the Kise Country Club, its 97 guestrooms, renovated by ILYA Corporation headquartered in Tokyo, will overlook the 18-hole golf course and of course, the water. Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts is next to take the luxury leap in Okinawa with a property scheduled to open as early as 2014. Okinawa’s remote location may also prove a boon to anxiety-ridden travelers. As Rie Azuma of Azuma Architect & Associates, overseeing the design of Hoshinoya Okinawa, slated for completion in the summer, notes, “The Taketomi Island where we’re now creating Hoshinoya is way too far from the Japanese mainland; it’s far south, right next to Taiwan. It wasn’t necessary to worry about the inﬂuence of the disaster since we’ve already been working on the project, so no change or retrogression for us, fortunately.” The impact can barely be felt on this village-like property dotted with white coral sand paths and featuring 48 single-level wood villas topped with red tile roofs, private gardens, and an oval-shaped swimming pool symbolizing the importance of Okinawa’s traditional life-sustaining wells. In Kyoto, a sense of whimsy attempts to rekindle positive energy as well. Japanese construction behemoth Takenaka Corporation was tasked with the design of Royal Park Hotels’ newest property, THE Kyoto, part of the THE Series. A former movie theater, the recently opened hotel in the cultural center of the city connects Kyoto’s past and present by blending the comfort of machiya, iconic Kyoto townhouses, with luxury and modern artworks and furniture amid a subtle color palette punctuated by pops of color. Much like the building’s cinematic past, chief interior designer Ryou Kuroyanagi explains that one of the design themes of THE Kyoto is integrating “scenes of wonderful life” and “hidden stories” into the hotel. The interior elements amuse, says Kuroyanagi, “because Kyoto has a culture of entertaining guests heartily. Many art and design materials suggest, ‘Please enjoy your staying time.’” A photograph on display in the hotel’s bar, for instance, depicts a man who appears to be tripping while running through a green ﬁeld. “The president of the hotel said, ‘He is just like the Japanese situation now,’’’ Kuroyanagi recounts, “and we hung it on the wall in the hope that Japan revives again.”

Clockwise from top left: The St. Regis Osaka; red punctuates a neutral color palette at the Royal Park’s new THE Kyoto; the historic Tokyo Station Hotel reopens in 2012; and the lobby of the St. Regis Osaka.

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December 2011

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - December 2011