We were tasked with interior design work for the recently opened Hotel Okura Okazaki Bettei, where guests can fully admire the Japanese garden of neighboring Okazaki Betsuin temple in Kyoto.

This hotel is filled with a sense of new possibilities for a vibrant future for Kyoto's traditional crafts, and the concept that guided our design work can be expressed as Kyoto Aesthetics for a New Age. As team GO ON, we six inheritors of traditional crafts and arts collaborated on a plan to create a space that will breathe new life into the traditions of Kyoto.

At the hotel entrance, in addition to the welcoming Japanese garden and changing seasonal flowers, guests are greeted by lights decorated with kanaami tsuji, a Kyoto metalworking technique of hand-weaving metal netting. The restaurant's art shelves are screened with woven bamboo partitions from Kohchosai Kosuga to wrap the dining area in the delicate warmth of natural materials. We also helped plan the private dining room in the back; as Kyoto is a city known for its beautiful rooftops, the room is patterned after a traditional yosemune hipped roof, while an Asahiyaki ceramic piece by Hosai Matsubayashi stands in the center as symbol of Kyoto tradition.

The approach to the guest rooms was inspired by the Shugakuin Imperial Villa and is designed to recall bamboo gates, wandering walkways, and mountain villas. The elevator hall walls are lined invitingly with sumushiko bamboo slats from Kohchosai Kosuga to guide guests to their own private spaces, while the entrances to each guest room feature light fixtures designed by tea-canister maker Kaikado, offering hospitality in the spirit of the tea ceremony.

The tokonoma alcove posts in each guest room are made from locally sourced kitayamasugi cedar wood. Headboards feature nishijin-ori fabric by HOSOO evoking the calm surface of water at the lake shore. In the suite rooms, beds are covered by canopies of nishijin-ori, while one corner holds a large decorative tray made by Shuji Nakagawa of Nakagawa Mokkougei, expressing the harmony of the beautiful, powerful tree rings and the verdant nature of the Higashiyama district.

In addition, contributions from Kyoto-based calligrapher Tomoko Kawao and pioneering lacquerware artist Genta Ishizuka add a sense of dynamic energy to spaces.

These elements expand on the inspiration and roots of the hotel's location amidst the Higashiyama culture to fill the Hotel Okura Okazaki Bettei with the energy of natural materials and the simple elegance of Japan's traditional wabi-sabi aesthetic. We would be honored if the hotel succeeded in offering guests an enriching experience of the beauty and tradition of Kyoto during their stay, and so shared a new image of the city with the world.