Welcoming the West
Japan’s Grand Resort Hotels Andrea P. Leers
Contents
1 2 3 4 5
Foreword Foundations Palatial Forerunners Elite Retreats Popular Resorts In Retrospect
7 10 36 56 108 133
Acknowledgments Map Notes Selected Bibliography Image Credits About the Author
137 138 140 141 143 144
6
Foreword
This is a book fueled by curiosity. In 1982 I spent
inspection, I saw that the traditional temple-style
built between the 1880s and 1930s, in places of great
a year in Japan as a National Endowment for the
entry was marked with a signboard with the words
natural beauty throughout Japan.
Arts/US Japan Friendship Commission Design
FUJI VIEW HOTEL hand-carved in sprightly tall
Arts Fellow. My expressed mission was to study the
Art Deco lettering. The interior was a revelation.
The hotels examined in this book demonstrate
introduction of Western homebuilding (balloon
Four giant polished tree trunks, still containing some
experimentation in a variety of ways. The earliest
frame or 2x4 construction) in post-war Japan and
branches, framed the two-story main lobby. Woven
Victorian guest cottages at the Nikko Kanaya Hotel
how it hybridized with the traditional post and beam
wood and bamboo covered every surface. Mounted
and Fujiya Hotel, created in the late 1800s, are frank
construction of the country. In the end, I traveled
game bird trophies, paper lanterns, and oversized
imitations of Western models, built by Japanese
throughout Japan not only looking at housing but
wood framed armchairs completed the décor. Part
carpenters with local construction techniques and
immersing myself in historic and contemporary
Adirondacks lodge, part Japanese farmhouse, it was
details. They exemplify what is usually termed
design of all kinds: architecture, gardens, and cities.
an entirely original invention. I learned that the
the pseudo-Western style (giyofu). The first fully
hotel was built in the 1930s to welcome international
realized hotel, the Nara Hotel, designed in 1909
Taeko Matsuda, founder of one of Japan’s largest
visitors who came to climb Mt. Fuji. Its hunting lodge
by the extraordinarily gifted and versatile Kingo
homebuilding companies and my host and advisor
atmosphere lent an exotic and adventuresome air to
Tatsuno, is a more confident invention. A true
at this time, initiated one of my discoveries. One
the establishment. I was curious to know whether
hybrid, it evokes aristocratic Japanese palaces while
weekend she proposed a visit to a site she thought might
this was a singular creation or one of a group of
incorporating grand Western spaces and luxurious
interest me near the popular vacation spot of Lake
similar structures, and whether they were all East-
imported materials. Built in the 1930s, the exuberant
Kawaguchi: the Fuji View Hotel. As we approached
West hybrids like the Fuji View. I suspected that they
and glamorous Fujiya, Nikko Kanaya, and Fuji
the hotel, I wondered why she thought the hotel might
were the result of the restless experimentation Japan
View hotels freely blend Japanese and Western
be of significance. Its stucco exterior, with arched porte-
experienced as it rapidly evolved into a modern and
elements in a Picturesque Style. They are con-
cochère and two pagoda-like towers, was a conventional
Westernized society. That curiosity led me to discover
servative in comparison to contemporary advocates
mix of Japanese and Western motifs. Upon closer
the phenomenon of Japan’s Grand Resort Hotels,
of international modernism such as the Japanese
7
10
Foundations
First Contacts The story of Japan’s grand resort hotels is the story of the first exuberant contact between a broad spectrum of Western travelers and their Japanese hosts. The tale begins not with the American Occupation, as many Westerners believe, but much earlier with the arrival in 1853 of Admiral Perry of the United States. Perry’s mission was the forcible “opening” of the island nation to active trade with the West after two centuries of self-imposed isolation. 1.1 Dinner with foreigners, London Times, 1871 11
An Evolving Architecture for Japan’s Grand Resort Hotels Once the Japanese began to understand the requirements of the Western hotel, they were anxious to apply that knowledge. However, since the hotel, in the Western sense, did not exist as a building type in Japan, its form had to be invented. Like other Western building types that had no precedent—government headquarters, banks, museums, department stores—the hotel developed gradually through a series of experiments with Western architecture. The first period of experiment, exemplified by the foreign settlement construction of the 1850s to early 1870s, resulted in a pseudo-Western style.11 Houses, offices, and even mills and barns contained many apparently Western features, such as glass windows with shutters, hinged doors, porches, towers, and an overall high proportion of wall to window. Built by Japanese construction crews supervised 1.8 Second Mitsui Bank, Tokyo, 1874 1.9 Tsukiji Hotel, Tokyo, 1878 20
by foreigners, they were in fact traditional timberframed structures clothed in a sufficient number of Western symbolic elements to identify them as Western-style buildings (fig. 1.8). The Tsukiji Hotel, completed in 1868 in Tokyo’s foreign settlement, was the first government-supported guest house (fig. 1.9). The long, two-story wood-framed structure had a hipped roof covered in Japanese tiles (kawara), prominent porches, vertical windows, a tower, and a wall treatment borrowed from Japanese storehouses of tile and heavy mortar joints (dozotsukuri). The result managed to suggest both an English cottage and factory-worker housing. The structure was destroyed by fire shortly after its completion. The second phase of experimentation involved mastery of true Western-style building. Led by the English architect Josiah Conder, who arrived in 1877 and stayed to found and build Japan’s first school of architecture, Japan began constructing its new institutions in brick and stone in English and European academic revival styles. The new 1.10 Rokumeikan, Josiah Conder, 1883
21
1.19 Nara Hotel, 1909
30
1.20 Nikko Kanaya Hotel, 1935
31
2.9 Nara Hotel, entry axis, exterior
48
2.10 Nara Hotel, entry axis, interior porte-cochère
2.11 Nara Hotel, main lobby
49
2.16 Nara Hotel, transom detail
54
2.17 Nara Hotel, transom detail
2.18 Nara Hotel, guest room
55
double-hung windows, there is less emphasis on
is conveyed by the lofty ceilings, massive furniture,
verticality. The generous expanse of wall between
private bath, and central heating (fig. 3.13).
windows and wood trim creates a more comfortable balance and stability. Despite the explicit Japanese
The Kanaya was used for recreation by American
symbols, Western influences may be seen in the
forces during the Occupation. The main building
overall composition of the facades. The front,
and annex are in good condition today and have
garden-side, and rear facades are each composed
been only moderately altered over recent years.
in a loose symmetry. At the front, the paired iri-
The Samurai House still stands and may be visited
moya roofs and karahafu porch reinforce the center
as an historic landmark. The Nikko Kanaya Hotel
of the wall as a whole, despite local asymmetries
remains a favorite stopping place for visitors to the
of window placement and shifts in the wall plane.
now easily accessible Nikko.
The garden side is expressed as two flanking towers surrounding a regular, three-bay center section (figs. 3.10–3.12). Inside the guest rooms, traditional craft coexists with Western conveniences. Sliding glass windows are covered with shoji screens. Ceilings are decorated with woven wood and bamboo (ajiro) used in folk houses and tearooms; wall surfaces have wood trim suggesting posts and beams between panels of plaster. At the same time a sense of Western luxury 3.10 Nikko Kanaya Hotel, garden side 66
67
3.15 Fujiya Hotel, tombo for foreigners 72
He continued: It was a long semi-Japanese structure with glassed-in verandahs both in the “nikai” [second floor] and the lower floor, with wings extending at either end and also with glass verandahs. When these were lit up at night with the lamps running the whole length of the building, the first glimpse of the hotel after emerging from the dense corridors of foliage that enclosed the path, was very striking.17 Mary Crawford Fraser recalled: The Fujiya Hotel is almost entirely arranged for Europeans.… I and Mrs. N__ had some pretty rooms 3.16 Fujiya Hotel, sketch by M.C. Bernard, 1800s
on the second floor, with wide views of the valley and not too great a distance of shiny corridor to be pattered over in slippers before we got to the baths; for the baths are Miyanoshita’s reason for existing, and are so delightfully pleasant that it seems a pity ever to come out of the warm reviving water.… At Miyanoshita the woods, of which they are built give out in the warm
73
3.28 Fujiya Hotel, dining room interior 86
3.29 Fujiya Hotel, dining room detail
3.30 Fujiya Hotel, dining room detail
87
recent advances in earthquake-resistant construction. The basement and first floors were concrete, and upper floors were traditional wood construction. Large pivot windows were imported from Germany and accounted for one half the construction cost. Ingenious window-screening “baskets” were devised to accommodate the pivot windows. The Fuji View, in the Japanese Picturesque style, is fundamentally Western in its axial planning and grand spatial quality, and Japanese in its exterior forms, use of materials, and detailing. When presented with the opportunity to create a completely new structure Yamaguchi confidently chose the Western “butterfly” plan for the hotel (fig. 3.41). The center section of the “butterfly” is three bays wide; the two side bays are divided equally into one front and one rear bay. The center bay is divided in thirds—a front zone at the entry doors, the middle open well marked by the four giant pines, and a rear zone leading to a rear verandah. The center section leads to four nearly equal wings containing grand public rooms for promenade and 3.39 Glacier National Park Lodge 3.40 Fuji View Hotel, lobby 94
95
3.55 Fuji View Hotel, Western-style bedroom
106
3.56 Fuji View Hotel, Japanese-style banquet room 107
4.3 Biwako Hotel, ground floor plan with porte-cochère entries at bottom and left 112
4.4 Biwako Hotel, 2nd floor plan with roof terrace for viewing fireworks at top 113
4.10 Biwako Hotel, wall framing and bracket sets reinterpreted in concrete 118
4.11 Biwako Hotel, Lake Biwa as seen from viewing terrace 119
The hotel has two major roofs of the iri-moya
The
type clad in copper: one over the main pavilion
Western planning and simple, planar concrete
surmounted by a lookout tower, and the other over
construction with effective Japanese symbols. The
the guest wing. Chidorihafu gables mark the center
proportion of roof to wall in the guest wing
of the main pavilion and the end of the guest wing
approaches a comfortable traditional balance and
(fig. 4.18). A small karahafu at the fourth level adds
is skillfully integrated with the four-story castle
a picturesque off-center touch. Hane-koran shrine
pavilion. The result is a happy and graceful
railings and hisashi divide the third and fourth-
marriage of two cultures (figs. 4.23, 4.24).
Gamagori
Hotel
successfully
combines
floor walls. The porte-cochère has a slightly concave gable, signifying dignity, rather than the flamboyant
The Biwako and Gamagori represent some of the
karahafu signifying opulence. Supporting columns are
best efforts of local governments to make the most
clusters of square, unadorned, reinforced concrete.
of their natural attractions. They were popular
Handsome carving in the gable end enhances an
and romantic, easily accessible, and luxurious
otherwise modest entry (fig. 4.19).
when they were built. They represent the common consensus about what constituted a Japanese grand
On the interior, Western modernism prevails over symbolic Japanese influences. From magazine photos at its opening, one detects an art Deco spirit in the wall coverings, wall sconces, and streamlined overstuffed furniture. In the dining room, a modern beamed ceiling supported by Japanese bracketing replaces the familiar coffered wood ceiling (figs. 4.20–4.22).
124
resort hotel. 4.15 Gamagori Hotel, ground floor plan, lower lever entry with lobby, main lounge, and small banquet room
4.16 Gamagori Hotel, second floor plan with lounges surrounding lobby below, main dining room, and guest rooms
125
4.23 Gamagori Hotel, as seen from Takeshima as a castle on a hill 130
4.24 Gamagori Hotel, view from second floor terrace overlooking Takeshima 131
Hotel Information
1 Nara Hotel
2 Biwako Hotel (now Biwako Otsukan)
1096 Takabatake
5–35 Yanagasaki
Nara, Nara 630–8301
Otsu, Shiga 520–0022
Tel: 0742–26–3300
Tel: 0775–11–4187
narahotel.co.jp/eng/
biwako–otsukan.jp/pdf/english.pdf
Reservations Manger: Mr. Makoto Yoshida
3 Gamagori Classic Hotel 15–1 Takeshima
511 Katsuyama, Fujikawaguchiko,
Gamagori, Aichi 443–0031
Minamitsuru, Yamanashi 401–0310
Tel: 0533–68–1111
Tel: 0555–83–2211
gamagorich.com/kts_en/gch/top.html
fujiview.jp/en/
General Manger: Mr. Takaya Yasukawa
General Manager: Mr. Katsunori Katsumata
5 Fujiya Hotel
138
4 Fuji View Hotel
6 Nikko Kanaya Hotel
359 Miyanoshita, Hakone,
1300 Kamihatsuishi
Ashigarashimo, Kanagawa 250–0404
Nikko, Tochigi 321–1401
Tel: 0460–82–2211
Tel: 0742–26–3300
fujiyahotel.jp/en
kanayahotel.co.jp/eng/
General Manager: Mr. Takashi Matsudaira
Assistant Manger: Mr. Nobuhiko Suzuki
6
4 5 2 3 1
Map of Japan, J.H. Colton Company, 1855
139