BlackBook Checking In
BlackBook Checking In Above: BnA_Wall’s Hardcore Game Room by artistic duo Jun Sugiyama and Kenichi Miyazawa; below: a sweeping view from the Maruyo Hotel I n the wake of what can only be described as a disrupted year, any hotel stay is likely to inspire a sense of novelty, but some of Japan’s most forward-thinking hoteliers have taken the opportunity to channel their creativity and imagination into crafting mind-bending destinations that blur the line between the worlds of art and hospitality. These six hostelries spread across the Japanese isles demonstrate the vivacity of the local art scene – each in their own way. Take Maruyo Hotel (maruyohotel.com) in Kuwana, a city some 30 kilometres from Nagoya. Takeshi Sato, the man behind the Miwa pavilion in Paris, has transformed a 70-year-old postwar town house into a unique two-storey lodge with a painstaking renovation process. Embracing the history of the timber merchants who once owned it and its setting by Kiso Three Rivers, the two-bedroom escape boasts an open-air bath, an elegant living space and a dining room with a great vista of the Sumiyoshi shrine and the Ibi River. The interiors are adorned with art pieces and antiques carefully chosen by Nagoya-based gallerist and designer Nao Masaki, which really brings the home from home to life. A literal home from home – that of Dutch sculptor Kees Ouwens in Uwa on the island of Shikoku – opened its door as Atelier O-Huis (o-huis.com) last year. Smitten by the beauty of the local landscape, the artist has treated his former studio like a canvas, creating a harmonious dialogue with its surrounding nature and his stone sculptures. The residence sits on a generous plot of 4,000 square metres, ensuring lots of space to unwind, and the grounds are filled with Ouwens’s personal art collection. Capping this exceptional offering is the on-site personal chef, whose delicacies are served on plates designed by Ouwens himself. If staying in a former atelier offers close proximity to individual masterpieces, Shiroiya Hotel (shiroiya.com), an hourand-half drive northwest of Tokyo in Maebashi, provides a full-on immersion into the creative spirit. After the closure of a 300-year-old ryokan with the same moniker, Sou Fujimoto, one of the foremost Japanese architects, transformed the old inn into a top-to-toe art-filled experience that more resembles an urban museum than a hotel. One wing, the › PHOTOS FROM TOP: HARDCORE GAME ROOM, MAGMA, BNA_WALL, PHOTOGRAPHER TOMOOKI KENGAKU; © DAISUKE SHIMA [ADHOC] 18 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
