Hotel Gajoen Tokyo celebrated its 90th anniversary in December last year, and for this year’s hanami season, it has many cherry blossom themed food and events in the works all set to begin in March.
Hotel Gajoen Tokyo is located next to Meguro River, one of Japan’s most famous cherry blossom sites. When the flowers are in bloom, a bunch of flowery themed events are set to take place around the hotel including the restaurant.
Sakura Cake: ¥550 (Before Tax) @ Patisserie Lien 1928 (Running: March 1 – April 30)
We begin with a delightful delectable made with a white chocolate casing and filled with strawberry biscuit, strawberry jam and cherry blossom cream. It’s also laced with a little bit of Japanese sake jelly so when bitten into fills your mouth with a rich marriage of flavours.
Sakura Pancakes: ¥3,000 (Before Tax) @ Cafe＆Bar Yuian (Running: March 18 – April 30)
To bring out the ultimate fluffiness, the pancakes are steamed on a seiro steaming basket before being topped with cherry blossom sweet bean jelly. It is served with salted kōji ice cream. When you open up the basket your nose is hit sumptuously with the fresh smell of butter.
Sakura Afternoon Tea: ¥3,800 (Before Tax) @ KANADE TERRACE (Running: March 18 – April 14)
Indulge in a limited-time afternoon tea set brimming with beautiful cherry blossom inspired goodies.
Sakura Lunch Course: ¥5,000 (Before Tax) @ RISTORANTE “CANOVIANO” (Running: March 18 – April 30)
A springtime lunch course awaits made with lots of vegetables and a sauce that’s simple yet serves to bring out the original flavour of the masu salmon.
Sakura Kaisekizen: ¥3,500 (Before Tax) @ Tofutei (Running: March 18 – Early April)
Enjoy a spring-inspired traditional Japanese kaisekizen―an elaborate dinner assortment―with its delicate flavours and combinations. Have your fill of food with ingredients that beckon springtime including vegetable appetisers, Kyoto-style grilled Japanese Spanish mackerel, and much more.
The hotel is also home to the Hyakudan Staircase, or ‘100 Step Staircase,’ a registered Tangible Cultural Property of Tokyo. From March 28 to April 21 an exhibition of cherry blossom artwork will be on display including kabuki outfits with cherry blossom designs, ceramic art, paper crafts, bead art, patchwork quilts, flower arrangements, kusaki-zome natural dyeing, and more.
Secure a springtime trip in Japan this year at Hotel Gajoen Tokyo with a long line-up of exciting surprises.
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Haru・Sakura, Sayuka at Hyakudan Staircase
Location: Hotel Gajoen Tokyo (1-8-1 Shimomeguro, Meguro Ward, Tokyo)
Hoshinoya Tokyo, a traditional ryokan in Otemachi, has announced the New Year’s Kabuki Plan, a two-day, one-night stay from January 5 until January 7, 2023. During the Edo Period, citizens enjoyed watching Kabuki plays during the New Year’s holidays, often sipping tea at connected teahouses. This event will invite visitors to experience what this was like, complete with traditional food and decorations.Watching Kabuki was a chic way for those in Edo to ring in the new year. Theater teahouses were also a popular gathering place–along with arranging tickets, the teahouses offered plot notes, tea, sweets, boxed lunches, snacks, and other drinks.**Hiroshi Fujita, Yoshihide Tomizawa (2012) / The Updated Kabuki Dictionary, Kashiwa Shobo
Relax Before Enjoying Tea and a Play
Guests are invited to relax in the Ochanoma (Living Room) Lounge, decorated to look like a traditional teahouse with fans, ukiyo-e prints, and formal curtains. Hanabiramochi, or rice cakes with flower petals, will be served with green tea. These rice cakes are said to date back to the New Year’s tradition of eating hard foods like daikon and rice cakes in the hopes of prolonging one’s life. Characterized by its curious burdock root aroma, the cakes are sweetened with white miso bean paste.
Enjoy a Post-Viewing Mont Blanc Shaped like Soba with Sweet Dessert Wine
At theater teahouses in the Edo period, sake, snacks, and desserts were served one after another. During this special event, a menu inspired by this practice and prepared by Hoshinoya Tokyo Executive Chef Noriyuki Hamada will be served! Soba noodles were often served after a play in the past. Inspired by this tradition, Mont Blanc made with chestnut paste and sponge cake will be served up to look like this popular dish. Paired with a dessert wine aged in oak barrels, the sweet will be served in a traditional lacquerware basket. In addition, the dish will be paired with Wasabi Pralines, Shichimi Meringue, and Ginger Pate de Fruits.
Take a Rickshaw to the Kabuki-za Theater
Guests will be taken on an Edo-style tour on their way to the Kabuki-za Theater. Passing through the Nihonbashi area, the first stop will be the Fukutoku Shrine. It’s said that Hidetada Tokugawa paid a visit to and praised the shrine on New Year’s Day in 1614. The next shrine on the docket, Hodo Inari Jinja, was enshrined in Edo Castle during the Edo period to protect the heir to the Tokugawa family. It’s said that the shrine provides blessings for child rearing, matchmaking, and business prosperity. This tour will provide a more elegant way to explore Tokyo as guests enjoy exposition from their chauffeur. To make the rickshaw ride even more enjoyable, guests can rent kimonos for an extra charge.
Would you like to take a step back in time this New Year?
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New Year’s Kabuki Plan
Running: January 5 – January 7, 2023
Capacity: 1 couple per day (1-2 people)
Price: ¥110,000 per person, ¥180,000 for 2 people (Including Tax & Service charge, excluding accommodation charge)
The historic Hotel Gajoen Tokyo, which blends a hotel and a traditional Japanese museum, will offer a tour of the Hyakudan Kaidan (Hundred Stairs) from December 3 until December 25, 2022. This Tangible Cultural Property of Tokyo is an incredible sight, and those with an interest in Showa-era architecture won’t want to miss it.In 1988, part of the old Gajoen structure was torn down to make way for new structures along the Meguro River basin, and the hotel underwent a large-scale renovation over a period of three years. The Hundred Stairs were originally built in 1935 and designated as a Tangible Cultural Property by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 2009.Over the years, the Gajoen has served as a restaurant and gathering place for visitors from both the Showa-era and Heisei-era. Filled with traditional Japanese aesthetics, the location is now filled with art and pieces of cultural significance. A number of special exhibitions are held throughout the year. Why not come enjoy this tour of a piece of Japanese history?
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Winter Tour: Hyakudan Kaidan 2022 ~Architecture, Beauty, and Tales of Tradition~
Running: December 3 – December 25, 2022 Hours: 12:30 – 18:00 (Last entry at 17:30) Venue: Hyakudan Kaidan (Hundred Stairs) Tangible Cultural Property of Tokyo, Hotel Gajoen Tokyo Details: https://www.hotelgajoen-tokyo.com/100event/tour2022
Hotel Gajoen Tokyo Displays India-Ink Painting from the Film ‘Sen wa, Boku o Egaku’
From October 1 until November 27, Hotel Gajoen Tokyo will hold a special event in conjunction with the film Sen wa, Boku o Egaku. Visitors to the hotel’s historic One Hundred Steps Staircase will be surrounded by a world of color and paintings made from India Ink.
Fisherman and Woodcutters Room with Colored Wood Carvings
Grapevine, Hiromasa Togami.
Atelier (Image courtesy of Toho)
The coming-of-age story Sen wa, Boku o Egaku won 3rd place in the 2020 Honya Taisho and the 2019 TBS King’s Brunch Book Grand Prize. The book received rave reviews from booksellers nationwide and has now been adapted into a live-action film by Norihiro Koizumi, best known as the director of the Chihayafuru film adaptation. The film will be released on October 21, 2022. As a tie-up project with the film, the One Hundred Steps Staircase, a Tangible Cultural Property of Tokyo built in 1935, will be the setting for an incredible display of paintings that appear in the film.
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Sen wa, Boku o Egaku at the One Hundred Steps Staircase ~The World of India-Ink Filled with Color~
Running: October 1 – November 27 *Open daily during event period Hours: 11:00-18:00 (Last entry at 17:30) Venue: Hotel Gajoen Tokyo, One Hundred Steps Staircase (Tangible Cultural Property of Tokyo) Tickets/Details: https://www.hotelgajoen-tokyo.com/100event/senwabokuoegaku
Anime ‘The Vampire Dies in No Time’ Inspires Concept Room in Shin-Yokohama
Art subscription service Casie is collaborating with HOTEL SHE, KYOTO! A special art exhibition titled GALLERY HOTEL SHE, will be held from September 17 until October 16, inviting guests to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime experience of staying in a gallery overnight!During the event period, guests of HOTEL SHE, KYOTO will be able to select their favorite piece of artwork from an on-site gallery. The piece will then be hung in their guestroom, and visitors can spend the night appreciating it at their own pace. This is a great way to learn more about art appreciation, and guests can enjoy discussing the art world with their friends and family. “Although we may view art in museums and other venues, it is rare to have the opportunity to select and display a work of art of our own choice,” the project description reads. “Through this unique experience, we aim to provide guests the chance to actively engage with art and inspire them to make art a part of their daily life going forward.”
Hotel Gajoen Tokyo, which blends a hotel and a traditional Japanese museum, is celebrating summer in the spookiest way possible. From July 2 until September 25, guests can enjoy the ‘Wa no Akari x Hyakudan Kaidan 2022 ~Light and Shadow: 100 Stories~’ event, inspired by the tradition of telling ghost stories in summer to send a chill down your spine. Since opening, over 10,000 visitors have come to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event. Each of the seven exhibition areas is connected to the stairway, and each has its own theme pulled from the overarching theme of light and darkness. From Light of Passion to Midnight Light, guests will be surrounded on all sides. As you ascend the stairs, a festive atmosphere transforms into a more frightening one. Although the ghosts are out to play, guests are welcome to enjoy the many art pieces and crafts on display.
Sokyu Room / Lights of Passion
This Kabuki stage is filled with the passion of women who are addicted to love, a common theme in many traditional plays. The eye-catching Japanese umbrellas and lanterns will no doubt leave an impression, and the wistful music is titled Red Thread. The tale depicted here tells the story of a woman who becomes a haunting specter clad in flames of passion, sobbing and laughing in time with the song.
Still Water Room / Inverted Light
The three trees crowned with horse heads were created by the artist Eros Nakazato. Guests will feel as though they’ve been transported to the middle of a meadow as they explore this fantastical room covered in traditional paintings. In the work The Reverse of the Reverse, there are no wild horses on the earth, and those who have been tamed by humans sway in a beautiful and sad way. To make this scarier, the story has been reimagined as guests look through a crystal ball–now, humans are ruled by horses
Starlight Room / Midnight Light
Passing through a corridor of suspiciously flickering yokai lanterns, you will find that the clock has struck midnight. In the darkness, as most humans are asleep, specters are having a lively party. Playful cats dance and play and a number of artistic works by contemporary artists are on display. The music played fuses Japanese and ethnic instruments, some of which are interspersed with the voices of creatures of the night.Experience this immersive art experience that will delight all five senses through light and shadows while you can!
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Wa no Akari x Hyakudan Kaidan 2022 ~Light and Shadow: 100 Stories~
Running: July 2 – September 25, 2022
Hours: 11:30-18:00 (Last entry at 17:30) *Closing at 17:00 on August 20 (Last entry at 16:30)
Venue: Hotel Gajoen Tokyo Hyakudan Staircase (Tangible Cultural Property Designated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government)