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Fusion of pop and traditional cultures
‘Getting married’: An overseas visitor tries out a Japanese wedding Kimono for a photo session at Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo’s busy Shinjuku area
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‘Getting married’: An overseas visitor tries out a Japanese wedding Kimono for a photo session at Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo’s busy Shinjuku area.
When Japanese traditions and pop culture meet under one roof, it is possible to sleep in a Hello Kitty-loaded room, eat food with an Alice in Wonderland theme, join an old-age green tea ceremony and wear a wedding kimono — all in one place.
The Keio Plaza Hotel, located in the heart of Tokyo’s busy Shinjuku area, has made such an experience possible by providing an all-Japanese feel for its visitors. Seventy five percent of the hotel’s guests are foreigners, coming from over 100 countries around the world.
Approaching the spring season when cherry trees blossom and spread a pretty pink mood across Japan, visitors are greeted in the hotel’s lobby by 6,000 hand-woven silk hanging ornaments in celebration of Japan’s traditional girls’ doll festival known as hinamatsuri.
During hinamatsuri, when families pray for the health and happiness of their female children, the methods of 600-year-old origata gift-wrapping and musubi knot-tying artwork are also exhibited and taught among the hotel’s activities.
Across the hotel, traditional activities are held to meet international visitors’ demands. For 2,000 yen (US$17), visitors can join a 30-minute tea ceremony that is held four times a day, five days a week.
During the ceremony, on a humble bended knee, participants’ focus is directed to the natural aspects of their surroundings, from the sound of water to the glow of a charcoal fire used to cook the powdered green tea using a bamboo whisk.
Another crowd-pleasing traditional Japanese experience at the hotel is an opportunity to dress up in a genuine wedding kimono and pose for pictures — for one hour and with a price tag of 32,400 yen per person or 54,000 yen per couple.
“We decided to be a very domestic hotel. We like to stand by ourselves to promote our uniqueness — to be unique as a Japanese hotel,” Keio Plaza Hotel deputy director of marketing public relations Junko Saito said.
“Now we are conscious to introduce to foreign guests because foreign guests are increasing now.”
Foreign visitors currently account for nearly 75 percent of all guests staying at the Tokyo hotel, of which 50 percent are from Asia with an increasing number of Southeast Asian visitors, especially from Indonesia.
Visit the restaurants at the hotel — there are 20 in total — as in a few of them guests can have a taste of sweets, cakes, cocktails and buffets with the themes of Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Little Mermaid if they come in the right season.
Take the elevator upstairs and, voila, eight rooms fully loaded with a Hello Kitty theme — from the wallpaper to water bottles — are ready to greet families and fans of the character.
“These rooms have gathered media attention from around the world and have been popular among both Japanese and overseas guests,” the hotel wrote.
“In addition to allowing our guests to immerse themselves in the world of Hello Kitty during their stay at our Hello Kitty rooms, we will provide them with specially created Hello Kitty amenities including Hello Kitty letter sets, pens, plastic bags, slippers and other goods to take with them as warm reminders of their stay.”
— Photos by JP/Esther Samboh
