Although Kyoto is known for its ancient wooden buildings and temples, the Shimpukan comes from some other component of the ancient city’s architectural past. Beautiful brick construction on Karasuma Street in the middle of the city, designed in 1926 through Tetsuro Yoshida, a modernist who had studied in Germany. Originally the building of Kyoto’s Central Telephone Company, the Shimpukan was renovated and expanded through Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and is part of a new 213-room Ace hotel, Japan’s first opening for the Los Angeles-based hotel brand.
“When we look for homes to space an Ace hotel, we are committed to the history and culture that could contain a possible site,” says Kelly Sawdon, Ace’s logo manager. “Kengo Kuma has been a friend of Ace’s for a long time and has been sending us possible sites in Japan for years.”
The Shimpukan are just the assets that the hotel organization seeks: an ancient construction with a great history and a fashion addition.
“The studio [of Kuma’], kkaa, has designed a newly built logo built entirely of local fabrics that create visual references to classic ryokans and live perfectly along the historic component of the property,” Sawdon says. “Kkaa has connected these two structures in a fair discussion between them, creating an expansive area where the long term meets the past.”
For the interiors, Ace has worked with a los Angeles-based collaborator, Commune Design, who has harnessed his former love of Japanese craftsmanship to create a layered design that weeds Western and Japanese sensibility.
“It’s a dream job for us,” says Román Alonso, who started working at the hotel more than five years ago. “It gave us the opportunity to paint with so many people in Japan.” The cast of artists and craftsmen from Japan and the United States is extensive.
Key collaboration with legendary Japanese designer Samiro Yunoki, whom Alonso describes as a sponsor of the project. The 98-year-old took a long time to convince himself, but once on board, he was “beyond expectations.”
His paintings are dazzling the building, from the beautiful noren (suspended door) in the front to a series of paintings published on the walls of the rooms. He even designed the hotel logo. There are handicrafts and art in the hotel: clay pots through the artist-fisherman Kazunori Hamana (“Get out of our league but he sought to participate”, says Alonso); curtains and upholstery fabrics from Tokyo Min-Perhonen Studio; shingles made in Shiga Prefecture; a frieze in the main place to eat through Kamisoe, a kyoto paper specialist; and stunning round bamboo and paper lamps through Kobishiya Chube, a 200-year-old circle of related businesses in Kyoto.
“We had to get some of those brands out of their area of convenience and get them to think about their craft, but they all responded definitively and succeeded,” Alonso said. Many American artisans have also been commissioned. For the Italian restaurant, Kori Girard, grandson of textile designer Alexander Girard, created a floor of tiles and walls that were hand-printed at Berkeley and assembled in Japan.
The furniture is a combination of traditional design with an antique look and pieces from Japanese furniture brands such as Tendo Mokko. The rooms have beds designed through the commune with Ace’s Pendleton blankets and the bathrooms feature Tokyo Skin Care logo toiletries and the Uka nail logo.
“We had to get some of those brands out of their area of convenience and get them to think about their craft, but they all responded definitively and succeeded.”
Instead of opening up a Japanese place to eat, an incredibly competitive market in Kyoto, Ace brought an American atmosphere through a cocktail bar and taco room through Wes Avila (the Chef Guerrilla Tacos in Los Angeles), a warm Italian from Philadelphia chef Marc Vetri and a third place to eat all day is expected to open later this year. Stumptown Coffee Roasters also opened its first coffee shop in Japan.
Obviously, these are difficult times to open a hotel. Kyoto has suffered an almost total drop in visitors, but is expected to receive the return of Japanese tourists, for whom the city has long been a favorite destination.
“Obviously, it’s not ideal,” says general manager Nico Black, who moved from Los Angeles to Kyoto last year. “But this time we have the possibility to know the network and let the locals know us.”
It is also an attractive area, with a historic confectionery across the street, typical of the dense texture that characterizes the narrow streets of Kyoto. Visitors can explore one of the hotel’s Tokyo bikes: Nishiki Market is at the end of the street and Nijo Castle and the Imperial Palace are at a surprising distance.
The rest of Shimpukan, now known as Shin Puh Kan, houses retail outlets such as Beams Japan, Bonjour Records and Pilgrim Surf 1 Supply, as well as a retail outlet for the indefinite cinema chain Uplink. The development, which is directly connected to the Kyoto subway, is a welcome addition to the city and it is a relief that the construction has been restored and not demolished, never guaranteed in Kyoto. A programme of cultural events and exhibitions deserves to be in place before the end of the year.
“Our vision of this position being a position for everyone, to provide other reports based on what you’re looking for,” Sawdon says. “We’re trying to make Ace Hotel Kyoto our love letter to Japan.”
This report was first published in Monocle mag. To be more informed about the magazine and subscribe, visit monocle.com.
Subscribe to our newsletters to get our stories right in your inbox.
You want an Array subscription..