
I’ve always been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, and only recently came across this full testament to how glorious the Old Imperial Hotel really was. Definitely one of those “if only I had a time-machine” moments. This image was taken near its end, and you can already see modern Tokyo encroaching.
The hotel reined from 1923-1945 as THE place to stay in Tokyo, and managed to survive both the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and World War II. This website, where I scammed the image, has lots of nice vintage pics of various buildings and places that have sadly vanished from the Tokyo landscape in the constant rush for the new and squeaky-clean.
Fortunately, when they demolished the hotel and built the new ultra-modern ’70s version (which is so perfect for an episode of Columbo,) they retained some of the Wright design elements. But best of all, they carefully dismantled and reinstalled the Old Imperial Bar into the rebuild. It’s a must on any excursion to the Ginza, for a very smart, overpriced cocktail in exquisite surroundings. This description is from a UK visitor:
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The bar counter is low, so low, in fact, that it can only be reached by taking a seat on one of the many chairs situated along its length. When sitting on a chair at the squat counter you are face-to-face with the elderly, uniformed Japanese barmen,
all of whom appear to be very small, lacking legs or standing in a trench.
A large, psychedelic mosaic occupying most of the far wall is the centrepiece of the Old Imperial Bar, which is, otherwise, a marriage of contradictions: walls of minimalist brick and walls of traditional wood; leather benches and poufs, sensible tables and armchairs; subtle lamps and brilliant spotlights - the former offer a gentle diffusion of light at the rear of the bar, and the latter project a series of harsh, circular beams along the counter, one for each of its seats.
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The facade of the hotel has been preserved and is on display at the Meiji Mura Museum in Aichi prefecture, sort of an outdoor architectural cemetery for significant Meiji restoration period buildings and other relics which outlived their purpose, but remain of interest.
Tagged:
architecture
Posted by Kevin O'Neal on Friday, May 9th, 2008