05/2012
Oita Beppu
Take to Tsubaki no Oyado Hana Beppu
Task
Overall Planning/Concept Work/Logo Design/Architecture-Design Planning/Sign Design/WEB
Restaurant Ware Design/Interior wear and Uniform Design/Promotional Tools Design/Furniture - Fixture Coordination
Soft and Gentle
Beppu, where steam rises from hot springs all over the city, is a Mecca for onsen ryokan. For this hotel, we remodeled a JR Kyushu hotel very near to Beppu Station. The mark of a truly great ryokan is the scenery; however, since this ryokan is in the city center, there was little hope for great scenery or elegance. I wrote the phrase "Big Nothing Hotel" on the initial plan, which was disheartening for everyone. Then I considered that the prime target demographic in the Fukuoka and Oita area should be women, and decided to focus on room amenities and details for a Petit Luxury Hotel for Ladies. Beppu is a land of take, bamboo. Also, there is a lovely variety of Tsubaki, or camellia, called beppu, which has a pale pink color. So I settled on the name "Take to Tsubaki no Oyado Hana Beppu," or “Bamboo and Camellia Inn Flower Beppu” and named the rooms after camellias as well. For the space interior, I got help from Oita's Bamboo Work Association and had large bamboo partitions made for the lounge. We also used bamboo flooring to create a gentle surface for bare feet. By making sure every surface was pleasant to the touch, we kept the hotel true to our concept of "Soft and Gentle." It was an important goal with this hotel to gain repeat visitors. With the trinity of space, food and hospitality, we created a warm, second-home hotel, where the greeting "Welcome back" has truly heartfelt meaning.
Beppu is a city of hot springs, and a city of bamboo. Hana Beppu is overflowing with bamboo work. The intricately woven partitions in the lounge were woven on-site by ten master craftsmen.
Take to Tsubaki no Oyado.
The interior is filled with bamboo work and camellia designs.
For breakfast, we serve each guest freshly cooked local rice. Rice with raw egg, made with the popular local "Uchi no Tamago" eggs, has become particularly popular. We also developed a special soy sauce for the dish.
For dinner, we serve a hotpot made using a whole Kanmuri Jidori, the famous local breed of chicken. We serve a variety of local dishes, such as the old-fashioned saba ryukyu, raw mackerel steeped in soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin sake.
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