This is a renovation plan for two rooms at the long-established Japanese hotel Togetsutei in Kyoto. At this Japanese hotel, each room is named after a nearby land or building, and the design is inspired by that area. While preserving tradition, we have given each room its own individuality so that our guests can fully enjoy the traditional Japanese interior space that only a long-established Japanese hotel can offer.

Kyokarakami Paper is used for the Fusuma(papered sliding door) that separate the rooms. Kyokarakami Paper is a traditional woodblock print from Kyoto. Traditional patterns are carved by hand onto a board approximately 47cm wide and 34cm high, and then a mixture of granite crystals called mica and pigments is applied to create the pattern. Print so that the pattern repeats.

We basically use natural materials, such as Tatami mats and planks for the floors, plastered walls and Japanese paper for the walls, and planks for the ceilings, and whenever possible we outsource to local contractors who have inherited techniques from ancient times.

The lower half of the Shoji(paper sliding door) in the first room is made of glass, and a small shoji that can be opened and closed up and down is installed inside the glass, allowing you to see the outside scenery while staying indoors.

This room faces the rooftop garden. In response to the owner's desire to provide guests with a special experience, we created a tea room space as part of the guest room. Just like in an actual tea room, it has an Roji(garden next to a ceremonial tea room), a Tsukubai (washbasin set in Japanese garden), and Nijiriguchi for welcoming tea party guests. The Nijiriguchi is a small entrance to the tea room where guests enter on their knees.

A tea room is originally an extraordinary space, separated from the worldly world, and the Roji is a garden dedicated to the tea room that serves as the introduction. This Roji plan takes advantage of the rooftop location, which seems to have the magnificent natural scenery of Arashiyama mountains and rivers to itself, and creates a change of mind to an extraordinary space even though it is a small space inside the guest room.

The most attractive feature of this room is the 1.7m diameter circular Hinokiburo(Japanese cypress wood bathtub) made by a skilled craftsman, from which you can enjoy the view of Togetsukyo Bridge and the Katsura River.

The Shoji in the second room was created using the delicate skills of a Shoji craftsman to depict the surrounding mountains and the moon seen through the clouds. The bathroom in this room has a square Hinokiburo measuring 1.7m in length and width, and you can enjoy the view of the cityscape.

We aimed to create a space where those staying in this room would be able to feel the atmosphere and textures of ancient Kyoto, Japan, and deeply imprint their memories of sightseeing as an experience.