HOSHINOYA TokyoGardens created

Photo: Hironori Handa

Photo: Hironori Handa

Photo: Hironori Handa

Photo: Hironori Handa

Photo: Hironori Handa

Photo: Hironori Handa

Photo: Hironori Handa

Photo: Hironori Handa

Photo: Hironori Handa

Photo: Hironori Handa

Located in Tokyo's Otemachi business district and designed by Studio Onsite president Hiroki Hasegawa, Hoshinoya Tokyo's outdoor space features motifs that infuse the concept of a "Japanese ryokan" (traditional Japanese inn) setting with a modern sensibility. Its greatest characteristic is its "scattered hailstone pavement" (ararekoboshi) arranged in a curved pattern that spreads over 100m² wide.

Scattered hailstone pavement is a Japanese landscaping technique often seen in such classic works of Japanese gardening such as Kyoto's Katsura Imperial Villa. Stones are combined together within a limited space so that they take an aesthetically pleasing relationship to one another. Even the most experienced craftsmen can only construct a maximum of 30cm² of this extraordinarily intricate pavement a day. Its beauty is generally displayed in entrance areas and other important places where guests are greeted. At Hoshinoya Tokyo, Ueyakato Landscape's scattered hailstone pavement forms a complex pattern that spreads across a wide area in a curved shape and even intersects with other pavement patterns.

To perform work that conveys the technical skill and human handiwork that Kyoto landscaping is known for, it was imperative that we provide superior quality at a worksite far removed from Kyoto. That is why Ueyakato Landscape innovated the "unit construction method" (patent pending) to realize superior quality performance while also significantly reducing construction time. Using this unit construction method, we created units masterfully designed by garden landscaping craftsmen in Kyoto at sizes pre-calculated to be transportable. As a result, we were able to finish the units at the Tokyo worksite into a seamless stone pavement. In addition to this scattered hailstone pavement, we also arranged four other pavement patterns at Hoshinoya Tokyo using carefully selected materials and construction methods to realize a space in which craftsmen have exhausted their highest level of technique through work rigorously performed by hand.

By synthesizing traditional craftsmanship with modern innovation, Hoshinoya Tokyo's outdoor space exemplifies the possibilities of bringing the very best of Kyoto's landscaping heritage to the world beyond Kyoto.