Ala Champ
 
00:00/

WHERE TO EAT IN PARIS

Seven Best Places & Spaces To Wine & Dine

Architecture Deeply Interconnected With Nature

SANAA's Ryue Nishizawa Weaves Architectural Flow At This Retreat in Karuizawa

Fine Dining at an Altitude of 2000m

Sustainably Championing Ingredients from the Alpine Region

BÀBÁ, FATHER

Photographer Olufemi Adegboye Presents His Intimate Photo Series of Black Fathers

The Delicate Art of Mixology

An Exclusive Hiroshi Sugimoto-Designed Six-Seater Bar Led By Mixologist Tsuyoshi Kimura

Maebashi’s Creative Revitalisation

Akihisa Hirata Structures A Space for Art, Living & New Encounters

A Cinematic Setting for this Modern Sushi Restaurant

A Stand-Out Japanese Dining Destination in Brisbane

THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN LONDON RIGHT NOW

Our Pick Of London's Top 5 Culinary Destinations

Harnessing the Power of Seaweed

On the Coast of Margate, A Risk-taking Skincare Brand Harvesting the Wild Material

Culinary Craftsmanship

The Avant Garde Blue Mountain School's New Michelin-Starred Restaurant

SERPENTINE PAVILION 2023

Architect Lina Ghotmeh Creates A Brilliant New Space For Gathering & Togetherness

Sky High

An Eastern Touch with Western Comforts at this 5 Star Hotel in Tokyo, 52 Floors Up

Kyoto’s Leading Art & Design Hotel

A Stellar Amalgamation of East Meets West

STUDIO GANG’S ORGANIC VERNACULAR

An Architectural Marvel: The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation

Craftsmanship and Omotenashi at Its Finest

Unequivocally Tokyo's Most Extraordinary Luxury Urban Ryokan Experience

Samuel Ross

The British Artist-Designer's First Solo Exhibition at White Cube

The Okura Tokyo’s Opening Ceremony

The Historic Moment In Images

September, 2019

Four years after the announcement of Hotel Okura’s Main Wing closure, the new adjacent towers under the consolidated title The Okura Tokyo were unveiled in an Opening Ceremony with special honorary guest HIH Princess Takamado, Architect Yoshio Taniguchi and Okura Executives. After an official ribbon cut, the ceremony continued with a noh Performance in the Main Lounge, led by Noh Master Kiyokazu Kanze (the 36th Grand Master of the Kanze School) in a poignant and reflective performance. The moment seemed to symbolise a progression yet an ongoing preservation of Japan’s traditions that continue to shape past, present and future of a cultural identity. Photographer Vien Tran documents the monumental event with Champ Editor In Chief Joanna Kawecki.

Entrance | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
Entrance | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | © Vien Tran
Preparations | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | © Vien Tran
Architect Yoshio Taniguchi Looks On | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike arrives | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
Honoured Guest Princess Takamado | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | © Vien Tran
Making It Official: The Ribbon Cut | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Ribbon Cut | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
From Left; President Hotel Okura Tokyo Masaharu Naruse, Architect Yoshio Taniguchi, Director Taisei Corporation Takashi Yamauchi, Chairman Hotel Okura Yoshihiko Okura, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, President Hotel Okura Yoshihiro Ogita, President Nippon Steel Kowa Real Estate Yasuhiko Imaizumi, Chairman Hotel Okura Tokyo Masaki Ikeda, General Manager Hotel Okura Tokyo Shinji Uehara | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
Hotel Okura Tokyo President Masaharu Naruse with Architech Yoshio Taniguchi | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | © Vien Tran
The First Guest Through The Doors, HIH Princess Takamado | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
NOH Performers from the Kanze School | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
NOH Master Kiyokazu Kanze | The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | © Vien Tran
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | © Vien Tran
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | © Vien Tran
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | © Vien Tran
The Okura Tokyo | © Vien Tran (2019)

The Okura Tokyo
Opening Ceremony
12.09.2019

Photography: Vien Tran
Words:
Joanna Kawecki

The Okura Tokyo Main Lounge Details | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
The Okura Tokyo | Opening Ceremony | Photo: © Vien Tran (2019)
September, 2019