The hotel is located on the site of the former Aburakoji Residence, the Kyoto home of the executive branch of the Mitsui family. At the center of that structure was the Okusho-in - also known as the Shiki-no-Ma – a room that enjoyed unimpeded views of the garden throughout the four seasons. It is the room where heads of the Mitsui family would receive visitors and entertain guests. The SHIKI-NO-MA room at HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO is a modern yet faithful reconstruction of the original Okusho-in using Japanese cypress. The new SHIKI-NO-MA may be used for hospitality and celebrations, as well as a private dining facility for the hotel’s restaurants. All of the tasteful elements in the room, such as the alignment of the tatami to accommodate a ro sunken hearth and the design and features of the tokonoma alcove, have been overseen by So’oku Sen, heir apparent to the position of iemoto or headmaster of Mushakouji Senke, one of the three Houses of Sen. A special place where one can enjoy a tranquil moment in the Way of Tea whilst taking in the delightful scenery of the seasons.
Capacity | 16 people (seated, table/chair configuration) |
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Born in Kyoto, So’oku Sen is heir apparent to the position of iemoto or headmaster of Mushakouji Senke. His Buddhist name is Zuiensai. After graduating from the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies at Keio University, Sen went on to attain his doctorate in the history of medieval Japanese art from the Graduate School at Keio University. In 2003, upon his acceptance of the position of heir apparent to become the fifteenth iemoto of Mushakouji Senke, Sen took the name So’oku. In 2008 Sen spent a year in New York, USA as a Cultural Exchange Ambassador at the behest of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Sen currently lectures as a Specially Appointed Associate Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University, as well as delivering lectures on occasion at Meiji Gakuin University. In 2017, Sen oversaw The Beauty of Chanoyu Curated by Sen So’oku, an exhibition held at the MOA Museum of Art in Shizuoka, Japan. Sen has a profound interest in antique art through to modern art pieces.
The artwork on the fusuma sliding doors in the SHIKI-NO-MA are the vision of modern nihonga artist Takafumi Asakura. He has created stunning motifs inspired by the garden at HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO and how it changes across the four seasons.
Asakura uses sumi ink painting to express yin/yang and the five elements, the twenty-four terms of the lunisolar calendar and the sixty-four hexagrams along with motifs to suggest the four seasons. Asakura uses brush techniques characteristic of the Rimpa School, such as
tarashikomi - in which a second layer of thick sumi ink is applied before the first layer of thinner ink is dry, tessenbyo – straight lines that do not vary in thickness, like the stem of the clematis – as well as gold paint for decorative effect. His work is representative of
themes that run through Japanese art: decoration and playfulness.