Hitoshi Tanaka (Courtesy Shiroiya Hotel)

Jasper Morrison Room (Photo ©Shinya Kigure, Courtesy Shiroiya Hotel)

An Interview with Hitoshi Tanaka, Owner of Shiroiya Hotel

INTERVIEW BY: NATANE TAKEDA

In December of 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Shiroiya Hotel opened for business in the city of Maebashi in Gunma prefecture. Starting in 2014, it took over 6 years of rapid change and growth before completion. The first time Mr. Hitoshi Tanaka (see bio below) gave me a tour of Maebashi in 2017, Shiroiya Hotel was under renovation, and it looked as though it was under a deep sleep. Combining Maebashi's vision of “mebuku” (germinating and growing), which Mr. Tanaka was deeply involved with planning, and internationally renowned architect Sou Fujimoto’s vision of “maintaining history while imagining something new,” the hotel was innovatively reborn. Heritage Tower, a project that boldly renovated the old Shiroiya ryokan, the newly built Green Tower, concept rooms designed by Leandro Erlich, Jasper Morrison, Michele De Lucchi, and Sou Fujimoto himself, “Shincha-Tei”, a private salon designed by Hiroshi Sugimoto's architectural firm, New Material Research Laboratory, and various artworks mix and mingle, creating a facility with various faces. The hotel was just awarded with the “2021 AD Great Design Hotel Award” before this interview was conducted. I sat down and spoke with Mr. Hiroshi Tanaka, an entrepreneur, who opened the Shiroiya Hotel, and who has been dedicating himself to the regional revitalization of Maebashi, about the hotel and the role and possibilities of art and architecture in regional revitalization.

Shiroiya Hotel Green Tower (Photo ©Shinya Kigure, Courtesy Shiroiya Hotel)

Natane Takeda (NT): Congratulations on winning the “2021 AD Great Design Hotel Award”! I have to believe it was difficult to open the hotel during the pandemic. Can you please talk a little about the history behind the Shiroiya Hotel?

Hitoshi Tanaka (HT): Thank you. It started around 2013. As part of a regional revitalization effort, we started entrepreneurship training programs called the "Gunma Innovation Award" and "Gunma Innovation School", kind of like an educational apprenticeship sort of situation. I started coming to Maebashi more often, and some people I met there told me that the Shiroiya Ryokan, an inn that was established over 300 years ago, closed in 2008 and was put up for sale. If it were razed and turned into an ordinary apartment building, it would be really a great loss for the city, so they asked me if I could do anything about it. Then, eventually I decided to purchase it.

NT: So basically you rescued it through your activism in regional revitalization. There’s a lot of art in the hotel, and you’ve collaborated with creators as well. Was regional revitalization also the purpose of that?

HT: Actually, we didn’t initially envision it as an art hotel, although I did think about creating a stylish hotel that I would want to stay in. I had an affinity for architecture and I asked Sou Fujimoto to renovate the hotel. Through that process Leandro Erlich ended up working on the atrium lounge space.

NT: Was having Leandro’s installation Fujimoto’s suggestion?

HT: Not really. One of the hotel project members was friends with Leandro. He came to Japan for his solo exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in 2017, and we invited him to have Sushi together in Nihonbashi. I told Leandro about the hotel project, and it turned out that he was a huge fan of Fujimoto’s work. He wanted to see the hotel and traveled all the way to Maebashi a couple of days later. He stood there with his arms folded, looking at the recently dismantled atrium, and saw a hole in one of the beams. The hole used to have pipes going through it connecting the rooms, and he imagined an installation using the holes. I couldn’t imagine what it would end up looking like, but Leandro’s pipes kept arriving during the construction, and when it started to take form there was an immense impact in the space, and the atmosphere started to feel “real.”

NT: I see, so it was like fate and at the same time it was inevitable, wasn't it? Leandro’s work “Lighting Pipes” stretched around the hotel like “veins of an invisible creature” and connected the old with the new.

HT: Exactly. After that I started thinking about how amazing the presence and power of art was. I spoke to Mr. Kouzo Fujimoto, who is an advisor at JINS HOLDINGS Inc. which is my company　and is well versedin the arts, and we felt that we should put lithograph works in every room. But we realized that lithographs just weren’t a good balance with the architectural atmosphere of Sou Fujimoto and the “realness” of Leandro’s artwork. I realized that all the art we installed had to be real. I wasn’t really interested in art before, but after I met Kouzo Fujimoto who took me to museums, galleries, and Art Basel, I was affected by it. At the same time, I have the kind of personality where once I get into something I really get into it, so from there I really got into art and took a swing at it.

NT: You can tell by the line up of artists involved that you really took a big swing. It kind of goes back and forth here but how did you become acquainted with Sou Fujimoto?

HT: I’ve known him for a while actually. Before he even started working on housing projects, a friend of mine recommended him as a highly talented person, and I had him design a freestanding shop for JINS. That fell apart for several reasons, but after that I asked him to design my brother’s house. It wasn’t a big job, but I wanted to pay him back somehow, and finally the opportunity presented itself.

NT: And Fujimoto became more and more prominent during that time!

HT: Exactly! A one way ticket to stardom.

Sou Fujimoto Room (Photo ©Shinya Kigure, Courtesy Shiroiya Hotel)

NT: Did he have any issues with Leandro’s artwork intervening with his architectural space?

HT: Not at all. Besides Leandro we also collaborated with Michele De Lucchi and Jasper Morrison, but instead of pushing his own architectural vison Fujimoto includes everyone's idea. In that way you could say he’s an architect of the new generation.

NT: He sounds very generous. The process of enjoying chemical reactions and synergistic effects and bringing together the wisdom and ideas of each to create a unique work is linked to the modern society where diversity is important. How did you proceed with artworks after Leandro? Was there a standard for selecting them?

HT: I accompanied Kouzo Fujimoto and visited galleries one by one. We saw a lot of different kinds of artworks and he gave me lectures and advice, and I chose the artworks that I liked. The more I looked at different types of art, the more I realized what I liked, what I thought was good and different, and the more I understood how to look at art.

NT: Was it hard to make decisions?

HT: Interestingly, even though art works cost hundreds of thousands of yen, I can usually make a decision within a couple of minutes. Strangely, I spend more time thinking when purchasing a car, though they cost less. Something about art paralyzes my sense of finances. It’s still a big mystery.

NT: That’s very true, it does paralyze ones sense of finances. It’s like magic.

HT: Also the vision for Maebashi and the hotel were “mebuku” (germinating and growing). So, I tried to choose work that gives you a sense of growth.

NT: The “mebuki” (germinating and growing) happens with Shiroiya Hotel as a starting point. I’m very excited for its future. What do you think about the role and possibility of art and architecture in the revitalization of Maebashi?

HT: When I made this hotel, I had a renewed realization that it is important to create inspiration for people and create a sense of incongruity that we had never thought of and felt before. For example, the Lawrence Wiener piece on the facade of the hotel. It looked strange to the eyes of the locals in the beginning. For people who aren’t knowledgeable about art, it can be a bit discomforting. But, the fact that the locals had such a reaction shows that they’re starting to become more involved with the art. Over time, as they see the piece and hear the opinions of others on a daily basis, they start to have a revelation that it’s actually good. The criticism becomes acceptance. In other words, the art is asking a “question” to the region. Architecture is the same. On the other hand, cities and urban planning is all a numbers game. Basically, it’s all boring because it’s based on the math of investments and profits.　Yet, art and architecture that is made with someone’s will has the ability to directly appeal to the consciousness of the people, which could bring up a sense of discomfort. Yet, feeling discomfort is in fact important in people's lives. So here is what I envision. That very sense of discomfort is oozing into the town. By spreading such a sense of discomfort in Maebashi, we want to create a new value here that isn’t found in other cities. The discomfort can transform the consciousness of the people and the town.

NT: Feeling “discomfort” is meaningful --That sounds so innovative, it gives me chills. As you mention, I believe that the most important quality of art is its ability to “question” people. Without that it's just a decoration, and isn’t interesting. It's very exciting to have some kind of approach to the people in the area, to be influenced by them, and then to see something new take root from there. Is there a specific goal when developing a town?

HT: I don’t know if I’d call it a goal, but it has a sense of being unattainable. The “Mebuku” (germinating and growing) vision doesn’t have an endpoint. In a way, the idea of a goal can stifle the growth.

NT: Good point! No goal, What is your outlook for the future?

HT: When it comes to town development, there are two directions. The first is that we want to aim for a town that continues to generate industry. During the Meiji period, Maebashi was known for its silk industry. They used to produce silk in Maebashi and export it through Yokohama. But as the silk industry declined, so did the town itself. So the soft part (In Japanese business lingo, “soft” refers to the intangibles of business such as human resources and education, awareness, mental health etc.) is going to become more important now, the content. We want to become a town that generates content. Companies with advanced digital technology are using Maebashi as an experimental hub, providing more and more services that allow for further experimentation. And then you start to realize how important education is, so you think of ways to reform education. Our vision is to create a school that includes everything from elementary all the way up to college, a school where STEM education is practiced in its truest sense while also allowing students to develop their unique identity.

NT: That’s pretty large scale. It goes beyond just town development. Developing the entire town and filling it with creativity through art and architecture, education, and industrial creation.

HT: Exactly. Humans need culture. If there isn’t any culture around, life can be very boring. After all, the only real stimulation for people is in culture and creativity. During the pandemic, I realized that there are limits to extreme centralization. So we’ve got a good opportunity in our hands right now. Starting with the Shiroiya Hotel, we want Maebashi to grow, both in the soft aspect and the cultural aspect, into a place where people from all over the country, and the world gather. As a new Japanese destination. We have some exciting new projects coming up that I can’t quite discuss here too, like collaborations with up and coming Japanese architects and artists. We’re going to plant many interesting seeds!

Talking to Mr. Tanaka, it sounded less like town developing and more like town rehabilitation. Through his passion, I could sense his sharp and philosophical perspective . Two words that left an impression on me through this interview were “oozing out” and “discomfort”. He mentioned the opening of the hotel wasn’t the end, but a new beginning and his anticipation that something new, "discomfort" is oozing out into the town from the hotel. I could imagine it is slowly oozing into the town and the consciousness of the people like a fabric that had been dyed. We will start to see what kind of pattern it will leave and what colors will remain strongly. It will change over time. Also, the importance of creating “discomfort” through art and architecture. As a person involved in the art world, I was glad to hear him express that point of view. If you take away the “questioning” aspect of art, the raison d’etre of art is reduced in half. The act of "questioning" can be a driving force for people to grow and for society to move in the right direction. This may be the most necessary thing in today’s modern society, where the Japanese try to live their lives according to a manual, with common sense. I look forward to enjoying the "oozing out" of "discomfort" that will occur in Maebashi. Even towns and people can continue to grow. With such a positive intention and vision, I selfishly can't help but feel excited about how Maebashi will develop. And I also want to value the “discomfort” within myself.

Hitoshi Tanaka

Born 1963 in Gunma prefecture. Founder and CEO of JINS HOLDINGS Inc. Representative Director of Hitoshi Tanaka Foundation. Holds a Masters Degree from the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University.　Founded "JIN" (currently JINS Holdings Inc.) in 1988. Started eyewear company, JINS HOLDINGS Inc., in 2001. Listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2013. Launched the "Gunma Innovation Award" and "Gunma Innovation School" to support up and coming entrepreneurs in 2014. Currently, he has set up the "Maebashi Machinaka Laboratory" in the center of Maebashi and is involved in town development.

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Meet the Visionary Businessman behind Maebashi’s Revitalization