Return to the Hotel Okura ホテルオークラ東京

My grandfather, Colin Vectis Gray, a career public servant, had risen by the mid-1960's to become the Chairman of the Australian Shipbuilding Board. In 1965, he travelled to Japan to nurture connections with Japan's thriving shipbuilding industry; meeting with industry figures, and touring shipbuilding facilities. He also took time for social and recreational pursuits. His trip spanned April-June 1965. Very sadly, he died soon afterwards, and I never was able to meet him. However, he left behind a fascinating collection of photographs from that trip, which can be viewed here and here.

In Tokyo, he stayed at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo Prince Hotel and Hotel Okura. This blog post is about the Hotel Okura.

The Hotel Okura was a showpiece, built in 1962 ahead of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Located in the high-class embassy district of Roppongi, it has been a favourite of heads of state and celebrities. Indeed, my grandfather made several visits to the Australian embassy. The Okura's unique architecture and design are celebrated. In Japanese style, impressive main building will close for demolition in August this year, with some cries of protest.

After employing a lot of detective work on the old photos, I went to Hotel Okura on 29th May 2014 and attempted to reproduce his photographs.

In this frontal view, some skyscraper buildings have emerged behind the hotel; the Toranomon Twin Building (虎ノ門ツイン)(1988) and Toranomon Hills (虎ノ門ヒルズ)(2014). I believe that my grandfather stayed on the 7th floor of the hotel; the second row from the top, in the sixth room from the left in these photographs.

Side view. It was difficult to get the positioning right on this one; the extension of the annex building into the driveway threw me off.

The United States of America embassy across the road from Hotel Okura.

Shinreikyo religion headquarters, across the road from Hotel Okura. This is a local religion in Japan. The text on the wall says 'Shinreikyo. A cause of miracles surpassing Lourdes'. This organisation is still at this location, although it's not especially recognisable from the old photo.

I found this view from the 11th floor, at the Sazanka (Teppanyaki) and Chinese Table Starlight Restaurants in the main building's eastern wing, looking south-east towards the Tokyo Tower. The Tokyo Prince Hotel can be seen on the left in the earlier photo. The Tokyo Tower gave unimpeded TV and radio coverage to Tokyo in its early days, but radio shadows caused by larger buildings necessitated the construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree, which opened in 2012.
A reverse-angle view (from the tower towards the hotel) in 1961 shows many of the same structures. (That and other Tokyo Tower views are collected in this very interesting blog).

In 1965, the National Diet (parliament) building was visible from Hotel Okura (on the horizon in the 1965 photo). In the near foreground, the Nippon Mining building has been replaced with the Toranomon Twin Building. Buildings in the middle distance are largely still extant, including the corrugated-roofed one at far right, concealed by the Toranomon Twin Building in 2014. My photo looks north-east from a small teppanyaki room on a higher floor (9F?) near the centre of the Okura building.

My photo was taken from the same position in the small teppanyaki room. Unfortunately it appears that the older photo was taken from a lower floor in the building. The wedge-shaped Hotel Okura Annex building is on the right. The shed-like Nippon Mining building, (whose roof advertises their product, 'Cactus') has been replaced by the Toranomon Twin Building (1988). Rooftop advertising signs for Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen and Tupperware are visible in the 1965 photo, This picture looks east towards Toranomon Hills.

I wasn't able to re-create this photo due to a lack of time. It is a similar view to the one above; facing east. The photo was taken at the eastern end of the main building. The lawn and old building at the right have since been replaced with a monolithic office building, '37 Mori Building'. The building with the Tupperware signage was demolished sometime prior to 2009, when the earliest Google Street View imagery shows the site as having no building (just a car park).

Roaming the hotel hallways, we ran into the hotel Managing Director, Mr. Akira Nishimura. I explained my quest to him, and showed him the old photos on my phone. He called someone on his mobile phone and spoke for several minutes in Japanese, while examining my old pictures carefully. Eventually, he led us into a guest room that had recently been vacated. He explained apologetically that this was the only unoccupied room that would give an approximate match to the old photo. After careful comparison of the photos on the computer at home, I am certain that this room was the exact one my grandfather stayed in. The view is from the 7th floor facing south-west, room M753. The building in the foreground is the Okura Shukokan Museum (大倉集古館). The skyline in 1965 was quite clear. The spire at right in the 1965 photo belongs to the former Reinan Hill Church (霊南坂教会)(built 1917, demolished 1985?). More info: 1 2 3 4. In 2014, tall buildings clutter the background, including the Hotel Okura South Wing at left.

These photos show a lady friend at the same window, with the Okura Shukokan Museum outside. The wooden beam on the wall at head-height continues into the third photo, showing the interior of the guest room in 1965. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the room interior in 2014, but I can confirm that the decor had been updated and is white, neutral.

My grandfather's handwritten notebook indicating visits to Hotel Okura in late May and early June 1965.

Farewell, Hotel Okura.

Now you explore!

Thanks to Lauren for accompanying me on this jaunt.