From Godzilla to Indiana Jones, ancient theatres to art-themed hotels, to embracing change and the human imagination, Yeoh Siew Hoon finds it all here.
Outside HOTEL GROOVE SHINJUKU, where I am staying on the 36th floor, is Toho Cinemas where a huge replica of Godzilla looks like it’s trying to gobble up Harrison Ford. The sign advertising the latest “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” movie says, “To the final challenge that will change our destiny.”
“To the final challenge that will change our destiny.”
Okay, our first physical return to Tokyo to run WiT Japan & North Asia, after an absence of three years, isn’t exactly as dramatic as Indiana Jones’ latest adventure, in which the 80-year-old Ford is de-aged, thanks to AI, CGI and other tools, but it certainly felt like “a challenge that could change our destiny”.
Other than wishing I had the same AI and CGI tools to de-age me, I felt we had a lot to live up to, with more than 10 years of history behind us, and this could be a “make or break” moment for us. Either we’ve still got it or we’ve lost it, was how I felt, and, I am pleased to report, from the buzz at the opening party at HOTEL GROOVE SHINJUKU and closing party at Westin Tokyo, it felt like we have still got it, with lots of people coming up to thank us for bringing the industry together and for the learnings our speakers provided.
See, that’s the thing with Tokyo or Japan in general. People are just the nicest, most polite, appreciative, gracious, respectful, hospitable, and quirky, interesting, earnest, eccentric, particular – you name it and you find all these different characters within the Kabukicho entertainment district of Shinjuku where I was staying.
Apparently, in post-World War Two Japan, there were plans to build a bustling district here, and they wanted a place to see kabuki theatre. Even though these kabuki theatres have since been closed, and replaced by Toho Cinemas boasting 3D, MX4D, and IMAX technologies, the name Kabukicho stuck.
Kabukicho, adorned with images of pretty girls and boys everywhere you look.
Tourists love Kabukicho – you find everything here, all kinds of food, did I mention people, and convenience stores, and bars with lit-up highly-photoshopped images of young girls with big eyes and pretty boys with dimpled smiles, and girls dressed in school uniforms handing out leaflets (for sure, not educational literature). In the centre is a huge square/plaza where a handful of homeless but mostly kids-who-don’t-want-to-be-home hang out, listening to their music, dancing, skateboarding, doing whatever-makes-their-groove – while a few security officers look on, dutifully.
HOTEL GROOVE SHINJUKU as well as BELLUSTAR TOKYO are located within the new Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, whose design by renowned architect Yuko Nagayama, has made it the city’s newest attraction. Inspired by the former water fountain of Kani-gawa and by the Buddhist goddess of water, the tower was designed with the image of a fountain, while the upper part expresses the force of water stretching to the sky. Incidentally, Nagayama was the architect behind the origami-inspired Japanese pavilion at World Expo 2020 in Dubai. (If you want to know more about the architecture, read this report)
Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, designed by architect Yuko Nagayama – “the upper part expresses the force of water stretching to the sky”
I find it inspiring that a woman is behind the design of this new tower that is meant to transform the image of the Kabukicho district from a red-light zone to a more hip, artsy and eclectic image, and HOTEL GROOVE SHINJUKU, a Parkroyal Hotel, and the more upscale BELLUSTAR TOKYO, a Pan Pacific Hotel, are part of these initiatives to bring in a different kind of customer to the precinct. At the former, with its artsy vibe – it has themed rooms that double as art installations – customers skew younger and more Asian. I heard lots of Hong Kong, Singaporean, Chinese and Thai accents.
The staff who checked me in was from China – and indeed, that’s one noticeable difference with this visit to Tokyo. I don’t know if it’s related to the pandemic, but I came across more foreign service workers this time – Chinese Uber drivers, who decided to stay on after their studies. One, from Shanghai, told me he’s so happy to be in Tokyo “because I can get away from my parents”. Kids are the same everywhere, really. Plus, I also met older Japanese taxi drivers who were more than happy to speak English with me.
It seems change does come, albeit slowly, as general manager of the two hotels, Nick Nishikawa, tells me. A veteran hotelier, who spent his early career with Shangri-La hotels in Penang and most of his career with Hyatt where he spent 13 years at Hyatt Regency Saipan, Nishikawa says the idea of having the two hotels in this area is to slowly change the image of the district, so that corporate clients will feel as at home here as leisure guests.
You can tell Nishikawa is one of those old-fashioned hoteliers who like to get out to meet customers, shake their hands and ask them how their day is going. “I like meeting people and getting to know them,” he says.
No playing with AI or CGI for him, I suspect, and indeed that was one key takeaway from WiT Japan & North Asia this year. In this region, high touch customer service is valued and appreciated, both by providers and customers, and this will stand it well in the age of generative AI and robotics, and where technology threatens to swamp everything.
At the event, when speakers were asked to share their best travel experiences, almost all pointed to experiences that had a tinge of “natsukashi” (nostalgia), a lot of “omotenashi” (Japanese hospitality) and a slice of simplicity. Raul Guerra of the Catalonia Tourism Board kept talking about “the human experience”, when he spoke of a visit he made to the Heian Shrine (平安神宮) in Kyoto.
Also, look at Tokyo – this is the city of sci-fi dreams – but look to its streets, whether in Kabukicho or Roppongi or Shibuya, you’ll find all sorts of humans living out everyday lives and, often, fantasies in pachinko parlours, karaoke bars, and clubs and bars.
As for me, my fantasy would be to stay in one of the art-themed rooms of HOTEL GROOVE SHINJUKU, the one where contemporary artist Yoshiaki Kaihatsu has created a space plastered with retro cassette tapes and even a boom box. “The aim is to prompt guests to consider the diversity of music genres heard around Shinjuku as they look over the district’s cityscape.”
One of the art themed rooms in HOTEL GROOVE SHINJUKU: Yoshiaki Kaihatsu has created a space plastered with retro cassette tapes and even a boom box. Photo: Keizo Kioku
Or should I opt for Takuro Tamayama’s room where “guests will find a breakfast tray stuck to the wall and a crooked mirror. The concept here is to deliberately position familiar objects in unfamiliar ways to give guests the opportunity of experiencing reality a little differently”?
I mean, who needs Apple Vision Pro glasses, when you have human imagination. Plus, with a crooked mirror, I might not need de-aging technology.
Another of the art themed rooms at HOTEL GROOVE SHINJUKU – Takuro Tamayama’s room where “guests will find a breakfast tray stuck to the wall and a crooked mirror”. Photo: Keizo Kioku