TOKYO and CHICAGO – On July 18, Imperial Hotel, Ltd. and the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust celebrated the 100th anniversary of Wright’s 1923 Imperial Hotel, Tokyo with a private dedication of cherry trees planted in the courtyard of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago, a UNESCO World Heritage site. An inscription plaque reads: “These cherry trees celebrate 100 years of our shared cultural heritage. The Wright Imperial Hotel Centennial 1923-2023. Imperial Hotel, Ltd., Tokyo, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, Chicago.”
Rahm Emanuel, United States ambassador to Japan and former mayor of Chicago, sent a message to mark the occasion: “One of Chicago’s chief cultural contributions worldwide is architecture. I was proud to support the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust and Robie House as Chicago’s first UNESCO World Heritage site. Wright’s legacy is captured in the brilliance of what he built, but also in the ability to inspire ingenuity that transcended countries, namely the United States and Japan. Given Frank Lloyd Wright’s great gift to bridge two cultures, two nations, and two peoples, it’s fitting that the Imperial Hotel and Frank Lloyd Wright Trust celebrate the centennial of Wright’s Imperial at Robie House.”
Trust President Celeste Adams stated, “Wright’s lifelong fascination with Japanese art and culture began in Chicago where he first encountered Japanese architecture at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park, a mile from the site of Robie House.”
To mark the centenary of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, a private dedication that involved the planting of cherry trees and the installment of a plaque took place in July in the courtyard of Wright’s Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago. Image courtesy of the Imperial Hotel, Ltd. and the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust
The Japan pavilion at the World’s Columbian Exposition was inspired by the Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in, a Buddhist temple in Uji near Kyoto. In 1905, Wright traveled outside the U.S. for the first time, spending three months in Japan. In 1908, Wright received the commission for Robie House, completed in 1910.
A circa-1935 brochure for the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, a property designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, went for $550 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021. Image courtesy of PBA Galleries and LiveAuctioneers
While several of his prior buildings are influenced by Japanese architecture, Robie House has the most striking affinity, often observed by Japanese visitors. During 1913, a conversation began between Frank Lloyd Wright and Aisaku Hayashi, manager of the Imperial Hotel. On March 17, 1916, Wright formally accepted the commission for a modern hotel to replace the original Imperial Hotel, which had opened in 1890.
Wright lived in Japan intermittently during the design and construction of the Imperial Hotel, which opened on September 1, 1923, the day of the Great Kanto Earthquake. The Imperial Hotel survived, and Wright considered it his masterpiece. After the Imperial Hotel project, Wright never again returned to Japan, but the 30-year span from his 1893 encounter with Japanese architecture in Chicago to the 1923 opening of the Imperial Hotel engendered lasting friendships and professional relationships spanning generations.
Wright’s Imperial Hotel became a center for social and cross-cultural exchange. In this spirit, Imperial Hotel, Ltd. and the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust wanted to celebrate the power of architecture and the value of cultural heritage as a foundation for enduring international friendship. It should be noted that Wright’s version of the hotel no longer exists; after suffering a slow but sure accumulation of decay, the Wright-designed hotel was demolished in 1968. The current structure was opened in 1970.
President of Imperial Hotel, Ltd., Mr. Hideya Sadayasu, said, “This year, the Imperial Hotel honors the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. We are pleased to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Wright’s Imperial at the iconic Robie House in Chicago, the city where Wright established his reputation and home to a majority of his extant works. We hope that the cherry trees we planted with the trust will grow for many years to come, in honor of Wright’s achievements in Japan and the United States.”
About Imperial Hotel, Ltd.
The Imperial Hotel opened in 1890, serving as Japan’s guesthouse. It was founded by Japanese aristocracy on the same site it occupies today and began as a venue to receive an increasing number of foreign dignitaries visiting Japan in the Meiji Period (1868-1912). Its classical Japanese hospitality makes it the traditional favorite of visiting VIPs and travelers from abroad. The Imperial Hotel operates three hotels in Tokyo, Osaka and Kamikochi, and will open another hotel in Gion, Kyoto in 2026. In addition, the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo plans to rebuild its tower building from 2024 to 2030, and its current main building from 2031 to 2036.
Imperial Hotel’s official website: https://www.imperialhotel.co.jp/e/tokyo/
About the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust
Founded in 1974, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust ( https://www.flwright.org/ ) is an independent, charitable not-for-profit organization that operates at four Wright-designed sites. The trust operates public tours and programs at four Chicago area historic sites: Wright’s home and studio (1889-1909) and Unity Temple (1905-08) in Oak Park; the Frederick C. Robie House (1908-10), located on the campus of University of Chicago in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood; and the Rookery Light Court (1905-07) in the Chicago Loop.