A retro-futurist vision

Hatoya Hotel, Itō, Shizuoka

 

orange walkway Hatoya hotel

 

Every generation sees the future through its own style prism. The Takenaka Corporation, which designed the Hatoya Hotel, has arguably been doing exactly that since 1610, when their founding father Tobei Masataka built his first shrine.

spaceage walkway
view into the internal walkway

 

From an original 1947 hotel built by a magician with a thing for pigeons, the Hatoya Hotel expanded five-fold in the early 1970s under the guiding hand of the corporation. Today the bird motif is carried throughout the development.

Futurama, Norman Bel Geddes 1939 New York World’s Fair exhibit and ride and Walt Disney’s Tomorrowland in 1967 and all the Streamline Moderne design in between, were iterative representations of an optimistic future.  Technology would raise the standard of living, make the world a better place. Walter Disney commented,

“Tomorrow is a heck of thing to keep up with…”

We become nostalgic for those outdated versions of the future. The Hatoya Hotel triggers just that response.

 

Hotel Floor Directory

 

external walkway 70s vibes hotel decor 1970s furniture in Hatoya hotel

 

All photos of Hatoya Hotel are the Copyright of Takayama

Follow Takayama on Instagram @hi_takayama

The history of Takenaka Corporation. 

Hatoya Hotel Shizuoka, 1391 Oka, Itō, Japan

Paul Goldberger: Back to the Future: A new look at Modernist hero Norman Bel Geddes, designer of the original 1939 Futurama

 

advert for shell petroleum company

Through the City of Tomorrow Without a Stop: Advertisement for Shell 1937 by Norman Bel Geddes

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