News Release
Large-scale Renovations of All CROSS HOTEL SAPPORO Guest Rooms
Sixty-six “Art Rooms” Decorated with Modern Art Now Available for Reservation
Jun 25, 2020
TOKYO, Japan - June 25, 2020 - ORIX Real Estate Corporation (“ORIX Real Estate”) announced that large-scale renovations, which commenced in February 2019, have now been completed on a total of 66 guest rooms from 9 to 13 floors at its CROSS HOTEL SAPPORO. Reservations will be accepted starting today*.
All 66 guest rooms that were refurbished as part of the second stage of these renovations have been refashioned as “Art Rooms,” and will be furnished with artworks that embody the charms of Hokkaido. Works created by eight artists based in Hokkaido will be displayed on the walls of these Art Rooms, providing guests with spaces in which they can both relax and experience art and culture first-hand. The artworks have been inspired by Hokkaido, and incorporate themes such as the prefecture’s brown bears and Ezo red foxes, and Ainu patterns carved in relief onto Hokkaido-sourced oak boards. Each previously unseen artwork has been specially designed for CROSS HOTEL SAPPORO.
CROSS HOTEL SAPPORO is actively engaged in the promotion of the region’s culture. Since 2013, it has hosted limited-time events during which artworks by artists resident in Hokkaido are displayed in guestrooms, with the goal of stimulating Sapporo’s modern art market. Via art and culture, the hotel seeks to stimulate interactions between the local community and tourists from Japan and overseas, and thereby reinvigorate the region.
Through its business brand ORIX HOTELS & RESORTS that operates onsen hotels and hotels, ORIX Real Estate provides facilities that meet the needs and lifestyles of customers and so contributes to the promotion and revitalization of local communities.
* The news release issued on February 26, 2020 (https://www.orix.co.jp/grp/en/newsrelease/200226_ORIXG.html) stated that reservations would be accepted from March 1; however, the hotel was temporarily closed due to the spread of COVID-19 and, as a result, changes were made both to post-renovation reservation dates and check-in dates.
1. Overview of the renovations
CROSS HOTEL SAPPORO commenced work on large-scale renovations at all 181 of its guest rooms in February 2019, and is scheduled to complete work on all guest rooms by the end of April 2021. The renovations use refined designs to manifest the atmosphere of the Sapporo of today, as well as the history and culture of Hokkaido Prefecture as a whole. In addition to redecorating the walls, floors, and other surfaces of the rooms, the beds, furnishings, and other facilities will be refurbished or replaced. The renovated guest rooms will feature one of three color styles: HIP, which provides a sense of the extraordinary; URBAN, which has a refined, urban atmosphere; and NATURAL, which features the warmth of wood. Guests will be able to select the color style that best suits the purpose of their stay.
Construction Schedule:
Stage One – February–April, 2019: 45 guest rooms on floors 14 to 17
Stage Two – February–June, 2020: 66 guest rooms on floors 9 to 13
Stage Three – February–April, 2021: 70 guest rooms on floors 4 to 8 (scheduled)
1) About the Art Rooms
Artworks made by 8 artists with links to Hokkaido will be displayed in all 66 guest rooms on floors 9 to 13. These previously unseen artworks have all been created especially for CROSS HOTEL SAPPORO, and will be available to purchase (exceptions apply).
* Each artwork is one-of-a-kind; upon purchase, the actual artwork displayed in the Art Room will be delivered to the purchaser.
Participating artists (listed in random order)
● TOYTOY
Artwork themes: Wooden reliefs of Ainu patterns, designed specifically for CROSS HOTEL SAPPORO to safeguard the hotel’s guests
Number of artworks on display: one artwork displayed in 11 guest rooms
Profile: TOYTOY is a tonkori (Ainu stringed instrument) and mukkuri (Ainu plucked idiophone) player, an Ainu folk dance performer, an Ainu pattern papercutting artist, and an Ainu pattern designer. He was raised in an environment that was immersed in Ainu culture. TOYTOY visits old Ainu inhabitants of Hokkaido, and reappraises and relearns Ainu culture; these experiences revive the papercutting and songs that were passed on to him as a child. TOYTOY desires for Ainu culture “to become more familiar, and to be treasured as the culture of Hokkaido” and, to this end, he is active in Hokkaido, across Japan, and overseas.
● Makoto Iga
Artwork themes: Iga’s artworks are emotionally restrained and slightly rhythmical, and intended to work in harmony with the vision of CROSS HOTEL SAPPORO; his artworks are not overemphasized but instead create a balance with the rooms as a whole
Number of artworks on display: nine artworks in nine rooms
Profile: Makoto Iga was born in 1961 and currently resides in Sapporo. Working primarily with thin strips of wood, he fashions painstaking designs before assembling the component parts into geometric patterns. His architectural structures are abstract in form yet call to mind urban dioramas, and can also be seen as microcosms of the world. In recent years, Iga has worked on large-scale artworks, such as installations that cover the entire space that houses them, and he continues to seek new forms of expression. He is chairman of G.A.A.L., the Geometric Abstract Art Laboratory.
● CHIE
Artwork themes: Chie’s artworks are inspired by Hokkaido tourist destinations such as Susukino and Sapporo Odori Park
Number of artworks on display: nine artworks in nine guest rooms
Profile: CHIE currently resides in Sapporo. Her works exclusively depict the world of FOPPISH GIRL, which she created in 1997, in navy and white. FOPPISH GIRL inhabits a unique world of CHIE’s making. According to CHIE: “She wears a paper bag on her head and never shows her face. If their faces can’t be seen, then people can do all sorts of things—embarrassing things, or stupid things—and even express feelings they would ordinarily not be able to vocalize.”
The sense of nothingness and other uncontrollable feelings experienced by CHIE are visually manifested in the form of multiple versions of FOPPISH GIRL. By engaging in dialogue with FOPPISH GIRL, CHIE discovers answers in the form of imagined landscapes that fuse with real landscapes and combine to form a single artistic narrative. Through these innumerable FOPPISH GIRLS, CHIE records her memories.
● Ryuichi Kobayashi
Artwork themes: artworks with Hokkaido animal motifs, created using unique methods
Number of artworks on display: nine artworks in nine guestrooms
Profile: Ryuichi Kobayashi was born in 1988 and currently lives in Sapporo. After graduating from the Hokkaido College of Art & Design, where he specialized in illustration, he worked at a number of design companies before becoming a freelance illustrator and designer. Kobayashi takes his inspiration from animals and nature, and creates artworks that combine power and delicacy and that express his own unique sensibilities. He is a member of Hokkaido Illustrators Club ALPHA.
● Kozo Abe
Artwork themes: Inspired by the topographical shape of Hokkaido, Abe uses color to represent the prefecture’s landscapes and four seasons
Number of artworks on display: nine artworks in nine guestrooms
Profile: Kozo Abe was born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. After suffering from a major illness, he learned to think about things in a simplified manner. This approach has also influenced his art, and he creates pieces solely using line and color, or light and dark—which form the essence of all pictures.
● Hiroko Takahashi
Artwork themes: artworks that combine Hokkaido fauna motifs with the idea of “hotel tranquility”
Number of artworks on display: nine artworks in nine guestrooms
Profile: Hiroko Takahashi was born in Akita Prefecture in 1977, and raised in Sapporo. In 2013, she began displaying works in acrylic and pen. In addition to holding solo exhibitions, Takahashi also participates in group exhibitions, primarily in Sapporo. Observing both herself and those around her, she asks questions of various things in the world—"What is that really—what is its essence?” and “What does it mean to be alive?” Focusing on the ideas that emanate from these questions, Takahashi creates two-dimensional artworks that recall wolves and other animals, rocks, plants, and other objects that are familiar to all.
● Marina Tanaka
Artwork themes: quasi-three-dimensional woodcraft inspired by the joy of holidaying in Hokkaido and by Hokkaido’s animals
Number of artworks on display: nine artworks in nine guestrooms
Profile: Marina Tanaka was born in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in 1993. She loves Hokkaido greatly, and continues to be based in Sapporo, where she works in a variety of fields, including PR projects for local companies, and illustration and design. Tanaka enjoys frequently immersing herself in the natural environments of her beloved Hokkaido, and gains inspiration from these experiences. She hopes to continue making artworks that excite both herself and others.
● WABISABI
Artwork themes: WABISABI’s unique logotype—inspired by a traditional Japanese form of stylized signature known as “kao”—is used to represent the “Linker Nation”—a people who understand the importance of oral tradition—which itself is inspired by CROSS HOTEL SAPPORO and Hokkaido
Number of artworks on display: one artwork in one guestroom
Profile: WABISABI are a design team comprising Ryohei “Wabi” Kudo and Kazushi “Sabi” Nakanishi. Based in Sapporo, the duo work in diverse fields, including advertising, graphic design, three-dimensional art, video, fashion, and interior design. WABISABI have received numerous awards, including the Merit Prize at the ADC 86th Annual Awards (New York), the Bronze Prize at the Taipei International Poster Festival, selection to the International Poster and Graphic Design Festival of Chaumont, the Runner-up Prize at the Tokyo Midtown Award 2008, and the All-Hokkaido Advertising Association’s Association Award.
Artwork by Marina Tanaka
Artwork by Ryuichi Kobayashi
Artwork by Makoto Iga
Artwork by WABISABI
| Period of stay: | check-in from July 1, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Reservation method: | reservations accepted by telephone or via the official hotel website Tel: 011-272-0010 CROSS HOTEL SAPPORO official website: https://www.crosshotel.com/sapporo/en  |
| Available rooms: | all 66 guest rooms on floors 9 to 13 (four types: deluxe twin, twin, double, and single; and eight styles) * Guests are unable to specify artists or artworks. |
| Address: | 23, Kita 2jo Nishi 2, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido |
|---|---|
| Capacity: | 181 guest rooms accommodating 336 guests |
| Access: | Approx. five minutes’ walk from JR Sapporo Station Approx. five minutes’ walk from Odori Station on the Sapporo Municipal Subway Namboku, Tozai, and Toho Lines Approx. three minutes’ walk from Sapporo Station on the Sapporo Municipal Subway Namboku and Toho Lines Approx. twenty minutes by car from Sapporo Interchange on Hokkaido Expressway |
| Website: | https://www.crosshotel.com/sapporo/en |
| Telephone: | 011-272-0010 |
| Operating company: | ORIX Hotel Management Corporation |
3. Overview of the ORIX HOTELS & RESORTS Brand
ORIX HOTELS & RESORTS is an onsen hotel and hotel operating business brand. It is responsible for 12 ORIX Real Estate facilities in Japan whose operation has not been entrusted to other companies.
The brand concept is “a location to which customers wish to return.” ORIX HOTELS & RESORTS seeks to become a brand that caters in a refreshing manner to the diverse needs of its customers and even, at times, satisfies desires they did not know they had.
https://www.orixhotelsandresorts.com/
(1) List of Accommodation Facilities
(2) Overview of the Brand’s Business Categories
ORIX HOTELS & RESORTS divides the facilities it operates into four different categories. It proposes destinations suited to a variety of different usage scenarios, depending for example on age, party size, and travel aims and styles.
Brand Categories:
Contact Information:
ORIX Corporation
Corporate Planning Department
Tel: +81-3-3435-3121
About ORIX:
ORIX Corporation (TSE: 8591; NYSE: IX) is a financial services group which provides innovative products and services to its customers by constantly pursuing new businesses.
Established in 1964, from its start in the leasing business, ORIX has advanced into neighboring fields and at present has expanded into lending, investment, life insurance, banking, asset management, automobile related, real estate and environment and energy related businesses. Since entering Hong Kong in 1971, ORIX has spread its businesses globally by establishing locations in 37 countries and regions across the world.
Going forward, ORIX intends to utilize its strengths and expertise, which generate new value, to establish an independent ORIX business model that continues to evolve perpetually. In this way, ORIX will engage in business activities that instill vitality in its companies and workforce, and thereby contribute to society. For more details, please visit our website: https://www.orix.co.jp/grp/en/
(As of March 31, 2020)
Caution Concerning Forward Looking Statements:
These documents May contain forward-looking statements about expected future events and financial results that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements are based on our current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results that differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, those described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and under “(4) Risk Factors” of the “1. Summary of Consolidated Financial Results” of the “Consolidated Financial Results April 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020”
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