Art without the admission fee

Minimalist aesthetic. Ancient traditions. Understated symbolism. Many people visit Japan hoping to experience these, but few actually get to share their hotel room with an artwork that embodies them all. Unless, that is, they stay at The Gate Hotel in Kyoto, where the in-room art installations will have you sharing content to Instagram before you’ve even had your morning coffee. 

The hotel has three very special Lab Rooms, each of which is built around a distinct artistic concept. In small, light-filled chambers attached to the rooms (in some cases, visible from your bed), you’ll find works of art, each bespoke, unique and created by two local artists: Masaomi Raku, a stone sculptor, and Takaaki Murase, a “bonsai globe planter.” 

Murase, creator of the living installations, is an “anti-consumerist” artist on a mission to create beauty by recycling all sorts of found objects. Inspired by his grandfather’s traditional bonsai, he fuses together plants and artificial objects in small glass spheres displaying perfect, miniature bonsai trees and vivid green moss that changes with the seasons.

Every element of his work has a deeply considered meaning. The room “Floating Point” (pictured top) has gently misted tree trunks beneath perfectly coiffured terrariums hosting carefully fused plants. Its black sand is from Mount Fuji and the stump of a cedar tree sits on volcanic rock, covered with 10 different types of moss. (To find out more about his work, or to order your own bespoke bonsai globe, visit the online Re:planter store.) 

Meanwhile, contrasting Lab Room “Stone Box” (pictured below) is the creation of sculptor Masaomi Raku. White sand from Australia is raked weekly by the artist to resemble the seabed, with all its spirals and ripple marks. This surrounds a large, honey-colored piece of marble, painstakingly honed to call to mind a bird’s beak with precious seeds hidden inside, a symbol of happiness and the bringing of life. 

A critical element in choosing these two creators was their age: Both young, up-and-coming, and just breaking into Tokyo’s art scene. “This building is a former elementary school,” says the hotel’s general manager Yoshio Kimura, “and we want to help convey that cultural story to our guests.”

If this piques your interest, check out the Retreat Room, the site of the historic school’s “moral education” training room, with its tatami mats and fragile but beautiful glass sliding doors. This is where the children at the school learned the spirit of “Rissei”—kindness and honesty—and where The Gate Hotel now runs yoga and meditation classes, as well as traditional Noh and Kabuki theater shows (find times and dates on a poster in the lobby). 

Add in a buzzing lobby lounge and bar with a blockbuster panoramic view of the mountains around Kyoto (come in winter and you’ll see a dusting of snow), a large green outdoor space for contemplation, and a library full of antique books, and you have a full cultural experience without having to leave the building. What’s more, the Lab Rooms, with their themes of growth and their ever-changing nature, will keep offering reasons to come back. As Murase, the bonsai artist, says: “No work of art is ever completed if you combine stone and vegetation.” 

You can find out more about the Lab Room installations by watching the hotel-produced film about their creation on your in-room TV. 

Find more of your Perfect Somewheres

The bigger picture

What guests say

Lovely hotel with lots to offer and really well located. Breakfast was great.
Gordon, two-night family trip 


We love the extras. Umbrellas when raining, courtyard with coffee, wine, and s’mores. Price wasn’t too bad either.
Charles, one-night family trip 


So convenient in Kyoto. Close to trains, lots of cabs, lots of color, and Nishiki market. Though surrounded by bars, restaurants and nightlife, it’s not excessively noisy. Near the river for a ride or a walk through Gion to check out more history.
David and Christine, five-night romance trip