KOMATSU, JAPAN-While Western hotel companies target Japan for development of contemporary high-rise properties, historic Japanese inns like the Hoshi Ryokan here balance traditional design with modernity.

The Hoshi public spaces, in particular, are decorated with museum-quality pieces of sculpture, ceramics, masks, screen painting, and examples of calligraphy, some of which are hundreds of years old. In fact, owner/operator Zengoro Hoshi, whose family has owned the property continuously for many generations, continues to scour antique shops and estate sales for additional items to display in the lobby and elsewhere through the property.

To accentuate the art-filled design, the walls of the public spaces are painted either a deep saturated red or equally saturated blue. Both colors are called royal red and royal blue in honor of the Japanese royal family.

Yet Hoshi said he is careful to remember that the inn is a lodging enterprise and... Full Story

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