Yodoko Guest House

UPDATE: A re-written version of this article can be found at JapanTourist.jp along with many other great articles about Japan.

Being a native of Chicagoland and a lover of architecture and design, I was a little surprised the first time I heard there is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Hyogo Prefecture. Becky and I made the journey to Ashiya, a wealthy town boarding Kobe and often refereed to as “the Beverly Hills of Japan,” to see the Yodoko Guest House. The house was designed in 1918 for the Yamamura family, a rich sake brewer from Kobe, as their palatial mountain getaway.

In concordance with Wright’s belief that a structure should be in harmony with the nature around it, the four-floored house steps up the mountain landscape, never exceeding more than two stories being stacked on top of each other. It gives the house a sort of understated presence that is far more impressive than if it had simply been a four story building sitting on a mountainside.

Like many of the more impressive houses by Wright, no expense was spared inside and out. Art deco stonework is found throughout as well as custom copper designs and intricate wood decorations and window vents. The house also includes custom furniture by Wright.

One of my favorite details about the house is one story about design controversy. While Wright designed everything, the houses actual construction was overseen by Wright’s Japanese disciples. In accordance with the wish of the Yamamura family, the house was built with several rooms that included tatami, or traditional Japanese flooring. This was contradictory to Wright’s design, and the builders had to build several walls unnecessarily thick to make the very specific dimensions of the tatami line up with Wright’s room dimensions.

The Yodoko Guest House is among six buildings designed by Wright in Japan, only four of which are still standing (if you include the portion of Wright's Imperial Hotel that now resides at a museum). It’s really a shame he didn’t do more work here. Wright’s obsessive attention to detail, and desire to design everything with the highest of standards lines up so well with Japanese design philosophy and work ethic.