Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo's Garden Initiative Wins Japan's Good Design Award 2025

Awarded for its "Garden Cultural Revitalization and Communication Model," redefining its Japanese garden as a hub for research, community, and skill development.

TOKYO, JP / ACCESS Newswire / October 30, 2025 / Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo has received the Good Design Award 2025 for its pioneering Garden Cultural Revitalization and Communication Model, which redefines the role of Japanese gardens within contemporary hotel management. Recognized as one of Japan's most prestigious design awards, the accolade highlights the hotel's long-term commitment to preserving cultural heritage while connecting people, nature, and tradition.

Created in the Meiji era by statesman Aritomo Yamagata and later inherited by the Fujita family, the garden remains a symbol of living heritage. Through this award-winning model, the hotel has positioned the garden as a space for research, community, and training-an approach that stood out among this year's entries.

The initiative began in 2020, when the hotel chose to expand, rather than reduce, investment in its garden, introducing experiential programs such as Tokyo Sea of Clouds. The creation of a dedicated Garden Management Department provides training for emerging gardeners, while collaborations with Ueyakato Landscape and Yushien Garden support specialized education and cultural continuity.

"At a time when many historic gardens in Japan struggle to survive financially, this project is pioneering in placing the garden itself at the center of its vision," the judges noted.

"During COVID, when the hospitality industry was driven toward efficiency, the decision to invest in a non-revenue-generating garden-and to reform organizational awareness-was bold and forward-looking.

Rather than treating the garden as a backdrop, the project positions it as a foundation for experience and research, recognizing that a garden is a living, ever-evolving entity and finding cultural value in that dynamism.

Furthermore, in addressing the contemporary challenges facing Japanese gardens, such as the shortage of skilled gardeners and successors, the project redefines the garden not merely as a tourism asset, but as a place for training and the preservation of traditional techniques, which makes it all the more valuable."

Earlier this year, the garden was also certified by Japan's Ministry of the Environment as a Natural Symbiosis Site under the Regional Biodiversity Enhancement Act, recognizing its efforts in biodiversity and eco-conscious management.

About Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo
Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo is one of the city's most iconic luxury hotels with over 70 years of history. The property includes 265 guest rooms/suites, eight restaurants, an executive lounge, 38 meeting/banquet rooms, and a full-service spa with a Japanese onsen. Its award-winning garden has a wide variety of botanicals, including more than 100 cherry trees and 1,000 camellia trees. The standout feature of the garden is the ‘Tokyo Sea of Clouds,' a recreation of the natural phenomenon that can usually only be found in the mountainous regions of Japan. The hotel is owned and managed by Fujita Kanko Inc., a publicly-traded tourism industry corporation headquartered in Tokyo.

For more information, please visit: https://hotel-chinzanso-tokyo.com/page/good-design-award-2025/

SOURCE: Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo