Today’s luxury traveller is seeking a more experiential excursion, with a desire to connect with the local community, get in touch with its pulse and culture, and seek out places that offer more than just a place to sleep.
Your first vision of Trunk Hotel, located in the heart of Shibuya – which has always been one of Tokyo’s most on-the-pulse outposts for music, food, fashion and all things cultural – is that and more. Like a perpendicular park, two geometrically formed four-storey buildings sit side by side, clad in the elements of stone, wood and metal. Horizontal tiered terraces are a mass of tumbling greenery. They sit nestled within a tranquil lane. It’s all very low-key; there are no flashy limos, no glitz and no glamour.
Upon entering, you experience a feeling of calmness in this subdued and peaceful world that’s at once inviting. You immediately feel at home and, unlike most hotels, there’s no imminent feeling of needing to rush off to your room. The Trunk lounge encourages you to stay and linger, to settle into its soft woollen sofas with your complimentary welcome drink. While you lounge, you slowly take in the detail, textures and natural elements, which speak to the thought that has so obviously gone into this beautiful space. It’s all very tasteful; there’s nothing loud or in-your-face. It’s a slow discovery, as your eye takes in the many treasures.
The interiors of this hip hotel abound with Japanese craftsmanship, abstract artworks including Japanese washi paper art, contemporary paintings and fabric wall hangings, mixed with concrete floors and modern bespoke wooden furniture that’s mostly from upcycled wood and made by Truck of Osaka. The barstools are made from old wine corks.
The thoughtful details extend to each of the 15 rooms (four suites and 11 standards), which are all different in size, layout, and furnishings – although they all share a contemporary clean-lined Japanese design aesthetic. Some have a balcony or terrace. Suites have expanses of wood, big tables and aromatic green plants. The bathrooms feature white tiling, Japanese organic products, and the most scrumptious robes and PJs.
But Trunk is clearly not a hotel that’s just about sleeping. It offers a truly “made in Japan” experience that draws from both the traditions and the trends of Tokyo. A Japanese-Western fusion is especially captured in the cuisine at the Trunk Kitchen, a restaurant that serves contemporary food using local Japanese ingredients – from wagyu hamburgers to Shibuya-made burrata. “Shibuya soul food” is served at the Trunk Kushi stand, a modern take on a traditional local kushiyaki where skewered grilled food is served alongside hojicha tea from the neighbourhood. At the Trunk Bar, you could consider an aptly named “Getting Trunk” cocktail that contains a heady mix of rum from the far-flung Ogasawara Islands (which technically falls within Tokyo’s jurisdiction, making it perhaps the capital’s only home-grown rum). On the ground floor is the Trunk lifestyle store, a “convenience store” that’s more like a Damien Hirst art installation, offering locally sourced Tokyo-made keepsakes, honey, craft beer and wines.
But there’s more. Trunk arranges personal experiences for its visitors to fully take in the charms of Shibuya and experience the unique culture. This can take the shape of dining activities with locals such as skewer-grilling; architecture, design and photography tours; a photography hike up Mount Fuji; hanging out with sumo wrestlers; or sky-cruising over Tokyo.
Trunk’s owner, Yoshitaka Nojiri, who grew up in Shibuya, felt it was a less lively place now than when he was growing up – and he wanted “to reignite the neighbourhood’s creative embers with Trunk.” Sustainability-minded, he also focuses on the “three R’s” of waste hierarchy – reduce, reuse, and recycle – that anchors Trunk’s environmentally healthy ethos.
All of this is set within the fashion-focused Shibuya neighbourhood and just seconds from hipster-magnet Cat Street, the epicentre of Harajuku’s famed street fashion culture that is lined with countless independent fashion boutiques, restaurants and cafes. There’s so much waiting to be explored – just pop on your walking shoes or hop on your Trunk bike to discover the bustling area and see what Tokyo’s all about.
