RIHGA ROYAL HOTEL
Osaka

[ABOUT]

Rihga Royal Hotel boasts a history of about 90 years.

In December 2024, the exclusive lounge "Royal Lounge" for guests staying at the club floor "Royal Club" will be renovated into a space of ultimate relaxation and sophistication.
The Royal Club is located on the 23rd to 27th floors of the East Wing and has 62 rooms on the club floor, including the Royal Suite, a special guest room with a total floor area of ​​843 square meters, which is a symbol of the hotel, which has been called the ``guest house of Kansai'' since its opening.

The renovation concept is "a cascade of history."
We interviewed Masahiko Kusagaya, a leather craftsman who has created numerous pieces of leather art with the image of "Junihitoe" using huge pieces of leather.

━What led to this wonderful initiative?

The club lounge "Royal Lounge", which boasts a history of 90 years, has been renewed with the concept of "overlapping".

To express overlap with leather
Leather art inspired by Juni-Hitoe
I worked on it.

Produced 7 huge works.
The largest piece was about 3 meters long, so I couldn't work on it when the shop was open, so I worked from 8pm when it closed until midnight, and on regular holidays, working day in and day out as a craftsman, and it was completed in about a month and a half.

And then to Osaka.
Seven pieces of leather art with the image of "Junihitoe" were pasted on, but it wasn't as easy as I thought, and with the help of director Naito and cameraman Takegawa, they were careful and careful not to mess things up.

The good thing about leather is that it has the ability to stretch and contract, so all three of us worked in unison to carefully pull the pieces together in all directions.

Happenings are common on site, and it was discovered that one of the seven sheets had a difference of less than 5 cm from the drawing, so he immediately contacted the company and instructed them to have the leather delivered to Omotesando tomorrow.

I was planning to finish the other 6 pieces tonight, return to Tokyo for the last time, cut the leather tomorrow morning, and then head to Osaka again, but 6 pieces turned out to be more difficult than I expected.

I couldn't catch the last Shinkansen in time, so I hurriedly found a hotel and stayed in Osaka.
The next morning, I returned to Omotesando, cut the ordered leather, headed straight to Osaka, and the last piece was finally completed in the evening!

When everything was completed, I calmly looked at the work,
I was filled with emotion.
I couldn't have accomplished it by myself alone.

When I was looking at the completed work with LINE-INC's designer Masutani-san, he said, ``This is the first time I've commissioned a piece like this with leather, so I was nervous.''

I had been working on it for about a month and a half, and of course I had the idea that I would succeed, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous at all.

So, when I heard Mr. Masutani say that he was worried, it may be a strange way to say it, but I was happy, and it made me realize that I wasn't the only one who was worried, and that Mr. Masutani felt the same way.
There was something that really hit home for me.

This was my first attempt at this project, and while I was working on it, I was absorbed in it, and it was a race against time. However, ``fun'' overwhelmingly outweighed the anxiety and pressure.

I'm happy to have had such a valuable experience.
Everyone at the scene was so kind, and I am grateful to them all.

Leather is the life of animals.
That life becomes art and becomes engraved in people's hearts.
This is one of the things I wanted to do.

I hope to realize each job I want to take on again.
I will continue to work hard as a leather craftsman!