How Ritz-Carlton Fukuoka keeps traditional Japanese artistry alive

The loud click-clacking of mechanical looms reverberated around us as we pored over design sketches, ranging from elaborate floral patterns to cute cats and edgy skulls. Colourful skeins of silk threads were neatly laid out, waiting to be indexed to squares on grid paper. 

Keeping an eye on the machines were veteran craftsmen, each averaging 20 years of experience, including one weaver with nearly 60 years in the industry.

I was at Nishimura Orimono, the oldest producer of Hakata-ori textiles, one of Fukuoka’s oldest craft traditions. 

A local merchant brought the weaving technique over from China 800 years ago, and Nishimura’s founders, who were initially thread merchants, were among the pioneers who further developed the technique and opened a weaving company in 1861.

The art of Japanese weaving

Today, Nishimura’s sixth-generation owner and president, Soichiro Nishimura, has expanded the technique’s traditional application to obis and kimonos to include gamaguchi (Japanese coin purses), wall coverings and chair upholstery. 

One of the few weavers in Japan authorised to import raw BRATAC silk from Brazil, which luxury brands commonly use, it controls every step of its production process from dyeing the silk threads to design and marketing. It also modernised its production 10 years ago to efficiently create up to 35 different designs at any one time.

Traditional crafts may be dying out in parts of Japan. Still, in Fukuoka, the likes of hakata-ori are living on in modern memory, thanks to corporations and hospitality leaders like The Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka, which offers small-group experiences to explore the region’s crafts, such as Hakata doll painting and Takatori pottery painting. It also has chef-led market tours and Yame tea tasting. 

Opened in June 2023, The Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka recently launched cultural experiences for guests seeking a more immersive experience with local craft and culture. The tours are conducted in Japanese at the moment, with an interpreter at an additional cost.

The hotel’s general manager, Radu Cernia, shared: “To pass on traditional crafts to future generations, more people must become aware of them. We have noticed that guests are increasingly seeking unique, immersive experiences exclusive to specific locations. Few places in Japan offer the opportunity to experience a fish market and traditional crafts like Hakata-ori in a single trip.”

The hotel itself is an ode to Kyushu’s artistic spirit, with Hakata-ori-inspired pieces around the hotel, from a breathtaking three-dimensional thread installation at the arrival lobby to silk panels in the rooms. At Nishimura, I learned to weave a bracelet and appreciated the effort that went into the craft, as my clumsy motor skills led to knots that had to be unpicked several times. 

One of the few young, female artisans in the factory, 37-year-old Kumi Aritomi, enthusiastically shared how she fell in love with weaving as a high school student, learned the craft and later applied for a job at Nishimura. Fourteen years later, she is still passionate about its myriad applications to art and design. 

Beyond the kitchen

At all-day dining restaurant Viridis, the tones of an abstract four-piece metal weaving series on the four seasons morph according to how sunlight falls on them at different times of the day. 

The dynamic works accentuated the restaurant’s degustation menu, which spotlights regional and seasonal ingredients such as Yame tea leaves mixed with fish sauce, persimmon vinegar and extra virgin olive oil in a tasty appetiser. An unusual sweet-salty combo of Karatomari Ebisu oysters with cherry tomatoes and fromage blanc mousse was surprisingly pleasing too.

The Nagahama Market tour was a rare insight into Fukuoka’s largest commercial fish market, which is open to the public only once a month.

The hotel is currently the only one that is allowed to have private visits led by Genjyu restaurant’s kaiseki chef Hirotaka Nakashima, who has been procuring his seafood from one of the market vendors for many years.

The colder months may be a better time to visit the market. At 7 deg C, the air is crisp and clean without smelling too fishy. We arrived at 4am, which would have allowed us to catch the fish auction, but that day’s haul was unusually small.

The auction was over by the time we arrived — a disappointing development, but something that was part of the market’s operations, unless guests are willing to arrive even earlier. 

At Nakashima’s regular stall, one of the company’s employees, Yoko-san, who has worked there for over 30 years, swiftly brought the chef up to date on the freshest and most unique catches for the day. We picked out squid, amberjack, clams and bonito fish. 

Then Yoko-san pointed out the day’s standout: a rare catch of spiky sea cucumbers from Nagasaki. Nakashima asked if I would like to try it as sashimi besides the usual boiled or braised versions. Why not, I replied without hesitation, before my 4am brain registered that I had agreed to eat a raw filter-feeder. 

The sea cucumber sashimi was more chewy than I would have liked, but it was palatable with sweetness and spice from radish and shichimi seasoning. Another portion was boiled with Yame tea. 

The rest of my Genjyu lunch included squid tempura, yellowtail fish soup with Kyoto radish, and clams with shiso, mushrooms and Japanese parsley. As I tucked into the delicious feast, my eyes were drawn to the geometrical Hakata-ori piece on the wall of the private dining room. 

In that moment, sublime beauty and the hard work behind Kyushu’s craft and cuisine came together. To come up close with the people who keep these traditions going was truly a privilege.