Trunk(Hotel) Yoyogi Park Opens With a Rooftop Pool Over the Trees

Trunk(Hotel) Yoyogi Park opened on 1 September 2023 in Tomigaya, on the western edge of Yoyogi Park in Tokyo. It has 25 rooms and is the third property of Trunk, the Japanese company that opened its first hotel in Shibuya in 2017 and the single-room Trunk(House) in a former geisha house in Kagurazaka in 2019.

The neighbourhood

Tomigaya, with the adjoining streets of Kamiyamacho, is sometimes called Oku-Shibuya, deep Shibuya. It is a ten-minute walk from the Shibuya crossing and feels like another city: low buildings, independent coffee roasters, bakeries, wine bars, bookshops and small restaurants, with the trees of the park at the end of each street. It has become one of the most pleasant districts of the city to walk in, and until this hotel it had nowhere to stay.

Design

The building and its interiors are the joint work of the Tokyo architect Keiji Ashizawa and Norm Architects of Copenhagen, who have collaborated for some years on furniture and houses. The style, often called Japandi, combines Japanese and Scandinavian habits: raw concrete softened by timber, washi paper lamps, hand-made tiles, linen and a restricted palette of grey, sand and oak. The furniture was made for the hotel by Karimoku and other Japanese workshops.

Every room has a balcony, an uncommon thing in a Tokyo hotel, and those on the park side look directly into the treetops. There are four room types, among them Park View Suites and an Owner’s Suite at the top. The hotel’s concept is described as urban recharge, a stay that restores energy without leaving the city.

Pool and restaurant

On the roof, the Trunk(Pool Club) has a heated infinity pool, a whirlpool and a small bar with an oyster and seafood menu, reserved for hotel guests. The pool looks across the canopy of the park towards the towers of Shinjuku. On the ground floor, L’Ombelico is a pizzeria and trattoria with 67 seats, open to the neighbourhood from breakfast, with a wood-fired oven and a terrace on the street.

Where it fits

Trunk represents a kind of hotel still unusual in Tokyo: small, locally owned, designed with care and rooted in a neighbourhood more than in a tower. It has little in common with the large international hotels described in our guide to where to stay in Tokyo, and it suits visitors who know the city and want to live in it for a few days. Its nearest equivalents in spirit are 1 Hotel Tokyo and Ace Hotel Kyoto.

Yoyogi-koen and Yoyogi-hachiman stations are a few minutes away on foot. Meiji Shrine is across the park.