Hotel Koé Opening Party

‘hotel koé’, a new concept hotel in Shibuya, opened its doors on 9 February. To celebrate, they held a special opening party. Mac, Founder and Lead Guide of Maction Planet, was in attendance!    

‘hotel koé’ is the first such project for lifestyle brand koé, whose slogan is ‘New Basic for New Culture’. Beginning in fashion and apparel, then branching out into food at its ‘koé green’ restaurants, the brand has now turned its attention to hotels. They are aiming to create an environment fusing accommodation, art, fashion, food and music. Judging by last night, they’ve achieved that goal.   

The exterior of the hotel is striking. The architecture and interior is the work of a team headed by Makoto Tanijiri and Ai Yoshida from SUPPOSE DESIGN OFFICE.

hotel koé lobby restaurant

Last night, we were there for the music and we were in good hands. Masaya Kuroki of MAISON KITSUNE PARIS has been appointed as Music Executive Producer. Only 80 tickets were available for the Premium area for this special opening concert. We managed to snag a couple for me and my guest for the day, TDR Explorer’s Chris Nilghe.

The music began with a special 30 minute live performance from iri. iri is a singer-songwriter from Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Born in 1994, she taught herself guitar at university. She began singing to accompany her guitar playing and in 2014 she won “JAM”, an audition competition organized by fashion magazine NYLON JAPAN and Sony Music. The prize was a chance to study abroad in New York City. Although iri plays acoustic guitar, her music transcends genres including pop, soul and hip hop.

She released her debut album, ‘Groove it’, on 26 October 2016. It included tracks produced by Japanese music luminaries such as Yaffle of Tokyo Recordings, mabanua, YOSA, and Kenmochi Hidefumi of Suiyoubi no Campanella. Her second album comes ‘Juice’ comes out on 28 February and she begins her first tour of 2018 on 15 March at Nagoya’s Apollo Base, making it to Tokyo’s Ebisu Liquid Room on 20 March. Grab your tickets now because her date at Osaka’s Shangri-la on 16 March is already sold out.

We are big fans of iri at Maction Planet. We played her track ‘Watashi’ in the 26th edition of Tokyo ON, our flagship radio show on Maction Planet radio, which you can listen to here.

Next up we were treated to a couple of hours of DJing from two of Japan’s greats. First to step up to the decks was Tatsuo Sunaga. He’s a legendary Jazz DJ who’s been in the business for over 30 years – in fact, myself and Maction Planet Resident DJ Royce Leong attended his 30 year celebration event at Ageha in November 2015.

Tatsuo Sunaga with Mac and Royce Leong, Maction Planet’s Resident DJ at his 30th anniversary celebration in November 2015

His repetoire extends beyond Jazz to Bossa Nova, Latin and Hip Hop. He has released over 200 projects including his own solo albums under the ‘sunaga t experience’ moniker as well as various jazz compilations and remixes. Sunaga is also known internationally as a Jazz critic and Jazz record collector. Recently he has been taking the time to mentor aspiring DJs in Japan by giving lectures and holding workshops. And, fun fact, he’s an avid Pokemon Go player!

The Fantastic Plastic Machine himself, Tomoyuki Tanaka and Mac, Founder and Lead Guide of Maction Planet

Tatsuo Sunaga was followed by Tomoyuki Tanaka, the Fantastic Plastic Machine himself. FPM needs no introduction to long-term followers of Maction Planet. Here he is endorsing Maction Planet Radio at the Super Skytree Disco event he played at in February 2017!

FPM exudes the effortless cool of an artist who cannot be categorised. His body of work comprises 8 albums and numerous compilations and remixes. Back in the 80s he was a bassist for a rock band called ‘Margarine Strikes Back’. His tunes have been used by Louis Vuitton and Uniqlo and featured on the soundtracks of Sex and the City, Spaced, The Girl Next Door and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. His work has been remixed by Bob Sinclair, Grant Nelson and Masters at Work. He has hosted national radio shows and has even edited Brutus, a men’s magazine which focuses on culture and lifestyle. We’ve played various tracks by him on Tokyo ON, such as Steppin’ Out and ‘if you do, I do‘.  

Both DJs spun sets very much in tune with the ambience of the hotel.

Tatsuo Sunaga on the decks, watched by FPM Tomoyuki Tanaka

It was a fantastic night. We wish Hotel Koé all the best. Thank you to General Manager Shigehiro Okada and his team for their hospitality.

Shigehiro Okada, General Manager of hotel koé, and Mac

Expect to see more from Maction Planet and hotel koé soon!

hotel koé is at 3-7 Udagawacho, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0042

Last night was a classic example of the Maction Planet experience – incredible events which are hard to access for a foreign audience. Let us help you discover all the diverse faces of Tokyo – the history, culture, art, architecture, sport, food, drink, music and more – in one phenomenal package. Check out our 5-star TripAdvisor reviews then contact us at info@mactionplanet.com