Upon opening the door, you are met with a gold-colored wall of five-yen coins. The floor, the walls, and the ceiling are all lined with glimmering five-yen coins. The five-yen coin is a symbol of faith. It is often used as a monetary offering in shrines and temples and is believed to be a good omen. You can find these small coins wherever you go here in Kyoto.

This room is set up so that the five-yen coins adorning the walls will continue to increase as time goes on. We want you, the guest, to add a coin to the wall and participate in this art piece as well. Whether you use a five-yen coin from a silver tray on the desk in the room, or use one of your own, you’re welcome to add as many coins as you’d like. Using the adhesive and guide on the desk, continue to add five-yen coins to the walls around you.

This “goen no ma” experience was made in the hopes of fostering connections between past, present, and future patrons. That is the wish of the artist, Ryuichi Ohira. From here on out, we will hear from the artist about this piece.

---Please introduce yourself to us.

I am Ryuichi Ohira and I’m a sculptor.

----Mr.Ohira, since you’re a sculptor, what kind of pieces do you normally work on?

Most of my pieces use wood as the main medium. However, I am not really set on one kind of material, I usually change it up depending on the time and situation.

----Do you have a specific size or motif?

No, not in particular. There isn’t one kind of art I want to make or some kind of art work I have always made until this point. It’s different each and every time.

---The title of this piece is “Goen no ma” or “five-yen coin.” The five-yen coins stretch around the room, or at least half of the room is covered in five-yen coins, and that in itself is the artwork. Was that what you were imagining when you were making this art piece?

If you come to Kyoto, you end up using a lot of five-yen coins. When you are going between the temples and shrines, you constantly carry around these coins and offer them at temples.

----So you stock up on five-yen coins when you are going to Kyoto?

That’s right. Or at least, that has left a strong impression on me. In 2012, I made a waterfall using five-yen coins, however, this time I combined that concept with this experience, which is how this piece came to be.

--- The theme of this piece is “Connected by Chance,” could you explain to us a bit more about the meaning behind the positioning of the five yen coins?

I think the main point in the piece is that the guests actively participate in it. “Go-en” means five-yen, but it also refers to our ties with one another. You throw these five yen coins in as offerings at temples. You pray for things like new meetings, or favourable connections. I think using a hotel as a medium for this just makes sense. People often think of hotels as a place you go to once and never come back to, but I thought it would be interesting if there was something that could connect previous guests to future guests. That is where the themes of “connections” and “five yen” came together.

---The guests are actively asked to put five yen coins on the walls, however, is there anything you want to take into consideration as they do this?

It’s not really a consideration...but I just want them to do as they please. I want them to place as many coins on the wall as they would like. Just one coin, or two coins, and you don’t really understand the point of the practice. If it isn’t a bit difficult, it isn’t interesting haha. Just like working on a farm, if you don’t sweat a little bit, the beer just isn’t as good once you finish.

---Do you have a message for guests staying in the “goen no ma” room?

Thank you so much for choosing to stay in this room. Please place as many five yen coins as you would like on the walls and feel free to invite the next person you know to come and do the same. You can also feel free to write your name on the coins if you’d like.