Situated on the west side of the State Guest House, Hagoromo no Ma is so called for the large ceiling painting inspired by a passage from the Noh play Hagoromo (“Robe of Heaven”). A grand space in shades of gold and scarlet, adorned with mirrors, it was formerly referred to as the ballroom. The area is about 330 square meters. This room is a place for welcoming ceremonies during rainy weather and for aperitifs and after-dinner drinks for dinner guests.
The name is derived from the 300 m2 large mural painting on the ceiling that depicts the scenery of the song “Hagoromo”. The interior is in classical style, just like during the morning sun. There is an orchestra box on the mezzanine floor in front. This is because Hagoromo was designed as a ballroom. However, there is no record that the ball was actually held. It has the largest chandelier (7000 parts, 800 kg) in the guest house. Three chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and the parquetry flooring shines with reflected light.
Highlights
Ceiling Painting Inspired by the Noh Play Hagoromo (“Robe of Heaven”)
The ceiling is a French artist’s interpretation of a passage from the Noh play Hagoromo, “Flower petals are dancing in the sky. I hear music. A wonderful perfume fills the air.” Adopting the perspective of a viewer standing in the building’s courtyard looking heavenward, the painting depicts the immediate aftermath of a heavenly maiden alighting on Earth. Plumes of fragrant smoke billow from censers painted on all four corners and the air is filled with a flurry of red and pink flowers. Looking up at the ceiling, the sky opens up above, almost as if one was looking up from a courtyard within the building.
The Most Magnificent Chandeliers in the Palace
The three chandeliers that light this hall are the largest and most ornate in the Akasaka Palace, comprising approximately 7,000 separate parts, most of them crystal. The scintillating ornamentation includes ballroom motifs such as European-style masks and musical instruments.
Musicians’ Gallery
The mezzanine on the north end of the space holds a musicians’ gallery, where music was played during balls. The orchestra box is built on a second floor within the room. It’s red decorative curtains and gilded stucco relief are distinctive.
Wall Relief
The reliefs on the walls show European-style masks and Western musical instruments like the violin, and Japanese musical instruments including the biwa lute and tsuzumi drum, combining motifs from the East and the West. The walls near the doors are decorated with gilded stucco reliefs. A pattern of violins and other Western instruments is combined with traditional Japanese instruments, like the lute (biwa) and hand drum (tsuzumi).
Trompe-l’oeil Ceiling
Painted pillars and chimneys are laid out to force an illusion of three-dimensional objects, depending on where the viewer stands. The image is painted with a technique called three-dimensional painted.
Akasaka Palace
The State Guest Houses (Akasaka Palace) are national facilities to receive foreign dignitaries, such as monarchs, presidents and prime ministers, from countries all over the world. The SGH plays one of the key roles of diplomacy through performing a wide variety of functions, including accommodating foreign dignitaries and holding summit meetings, signing ceremonies or banquets.
The State Guest House, Akasaka Palace serves as a splendid stage of diplomatic activities by welcoming monarchs and presidents from countries all over the world. The State Guest House, Akasaka Palace was the only palace in Japan that was built based on the neo-Baroque style as Crown Prince’s Palace in 1909. It is a structure built by mobilizing all available resources of the Japanese architectural, art and craft industries in those days and represents the culmination of Japan’s full-scale modern Western architecture in the Meiji period. Japan returned to the international community a dozen years after World War II and the number of foreign dignitaries that it welcomes increased; given this, the facilities were extensively restored and remodeled along with the construction of a new Japanese Style Annex and made a fresh start as the current State Guest Houses in 1974.
After the massive repair work in 2009, the State Guest Houses was designated as a national treasure as one of the structures that represent Japanese architecture. The State Guest Houses has received a large number of distinguished guests, such as monarchs, presidents or prime ministers, and been used as a venue for international conferences, including summit meetings, as well.
In addition, it is open to the general public as long as its primary activities are not interrupted, thereby contributing to making Japan a tourism-oriented country.