Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel (Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi; General Manager: Atsushi Sugimoto) is displaying a work by ikebana artist Mika Otani in its main lobby on the 15th floor from Thursday, September 10 to Monday, October 26, 2026. This marks the first time Otani has created and displayed a piece in a hotel lobby in the Tokai region.
On the exhibition's opening day, Otani created the piece in the lobby herself. Guests visiting the hotel were able to watch the creative process up close—something rarely seen—enjoying not only the finished work but also the process behind it.
Creation in progress
Creation in progress
Theme: "The Fusion of Tradition and Diversity" — a Large-Scale Work Using About 2 Meters of Ogara
For this piece, Otani wanted visitors to feel "the appeal of the traditions and culture that Aichi Prefecture takes pride in." By incorporating Aichi's traditional crafts—Seto ware, Nagoya folding fans, and Nagoya lanterns—into the arrangement, she expresses the beauty of Aichi's traditions through her own artistic perspective as an ikebana artist.
The result is a work that conveys a vivid, expansive world born from the interplay of different cultures and materials.
Featured crafts
Seto ware: a small container from Yakushi-gama, a brand of Chugai Toen in Seto City
Nagoya folding fan: a white fan from Suehiro-do, founded in 1912 in Nishi-ku, Nagoya
Nagoya lantern: a red lantern from Fusetani Shoten, a lantern maker in Mizuho-ku, Nagoya
Beyond these traditional crafts, a distinctive material in the arrangement is roughly 2 meters of ogara (hemp stalks), colored to match the piece's overall imagery. Ogara is a material commonly used in ikebana but unfamiliar to most people outside the art. Otani used about 200 stalks of it boldly throughout the piece, adding a new mode of expression to a traditional material.
The long, sweeping stalks spread throughout the space, giving the piece its impressive, large-scale presence.
A folding fan being attached to the ogara
The completed work
An Invitation to Experience Japanese Tradition During a Season of Many Visitors
Autumn, with its comfortable climate and long holiday weekends, is a popular season for travel, and the number of visitors from overseas as well as within Japan is expected to grow as the season arrives. With this in mind, the hotel planned this lobby exhibition—created by Mika Otani, who holds the qualification of first-class instructor and director of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana—as an opportunity for guests to experience the traditional culture of Japan and Aichi.
The piece, where Aichi's proud traditional culture meets the beauty of ikebana, can be seen only here—we hope you'll come see it for yourself.
Lobby exhibition, "The Fusion of Tradition and Diversity"
"The Fusion of Tradition and Diversity" Lobby Exhibition
Ikebana artist: Mika Otani
Venue: Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel, Main Lobby, 15th Floor
Period: September 10 (Thursday) to October 26 (Monday), 2026
Admission: Free
Ikebana artist Mika Otani
About Mika Otani
Ikebana artist and contemporary artist. First-class instructor and director of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana.
Working with flowers, branches, leaves, air, and light, Otani gives shape to emotion, narrative, and the mood of an era within a space. She began studying under the Sogetsu school in 1990, training under Soko Tomita, a direct disciple of the school's first iemoto, Sofu Teshigahara. Building on traditional ikebana, she works across film, stage, installation, and performance. For the Nippon TV drama 高嶺の花 (Takane no Hana), she created all 174 ikebana pieces that appeared on screen. In 2022, she took part in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. Viewing ikebana as an "art of place," she continues to explore its new possibilities in the present day.
Notable projects
Netflix's Tokyo Swindlers and Sanctuary
Amazon Prime Video's 1122: For a Happy Marriage
The film Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, among others
Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel sits directly above JR Nagoya Station. Its guest rooms occupy the 20th to 49th floors, with more than 700 rooms in total, including suites. The hotel is equipped with a full range of facilities, including 8 restaurants and bars, a gift shop, banquet halls of various sizes, wedding facilities, a fitness club, and a lounge. Catering to business travel, sightseeing, anniversaries, and other occasions, it offers attentive hospitality and a comfortable stay to guests from Japan and abroad.
Address: 1-1-4 Meieki, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 450-6002
Phone: 052-584-1111 (main)
Company: JR Central Hotels Co., Ltd.
Opened: May 17, 2000
Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel
Official website: https://www.associa.com/nma/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nagoyamarriott/
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