This menu from the famous Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan, is simple, stylish and stunning. The original Imperial Hotel opened in 1890, designed by Yuzuru Watanabe, and was built at the request of the Japanese aristocracy, leading politicians and the Imperial Household Ministry to accommodate the increasing numbers of Westerners visiting the country.

The New Imperial Hotel was built from 1917 through 1923 by the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and was designed in the Maya Revival style of architecture, incorporating a tall, pyramid-like structure and with Maya motifs in its decoration. 

He also designed the hotel's china, matchbooks and many of its decorative features. Wright, who found an appreciation for Japanese design and culture at the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893, first traveled to Japan in 1905.

He traveled there again in 1913 and between 1917 and 1922 spent almost all his time in Japan overseeing the building of the new version of the hotel which affectionately became known as “the jewel of the Orient.’

This 1956 menu was from Wright's era, before the hotel was demolished in 1968 and replaced with a high-rise structure.

However, the entrance lobby that incorporated a façade and reflecting pool from Wright’s masterpiece was saved and reconstructed at the open-air Meiji Mura architecture museum in Nagoya.

Today the Imperial Hotel is a modern structure but still proudly displays its connection to the renowned architect with Wright-inspired motifs, patterns and designs incorporated into the building.  There is a beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright suite and also housed inside the current hotel is the Old Imperial Bar, which features relics from the Wright era including a mural, terracotta wall art and lamps.

It's visited by Wright fans from all over the world. who also come to enjoy the Imperial Hotel's omotenashi - Japanese hospitality.