Kaga Yuzen dyeing traditionally uses five colors: crimson, indigo, ochre, emerald, and violet.
At Hana Akari, each guest room features a motif based on one of these colors, for an atmosphere evocative of the rich cultural traditions of Kanazawa and the old Kaga Domain.

Each guest room’s décor features a Kaga Temari ball in one of the five Kaga Gosai colors, to match the room’s color motif. These elaborately decorated balls make a gentle, pleasant noise when shaken, and are said to bring good luck, so parents in Kanazawa will often give them to their daughters as wedding presents, as a prayer for happiness in their new lives. 

 

Guests of Hana Akari are greeted by beautiful Kaga Yuzen dyed fabric at the front desk. Kaga Yuzen is one of the three schools of Yuzen dyeing nationally designated as traditional crafts; today, this elaborate dyeing process is still performed by hand in and around the city of Kanazawa, using traditional techniques. The results are beloved far and wide for their intricate, finely detailed designs, all drawn by hand — perfect for creating a gorgeous first impression for Hana Akari guests as they arrive.

Each guest room at Hana Akari features framed Kaga-Nui embroidery, themed based on one of the five Kaga Gosai colors.
Kaga-Nui is a style of embroidery practiced in Kanazawa, nationally designated as a traditional craft product. This gorgeous embroidery work is carefully done one stitch at a time, with threads made of colorful silk or glittering gold or silver, for results that strike a perfect balance of showy and tasteful.
Hana Akari guest rooms are each decorated with framed Kaga-Nui embroidery depicting a hidari-uma, or the Chinese character for “horse” written horizontally mirrored. This way of writing this character has a long history of use as a symbol of good luck: hanging one in each room is our way of sharing our hopes that our guests have a wonderful stay in Kanazawa, as well as safe travels home. 

The staircase landing at Hana Akari is decorated with Kaga Mizuhiki, a rare traditional craft product from the region, in which decorative paper strings are used to create beautiful shapes. The craft is a refinement of traditional Japanese gift-giving: beautiful wrapping paper with the occasion (and sometimes the giver’s name) neatly written on it in brush calligraphy, with mizuhiki strings then tied around the gift into a decorative knot. Over time, these elaborate techniques used for each element of gift-giving were combined, as a symbol of the luxurious wealth and culture of the Kaga Domain. These tightly tied strings were said to represent the ties that bind people together, especially for long-term relationships like marriage.
Even today, Kaga Mizuhiki makes the perfect way to show how much you care when giving gifts — at Hana Akari, we use Kaga Mizuhiki decorations as our way of letting guests know how much they mean to us.