Hoto Fudo

In Yamanashi, Takeshi Hosaka's noodle restaurant talks with Fuji-San. "You are very big, and angular, and you make a dramatic silhouette against the sky. I am humble, low and round, and I will sit down on the ground in front of you and make small talk." The dialogue of forms is nothing new; artists, architects and photographers have been having conversations with Fuji for thousands of years. It is surprising, then, that Hoto Fudo does not integrate with it's more immediate surroundings. It sits on a paved pad which has no plant materials. This, along with the pure white interior walls, makes it an austere host, more suitable for a boy scout troop's mess than a visiting family. Hosaka is an architect who knows how to integrate building with nature, so it is a small mystery.
photo by Koji Fuji