A twilight soirée in a Kyoto temple garden
- Client
- Private foundation (under NDA)
- Location
- Kyoto, Japan
- Year
- 2024
- Guests
- 140 guests
A 140-guest evening blending a Shinto blessing with French service, produced under the supervision of the Kyoto heritage preservation agency using bamboo acoustics and hand-folded washi lanterns.
- 140
- Guests
- 3
- Permitted materials
- 0
- Heritage breaches
The brief
A garden under active heritage supervision with rules on light levels, footfall and materials, and a host who wanted a Shinto blessing to sit naturally beside a French tasting menu.
What we did
Materials were limited to bamboo, washi and cotton. Lanterns were hand-folded and lit at the agency-approved level, sound reinforcement used bamboo-housed speakers, and the blessing and the dinner were sequenced with the shrine's priests so neither felt like an interlude to the other.
What it delivered
The agency recorded no breaches, the foundation has been invited to return, and the lantern design has since been used by the shrine itself.
- Heritage garden
- Shinto blessing
- Sustainable materials
