Peninsula Moments | The Peninsula Hotels

Every day The Peninsula Boutique & Café uses more than 300 eggs and 10 kg of butter to make the hotel’s sweets and breads. For this scene, more than 400 cakes were prepared by Executive Pastry Chef Shigeru Nojima and his team. In 2003, Chef Nojima represented Japan in Lyon, France at the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie and carried off the silver medal.

Guests enter the main restaurant area through a steel structure tunnel and exit onto a “catwalk”, leading onto the “stage”. Behind them is an interactive video wall, featuring signature images of Tokyo and Hong Kong, together with interactive elements of nature such as falling snow or autumn leaves wafting behind in the “virtual draft” as guests pass by. The Peninsula Hotels has a tradition of honouring executives with an outstanding career of loyalty and service, and so Peter is named after Peter C Borer, currently Chief Operating Officer of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited, parent company of The Peninsula Hotels.

The Peninsula Tokyo hosts more than 220 weddings a year. While western-style weddings tend to be the most popular, a select few still choose a more traditional Japanese wedding. The Japanese Ceremony Room is the venue of choice with its washi paper ceiling, solid pine furniture and urushi- striped altar. The bride wears a traditional wedding shiro muku kimono and wataboshi headpiece and the groom wears a montsuki hakama kimono. In this short film the bride’s kimono and accessories weigh more than three kg and are valued at more than US$ 65,000.

The Peninsula Suite offers a traditional tatami or straw-floored area for guests to experience the art of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. The performance of the tea ceremony is called otemae and the powdered green tea served is called matcha. Many of the movements of the tea ceremony evolved from wearing kimono. One of Peninsula Spa staff member Rie Kumagai’s hobbies is the tea ceremony, and the kimono she is wearing is valued at more than US$ 6,500.

Guests staying at The Peninsula Tokyo can experience the speed of the hotel’s Audi R8. Like The Peninsula’s bespoke Rolls-Royces, BMWs and MINIs, the Audi R8 is also finished in The Peninsula’s signature Brewster green with beige Nappa leather interior, and sports The Peninsula Tokyo logo and gold pinstripe, as well as the hotel’s signature 2888 number plate. The heart of the Audi R8 is the engine. Exceptionally compact, the eight-cylinder power unit runs effortlessly, peaking at 8,250 rpm. Fitted with R tronic sequential gear shifting, the Audi R8 dashes from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.6 seconds, with the needle hitting 200 km/h after only 14.9 seconds.

The tower in the opening scene with Pagegirl Yuriko Samejima riding the hotel’s BMW bicycle is the Tokyo Sky Tree. It is the world’s tallest tower standing at 634 metres. The Peninsula Tokyo offers hotel guests a Louis Garneau and two Bianchi bicycles to rent for sightseeing and exercise - the perfect way to explore the city and stay in shape!

The pride of place of the hotel’s fleet of Rolls-Royces goes to a magnificent and immaculately restored 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II. In trademark Peninsula green, the car is one of only three built with the Sedanca de Ville bodywork by Barker & Co (Coachbuilders by Appointment to HM The King and HRH The Prince of Wales) – the other two are owned by The Peninsula Hong Kong and The Peninsula Shanghai. At The Peninsula Tokyo, the 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II is driven by Yasuo Watanabe, who chauffeurs brides and grooms around the Imperial Palace and its gardens on their wedding day before their grand arrival at the hotel’s main forecourt entrance.

The 1,313 crystal LED light bulbs of the unique concave chandelier in the centre of the Lobby resemble a cloud of hanabi (fireworks) or hotaru (fireflies). With its rich Chinese heritage, The Peninsula wanted to feature a symbol of strength, harmony and good luck, and so commissioned Keisen Hama to create a magnificent bamboo masterpiece in the heart of the lobby. The only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac and one that represents each of these traits, Hama’s depiction of a dragon lying over the universe wards off evil spirits and offers protection. The Peninsula Tokyo’s art collection consists of approximately 1,000 pieces created by nearly 85 artists, 90% of them Japanese.