Stoves

A row of commercial gas stoves at Kinugawa Kan sits along one wall of the back kitchen, the heavy steel range stretching for several metres with multiple burners at the top and oven compartments below. The stainless-steel surfaces are dust-coated and stained with the residue of years of cooking. The burner grates are rusted. The control knobs along the front are still in place, set to off. Above the range, a steel exhaust hood hangs from the ceiling, its filters long since clogged. The tiled splashback wall behind the range is pale green, the tiles intact but the grout discoloured. The fluorescent lighting strip overhead is mostly out, leaving the dim daylight from the high window as the main light source.

This was the hot line of the Kinugawa Kan kitchen, where the bulk of the multi-course kaiseki dinners and the lighter washoku breakfasts were cooked across the operational life of the hotel. A property of nine storeys and seventy rooms at full occupancy demanded a kitchen of this scale. Kinugawa Kan opened in December 1942 and ran for over five decades before entering business suspension in June 1999. After closure the portable equipment was removed but the fixed plant stayed in place. The stoves have not been lit since.