In 1915 or 16, when he was still studying at the University, Kenichi met Mr Aisaku Hayashi, the General Manager of the Imperial Hotel, for the first time, through the introduction of Habra which was one of the Hotel’s purveyors.  Kenichi was commissioned to paint a mural on the balustrade in the Hotel’s new dining room (approx. 3.3 ft x 150 ft), on the theme of the modern version of the ‘Fifty-three Stages of Tokaido’.  Kenichi went on a sketching tour along the Tokaido for the production.  After this, he was commissioned other jobs including the mural for the child’s room in Mr Hayashi’s private home, decoration of the entrance to the Banquet Hall of the Imperial Hotel and the painting of the panoramic view at the Komazawa Golf Course. 

Prior to the construction of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel, a ball room was built as part of the construction of the annex on the east side of the original hotel.  The annex ball room was designed by Antonin Raymond, who had come to Japan as Lloyd’s assistant.  Raymond requested the decorative pieces depicting peacocks with their wings spread, to be hung in the four corners of the ball room.  These pieces were produced using paints, aluminium powder and natural mineral pigments. 

One day in June1921, Haibara called me up and asked me to produce a mural on a newly constructed building.  I went over to the shop immediately with no particular apprehension, only to be told to go to Frank Lloyd Wright’s . At that time, they had an office in a barrack located right on the corner of Hibiya.  The lower board of its colonial siding exterior was decorated in Frank Lloyd Wright style in red and black, which looked quite original. 
Even their sign, ‘Wright Architectural Design Office managed by the Imperial Hotel’ in Japanese were painted in an unmistakable Lloyd Wright-style font.  I was introduced to Frank Lloyd Wright as soon as I arrived at their office upstairs.  He offered me a hand, and I took in that he had a kindly face with slightly long hair streaked with grey, wearing khaki work clothes with a stand-up collar. 

　The work on the site started to get behind the schedule, and I ended up having nothing to do.  The Entertainment Hall was not completed, not to mention the Banquet Hall above it and it was impossible for me to work.  I was unable to do any of the many jobs I was in charge of in the Banquet Hall, Entertainment Hall and grill dining room, and was just hanging around in the office.
There were many people working at the office back then, including Messres. Endo, Nanshin, Tsuchiura, Tagami, Takahashi and Yamamura, and we were having fun day after day, exchanging jokes and singing, etc., but eventually it all became too boring.  And towards the end of July, summer heat became relentless.  I was not short of money thanks to the salary,

At the work site, I found numerous workmen including electricians, coppersmiths and carpenters working, surrounded by Oya tuff stone cubes lying around on the bare concrete floor and in the noisy and dusty environment.    And there I was, expected to go up on the quite tall scaffolding in the room in such a state.One day in the Banquet Hall, the then hotel president, Baron Okura, addressed me directly and challenged me to complete all my work in the Banquet Hall within a month.  Being a green and softy, I replied to him ‘OK, I will do my best and make your wish come true.’
I begged 7 or 8 young colleagues of mine to help me and worked as much overtime as I was able to do.  I was on site by 7 in the morning and worked until 6 in the evening, but others were not so compliant.  I felt alone with no one to share my worries, a lot of time.

Having accepted the challenge, I pushed myself to complete the job by the deadline.  On one occasion, I took a step back on the narrow scaffolding board in order to see the general effect of the mural, and found no board to step on. With my left hand I managed to grab the beam of scaffolding, just in the nick of time and had a narrow escape.  But I would have lost my life if I hadn’t, as the Oya tuff stones were lying around on the floor underneath where I would have landed.  There on the floor, I was able to see my palette I had been holding, scattered in pieces, as if it was a sacrifice.  

I worked hard and completed the job in one month just as I promised Baron Okura, feeling the self satisfaction that I acted like a man, but the crucial feedback from Baron Okura was not nor has been given to me.  This is something I still think as a shame.

I started to calculate the measurement on the site, based on the 1/10 scale design drawing Frank Lloyd Wright had handed me, but no matter how I tried, it didn’t fit on the wall area.  So, with Mr Endo, who was my senior, standing by me, we measured the wall height and were surprised to find that it was about a foot (30.48cm) short. The site foreman was summoned and even the office staff were involved.  It became a big issue but was irreversible.
The imposing dome was in fact 1 foot lower than intended and so everything that is attached to it was made short in height.  Gradually the enormity of the problem became clearer and in the end the site foreman had to resign. 
I realised that the measurement of the wall area I was responsible for started this muddle, and felt responsible in a way.  So I did my best to come up with solutions to reconcile the design and measurement in order to somehow complete my job.
The mural, which made the most of the coppersmiths, woodworkers and carpenters and finished with natural mineral pigments and genuine gold dust, and illuminated to emphasise their 3D effect, was sadly lost in a fire during the war.  The existing one is hardly the same design and painted on a smaller scale and there is nothing left of the original visual impression of the dome, etc.

I would like to note here that Mr Paul Mueller, who worked as the site foreman for Mr Frank Lloyd Wright, and was a pioneer of the concrete architecture in Japan and taught us many lessons, deserves special recognition. The building was built maximising the brilliance of concrete architecture, but the Building Section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department at the time inspected the eave of the grill dining room entrance (existing) and ordered the modification. It turned out that no damage was found after the Great Kanto earthquake, however, and it worked as the silent proof of the safety, which naturally resolved the needs for modification. 
The construction was commissioned to a civil engineering company initially but when they started the work, the concrete mixing process was not according to the precise specifications Mr Mueller had given and they withdrew from the job.  This is how, the hotel began managing the architectural construction work themselves, the very first example of architectural construction directly managed by the client organisation in Japan.

Now, the completion of the Banquet Hall meant the closure of the Architectural Design Office managed by the Imperial Hotel.  In the hindsight, the design created by Mr Frank Lloyd Wright with the support of Mr Mueller wouldn't have come to fruition without the great efforts made by the management team including Japanese engineers - Messres. Endo, Nanshin, Tsuchiura -  as well as Japanese stone masons, coppersmiths and plasterers, who struggled with the challenge (back then) of construction of a concrete building.  I fully appreciated Mr Endo’s  extraordinary support and efforts, too.
On the day the hotel was completed with the Banquet Hall’s floor polished and finished off, Mr Endo lied spread-eagled on the floor in the middle of the hall for a while, with his eyes closed.  With the knowledge that he had been engaged in this grand construction project supporting Mr Frank Lloyd Wright for nearly 6 years to get to this point, it made perfect sense to me and I can still remember the scene as if it were yesterday. 
Incidentally, the cost of natural mineral pigments used for this mural amounted to about 4,500 yen (roughly \18M in the current value), and for a while there was a pigments shortage across Tokyo’s art material stores. 

Among the features that had fresh appeal, the subtle beauty of the way concrete was used was outstanding.  For example, the way copper work and Oya tuff stone are arranged under the eaves and a  large protrusion at the access for large props. The level of attention to detail of the architect was astonishing, such as the way how Oya tuff stones were prepared and arranged.  The Cubic Oya tuff stone sculptures placed in the corner of the Promenade parlour, for example, was designed so that the water poured out between them and then down to the area where flower arrangement can be placed and effectively illuminated by the light bulbs behind the square frosted glass slots.