Report: Kawatana no Mori / Cortot Hall 15th Anniversary Projects Held / Passing on the Gentle Climate of Kawatana, Loved by Cortot and Protected by Island and Mountain, to the Future

Kawatana no Mori / Cortot Hall (Shimonoseki City Kawatana Onsen Community Center) held two commemorative projects in the fiscal year 2025, marking the 15th anniversary since its opening in 2010.

[Commemorative Project 1]
Re-examining the connection between architecture and the region
Exhibition 'Dialogue between Kawatana and Kengo Kuma'

[Commemorative Project 2]
Adding a new page to the story of Kawatana and Cortot
Commemorative Ceremony and Concert 'The 15th Kawatana-Cortot Music Festival / Kyoto-French Academy of Music Special Concert'

Kawatana no Mori / Cortot Hall (Shimonoseki City Kawatana Onsen Community Center)
Opened in 2010, designed by architect Kengo Kuma. The organic design, which integrates with Kawatana's rich nature, is inspired by the gentle terrain of Kawatana, stretching from the foot of the mountains to the islands, and has a geometric form composed of an assembly of triangles. The interior consists of an event space comprising the 'Cortot Hall (Large Community Room)' and 'Cafe Koruto (Small Community Room),' and the 'Shimonoseki City Karasuyama Folk Museum,' which introduces the local life culture and tools of Toyoura Town and the region.

Since its opening, the designated manager, 'Kawatana Onsen Machizukuri Co., Ltd. (Representative Director: Toshiya Takase),' has been working to utilize regional resources, disseminate local culture, and promote tourism and artistic and cultural experiences under the slogan 'Music on the street corners. Art in life. Beautiful times together.'

Three 'Mori' (Woods/Groves) connect in Kawatana
In 2025, following the Kawatana no Mori, the 'Mori no Ashiyu' (Footbath of the Woods) and 'Mori no Stage' (Stage of the Woods), also designed by Kengo Kuma, were successively created in Kawatana, connecting three 'Mori' that harmonize with the natural 'mori' (forest).

This is also a realization of the 'Garden Town Development' advocated by Kawatana Onsen Machizukuri Co., Ltd. We consider 'Garden Town Development' as viewing the towns of Kawatana and Toyoura as a single garden, with Atsushima (Koruto Island) as the keystone, and connecting the garden town, gently protected by the island and mountains, with 'stories' and 'greenery.' This becomes the fundamental principle for carefully reconnecting people's lives and the return of places, and for creating the grand design for the region's future.

In Kawatana, watched over by the guardian deity 'Seiryu' (Azure Dragon), Lord Mori composed the 'Eight Views of Kawatana,' and the haiku poet Santoka Taneda and the pianist Cortot wished to make it their final home. The gentle and quiet climate has woven poetic stories over time. To pass on these stories along with Kawatana's gentle climate to the future. That is the desire of us at Kawatana Onsen Machizukuri Co., Ltd.

The Story of Kawatana and Cortot
Alfred Cortot (1877-1962) was a leading French pianist of the 20th century. In 1952, his long-awaited tour of Japan was decided. In Yamaguchi Prefecture, he was to stay at Kawatana Onsen for his performance in Shimonoseki.

On October 7, 1952, Cortot visited Kawatana Onsen with his son, the painter Jean Cortot. Cortot stayed at the Kawatana Kanko Hotel and was captivated by the beauty of the scenery 'gently protected by the island and mountains' as seen from his room.
'This place is wonderful. I have never seen such a beautiful, dreamlike landscape. Japan is a vrai pays (a real country),' he said.

He particularly liked the beautiful 'Atsushima' island in the Hibiki-nada sea and asked the then-mayor of Kawatana Village, 'I want to die secretly on that heavenly island. Would you sell me that island?' The mayor replied to Cortot, 'If you will live on that island forever, I will give it to you for free.' The mayor promised to build a monument in Kawatana and asked Cortot to inscribe it. Cortot wrote it in one go.
'Music must strike fire from the spirit. - Beethoven'
'For the tens of millions of Japanese music students who will be born after me, I leave these words which I have made my creed.'
'May this inscription, written in friendship on this most beautiful of islands, forever preserve the memory of a French musician with a spirit that constantly dwells in dreams,' he wished.

'My thoughts alone will remain on that island,' he said, wishing to live in this place forever. Since Cortot's visit, Atsushima has been named 'Koruto' (Cortot Island), and Cortot himself happily said, 'I have an island with my name in Japan.' However, he died of an illness in 1962, and his dream of returning to Japan was never fulfilled. And in 2010, coincidentally, the Kawatana no Mori / Cortot Hall (Shimonoseki City Kawatana Onsen Community Center) was built on the site of the hotel where Cortot had stayed.