Meguro Gajoen

This hotel and banquet complex preserves fragments of a fantastically ornate entertainment palace built in the 1930s, whose interiors earned the nickname of a dragon palace for their opulence. Its most famous feature is a hall of a hundred steps, a wooden staircase connecting banquet rooms whose ceilings and walls are covered in lavish paintings, carvings, and gold leaf by leading artists of the era. Seasonal art exhibitions open these historic rooms to the public, offering a rare glimpse of flamboyant early twentieth-century craftsmanship.