Seizing the Day
For years, Frank P. Riva has
worked in the business end of the art scene. For his latest venture,
the France-turned-Kansai resident has built a business around a
truly artistic scene. You're invited to step into this scene, roll
out a futon, and be his guest.
You awake to the sound of cicadas, the smell of
fresh tatami. Rub your eyes, slide back the shoji door, and there
lies a garden. It's lush, peaceful — your very own pocket of
paradise. Birds are perched atop a stone lantern. Carp swim under
the tiny bridge. A bending path beckons. This isn't a dream. This
isn't a scene from an Oshima movie. This is Carpe Diem.
Riva manages the Osaka guesthouse named after,
and built upon, Horace's ode to joy. As an editor of art multiples,
Riva possesses an eye for flair and beauty. With Carpe Diem, he's
turned this eye onto a dilapidated house to create an idyllic sanctuary.
 “The
house was in a really bad state. The garden hadn't been taken care
of for years,” he says, pointing to the manicured yard. “That,
if you can imagine, was a jungle! You couldn't get in. You couldn't
cross the bridge. It was a mess.”
“But still,” he adds, “here in
the middle of Osaka you had all this green, this mysterious garden
that I couldn't help but fall in love with.
I thought “What could I do with this house?
It's beautiful, and I'd like the opportunity to have foreigners
see it.”
His solution, to turn the 55-year-old home into
a resting spot for tourists, was warmly received by the property
owner.
“Lots of people come to Japan and stay in
hotels, or if they are adventurous, they go to Kyoto and stay in
a temple,” says Riva. “A temple, however, is very small.
You have a nice atmosphere, but it's not very relaxing.”
“There are three, maybe four, youth hostels
in Osaka,” he continues. “They are clean and the prices
are the same as Carpe Diem, but what you end up with is a small
room like the one you'd get in New York or any other city. Carpe
Diem offers a different kind of place.”
For a very modest fee, travellers can spend a
night in this tradition-al Japanese house. The living quarters are
spacious, clean, and freshly refurbished by Riva himself. The garden
may just be the most tranquil and attractive you'll find in central
Osaka. And unlike a ryokan or minshuku, Japanese bed and breakfasts,
Carpe Diem has no set meal times or curfews. Guests are encouraged,
as the name would suggest, to simply enjoy the moment.
“You could accommodate up to 30 people here
if arranged properly,” says Riva, eyeing Carpe Diem's 1000
square metres of living space, “but that's not what I really
want. I want a small guest house where people pay a small fee to
have a nice, relaxing place.”
He strives to make his guesthouse more than just a roof over customers'
heads. Fluent in Japanese, and having lived in Kansai for 17 years,
Riva is more than happy to aid travellers with his knowledge. “I
can arrange things. I can help making reservations. I can direct
people to small, lesser-known places - basically to the Japan that
I know and like.”
He also aims for Carpe Diem to be a place where
cultural exchang-es occur. Three rooms will be used as contemporary
art galleries. The garage is being transformed into a cooking lab
for French cuisine demonstrations. Ikebana (flower arrangement),
sado (tea ceremony), and kitsuke (the wearing of kimono) lessons
are available to foreign guests, and French, English and art classes
for locals are in the planning stage.
Carpe Diem
Nakahama 3 chome, 2-14 Joto-Ku, Osaka 536-0024
Nearest Stn: Midoribashi Stn. (Subway Chuo Line / JR Loop line)
http://www.personalize.co.jp/fmr/carpe_diem/index.html
Tel: 06-6961-0444
Text: Rori Caffrey • Photos: KS
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