“Jun’s Light” Exhibition Opens at UNWIND GALLERY — Free for All Visitors
“UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OTARU” located in Otaru City, Hokkaido, is a boutique hotel with a unique sensibility that has been boldly renovated with modern sensitivity while preserving the emotion and architectural beauty of the historic “Former Koshiya Hotel,” which was built in 1931 as Hokkaido’s first hotel exclusively for foreigners.
At our hotel, we are conducting initiatives that take advantage of the hotel’s characteristics as a place where guests from Japan and abroad visit. As part of this, we established “UNWIND GALLERY” in November 2022, which mainly exhibits works by artists connected to Hokkaido each season and connects Hokkaido’s culture to the world.
At this gallery, you can appreciate contemporary art in a dreamlike space where the architectural beauty of “Art Deco style,” which was popular in Europe and America from the mid-1910s to the 1930s, remains strongly. Furthermore, we also offer “art pairing cocktails” where you can enjoy the worldview of the works through taste and aroma, as well as exhibition sales where you can purchase your favorite works.
We open the gallery with free admission for everyone, not only for our hotel guests but also for local residents and travelers who casually stop by, because we want people to enjoy art freely. During a walk through Otaru, on a date, or when you want to spend time alone. Please spend a moment enjoying art away from everyday life in the dreamlike hotel space of Art Deco architecture.
Exhibition “The Journey Within” by “Jun’s Light”
For the 14th exhibition, we will hold the exhibition “The Journey Within” by “Jun’s Light,” created by candle artist Jun Yonezawa, who lives in Otaru City, Hokkaido.
Mr. Yonezawa, who is celebrating his 18th year since moving to Otaru, says that he gets daily inspiration from Otaru’s rich nature, emotional townscape, and interactions with people. In this exhibition, we will display a total of 34 wax art works: 4 new works and 30 old works that express the “emotional landscapes of the heart” that he saw by looking at his inner self through encounters in the town of Otaru.
In the exhibition “The Journey Within,” you can appreciate “wax art” works that are three-dimensionally expressed on canvas using oil paint and wax. By combining soft and somehow fragile delicate wax with oil paint whose colors grow over the years, he positively expresses the various emotional patterns we feel daily. Mr. Yonezawa’s hope is that this will be an opportunity for travelers to Otaru and local people to become aware of their “journey of the heart.”
Otaru, where the temperature has dropped, pure white snow has begun to fall, and a long winter has arrived. In the dreamlike space of a renovated historic building, why not go on a “journey of the heart” to face your inner self through the works along with your trip to Otaru?
Exhibition Overview
- Exhibition: The Journey Within
- Location: UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OTARU 1st floor UNWIND GALLERY
- Exhibition Period: December 1, 2025 (Mon) – February 28, 2026 (Sat)
- Admission Fee: Free
- We open it for free because we want local people and travelers who stop by to enjoy it casually. (Every day from 7 AM to midnight)
- Artist Attendance Days:
- December 14, 2025 (Sun) 15:00 – 18:00
- December 20, 2025 (Sat) & 21 (Sun) 15:00 – 18:00
- December 27, 2025 (Sat) & 28 (Sun) 15:00 – 18:00
- Future attendance days will be announced on the hotel’s official Instagram
Discover the Exhibition Through “Art Pairing Cocktails” Made for Each Work
The characteristic of UNWIND GALLERY, which is developed in the common area of the hotel, is that the bar “Bar Ignis Otaru” inside the hotel can also be enjoyed as part of the gallery. Because we want you to enjoy the exhibition “The Journey Within” and the hotel space with more senses, we will sell art cocktails inspired by the exhibition for a limited time. This time, we have prepared two types of art pairing cocktails based on four keywords that allow you to face your inner self while tasting the cocktails.
“Sayuru Yo” 1,600 yen (tax included)
A sake-based cocktail born from two keywords: Melting Ego and Conscious / Unconscious. It is a drink where you can enjoy the fruity aroma of pear and white grape and the rich taste of sake. Multiple flavors melt together, and when you tilt the glass, a faint aroma rises and the taste slowly spreads, leading to a deep aftertaste. While feeling the transition of flavors, please spend time slowly facing your inner self.
“Pulse in the Afternoon” 1,600 yen (tax included)
A cocktail based on Hokkaido-produced gin and pastis, born from two keywords: Equilibrium (emotional landscape in balance) and Dialogue with the Shadow.
“Pulse in the Afternoon,” with its beautiful glass shape reminiscent of candlelight and pale gradation, is a drink with herb and spice flavors with sweetness added by cacao liqueur. As you continue drinking, please enjoy your journey of the heart with the gradually layering sweetness and changes in cacao aroma.
Bar Ignis Otaru
- Service Location: UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OTARU 1st floor lobby bar “Bar Ignis Otaru”
- Sales Period: December 1, 2025 (Mon) – February 28, 2026 (Sat)
- Business Hours: 19:30 – 23:30 (L.O 23:00)
Limited-Time Christmas Tree Decorated with “Jun’s Light” Ornaments
During the exhibition period from December 1, 2025 (Mon) to December 25 (Thu), a Christmas tree about 3 meters tall themed on “Otaru’s snowy landscape” will appear in the lobby on the first floor of the hotel.
Every year, our hotel’s Christmas tree is loved by our guests and local people. This year, with silver and blue ornaments, and also “icicle” ornaments by “Jun’s Light” created by Jun Yonezawa, the artist of this exhibition, the Christmas tree imagining Otaru’s snowy landscape creates a dreamlike space.
At “UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OTARU,” all common spaces including the lobby, front desk, lobby bar, and restaurant are gathered on the first floor of the hotel. The Christmas tree that appears in the center of such common space adds color to various experiences at the hotel. The moment you open the hotel door, the moment you check in, the moment you enjoy cocktails at the lobby bar, until the moment you have a meal at the restaurant. Wherever you are in the hotel, you can enjoy the gorgeous Christmas atmosphere. (*Not visible from hotel guest rooms.)
Limited-Time Sale “UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OTARU” Original Aroma Candle
During the exhibition period, we will sell “Jun’s Light × UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OTARU Original Candle” so that you can remember your time at our hotel even at home.
This candle is an original design by “Jun’s Light” created by Jun Yonezawa. The candle expresses the “classic contemporary” worldview of our hotel, which was renovated with modern sensibility while preserving the emotion and architectural beauty of the historic building “Former Koshiya Hotel,” which was built in 1931 as Hokkaido’s first hotel exclusively for foreigners. Furthermore, the candle also has the scent of the original aroma that we create on the first floor of the hotel, so you can remember our hotel not only by looking at it but also by its scent.
In this season with long nights, why not recall the memories of spending elegant time at our hotel, moments in Otaru, and the emotional landscapes of the heart that you encountered in the exhibition “The Journey Within,” together with the flickering candlelight?
- Sales Location: UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OTARU 1st floor front desk
- Sales Period: December 1, 2025 (Mon) – February 28, 2026 (Sat)
- Price: 1,350 yen (tax included)
Comment from “Jun’s Light” Candle Artist Jun Yonezawa
The various emotional patterns we see or feel but don’t see in our daily lives in our hearts may be extremely personal parts that we don’t share with anyone (sometimes even with ourselves). I continue my expressive activities hoping to shine light on that deep part. I would be happy if I could become “a page in the journey of the heart” for everyone who views it at the gallery of UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OTARU.
Jun’s Light / Jun Yonezawa Artist Profile
Born in Tokyo, living in Otaru City.
Montana State University B.A. Communication Studies (USA)
- From 2001
- Studied candle making under Claudia Simes (USA) Expressing nature, culture, history, art, and emotional landscapes through color and light.
- From 2006
- Solo exhibitions, duo exhibitions (Otaru, Sapporo, Tokyo), event, concert, and stage art lighting design and production
- From 2009
- Original collection “Lights of the Exhibition” capturing the themes of exhibitions/art exhibitions by artists from Japan and abroad (Sapporo Art Park Museum/Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, etc.)
- From 2016
- Started creating wax art, painting on canvas by combining wax and oil paint.
- From 2025
- Started candle making course “Meeting the Color of Your Heart / Creating My Light” to think about “the meaning of light”