The walls of the Imperial Hotel were adorned with rare yellow scratch face bricks, produced at the Imperial Hotel’s brick manufacturing factory in Tokoname. Hatsunojo Ina and his son Chozaburo were invited as technical advisors and, following trial and error by skilled craftsmen, four million bricks and tens of thousands of intricate terracotta pieces were produced, perfectly shaped to meet Wright’s specific requirements. Following the completion of the hotel, Ina took on the equipment and the workers of this factory, creating the foundation of Ina Seito (INAX).

Wright used a revolutionary architectural design that signified Japan’s modernity and the cultural interaction between the East and the West. Unlike other typical Western-style red-brick buildings of the time, Wright used yellow scratch face bricks, ornamental terracotta and carved Oya lava stones, resulting in warm earth tones that matched Japanese sensibilities.

The Imperial Hotel became one of the symbolic architectures of modern Japan. Copying the style, scratch face tiles became a popular exterior material, starting the industrial development of exterior building materials suitable for buildings in Japan.