JAPAN: Back to the Kimono

The old imperial emblem of the Rising Sun was run up the flagpole of a graceful, lagoon-fronted building in Tokyo one day last week. Japanese workmen briskly removed "Off Limits" signs from the grounds. For six years, the famed Imperial Hotel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1922, had been a symbol of Japan's defeat and the opulent haven of U.S. VIPs, generals and colonels, who luxuriated rent-free in its fine rooms, savored sumptuous meals for 40ยข and dispensed tips of two or three cigarettes with the grand gesture of selfless philanthropists. Last week, returned to its Japanese...

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