Photo/Illutration The Hotel Royal Classic Osaka retains the ambience of the old Shin Kabuki-za theater in Osaka’s Chuo Ward. (Yuka Kanemoto)

OSAKA--The now-defunct Shin Kabuki-za theater, long a symbol of the busy Nanba district here, has been turned into a “museum hotel” designed by Kengo Kuma and featuring works by Yayoi Kusama and other artists.

The exterior of the Hotel Royal Classic Osaka, which opened on Dec. 1, recreates the theater’s “karahafu” roof gables. About 100 works by classic and contemporary artists are featured in public spaces in the interior of the hotel.

The 19-story hotel with a basement floor and 150 guest rooms aims to attract inbound tourists with its museum-like atmosphere.

“We’d like to give visitors an opportunity not only to stay overnight but also to experience art,” a hotel representative said.

Bellco Co., a leading wedding and funeral company, bought the former site of the Shin Kabuki-za theater.

The restaurant and banquet room are designed to accommodate visitors who do not stay overnight. The hotel also has a large wedding hall with a stage designed with the triangular theme of the karahafu style.

A painting by young modern artist Miwa Komatsu is displayed near a bar-lounge on the top floor, while a piece by flower artist Nicolai Bergmann is placed by the side of the chapel.

Photos and paintings are also on display in guest rooms.

The Shin Kabuki-za was designed by Togo Murano (1891-1984), one of Japan’s leading architects.

The building was shut down in 2009 after it fell into disrepair, and the theater was relocated to Osaka's Uehonmachi district in 2010.

Bellco asked Kuma, a famed architect whose major works include the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo and the New National Stadium, to renovate the building as a hotel.