The Kihachiya Ryokan in Sado City, Niigata, has entered into bankruptcy proceedings and may be forced to sell their hotel. According to Teikoku Databank, Kihachiya Ryokan has debts of 560 million Yen.

The ryokan is listed as a national tangible cultural property. The Agency for Cultural Affairs is hoping that the older building can be preserved.

Prior to Kihachiya, the ryokan was a store operated by Izumiya from as early as the Edo period. In 1904 the building was destroyed by fire, but soon re-opened as a ryokan, or Japanese inn. An annex to the hotel was built in 1956. In 1995, the annual revenue reached 165 million Yen. However, debts were incurred through hotel renovations and the hotel’s financing situation began to worsen. The ryokan closed its doors in April 2011.

The listed properties include a 5-storey wooden building and a 3-storey wooden annex, as well as a 2-storey stone warehouse. The buildings date from the Meiji to Taisho eras and are important to the scenery of the area.

It is unusual for the owner of a national tangible cultural property to declare bankruptcy.

Location: 1935-21 Ogimachi, Sado City, Niigata

Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun, February 15, 2012.

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