Malaysian developer joins forces for hotel-condo project in Yokohama
A joint venture between Berjaya Corporation Berhad, Marubeni, and Daiwa House Industry, has been selected to develop a two-hectare land parcel in Yokohama’s waterfront Minato Mirai 21 District.
113-yr old ryokan in Sendai closes its doors
The 113-year old Chitoseya Ryokan in Sendai City closed its doors on May 31. It was originally scheduled to close in 2021 as the current operators, now in their 70s, have no successor. But, the recent decimation of the tourism industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic hastened the closure.
180-meter tall office tower planned for Omotesando
The Urban Renaissance Agency, a semi-governmental housing corporation, is planning a 180-meter tall office tower for the northern end of the former Aoyama Kitamachi Apaato public housing block in Omotesando.
Number of registered short-term accommodations drop for first time
The number of registered ‘minpaku’ short-term accommodation providers has dropped for the first time since the new system was introduced in June 2018. According to the Japan Tourism Agency there were a total of 21,176 registered properties across Japan as of May 11, down from 21,385 just one month earlier.
1,001 room hotel planned for Niigata
On May 21, hotel developer and operator APA Group held the ground-breaking ceremony for a 1,001-room hotel and 212-unit condo development in Niigata City. This will be the largest mixed-use hotel and residential development in East Japan.
Heritage-listed ryokan in Chiba to close and be demolished
The latest coronavirus-related closure in Japan’s hotel industry is the heritage-listed Kappo Ryokan Tamagawa in Funabashi, Chiba. On May 19, the operator announced that the ryokan had closed permanently at the end of April. No time will be wasted, with demolition of the 92-year old ryokan to start as early as June.
Japan hotel bankruptcies top 25 in April
According to Tokyo Shoko Research, there were 25 bankruptcies in the hotel industry in the month of April. 60% of those were said to be directly related to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a steep increase from the 2 bankruptcies reported in April 2019, and not far from the record high of 29 seen in May 2011 (following the Tohoku disaster).