Historic Rokkosan Hotel to close

Rokkosan Hotel 3

Hankyu Hanshin Hotels, part of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, will close the historic 86-year old Rokkosan Hotel in Kobe on December 20. Hotel operations will continue in the newer 45-room main building located next door.

The original hotel was opened in 1929 as an annex to the Takarazuka Hotel, before later operating as an independent hotel. It was designed by architect Masaharu Furuzuka, one of the Osaka-Kobe area’s leading modernist architects. Furuzuka also designed the Takarazuka Hotel in 1926.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Osaka's new short-term letting rules leave out Osaka City

On October 27, Osaka Prefecture became the first area in Japan to approve the new and relaxed rules regarding short-term accommodation.

Despite the changes, there are still strict requirements, including:

  • Obtaining permission from local authorities before letting out the property.
  • Having a signed fixed-term rental agreement with the host and the guest.
  • A minimum room size of 25 sqm. Each room must have it’s own lockable bath, toilet and kitchen.
  • The minimum stay must be 6 nights and 7 days.
  • Hosts will be obligated to keep a guest book with guest names, passport numbers, and must check and confirm the identity of each guest.
  • Local authorities will have the right to conduct physical inspections of the properties. If a problem is found, the operator will lose their permission to operate short-term letting.
  • The following areas are not included in the relaxed rules: Osaka City, Sakai City, Takatsuki City, Higashi-osaka City, Toyonaka City, Hirakata City.

It is important to note that a large part of the urban area in Osaka is not part of the relaxed rules. Operators of properties in areas in white in the map below will require a hotel license to provide accommodation for less than 30 days.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Overnight accommodation laws relaxed in Fukuoka City, but for limited times only

To alleviate the strain on hotels in Fukuoka City, the mayor announced on December 8 that the hotel letting laws would be temporarily relaxed to allow private residences and apartments to be leased out to guests.

As a trial run, the license-free* letting period will be limited to just five days this month when Japanese pop bands Arashi and Exile are scheduled to hold concerts in the city.

On December 17 ~ 19 and 26 ~ 27, homeowners will be permitted to rent out rooms in their homes, while landlords, or tenants with the express permission of their landlords, will be permitted to lease out empty rooms to overnight guests.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Singapore property group opens hotel in Kyoto

Noku Kyoto 1Singapore’s Roxy-Pacific Holdings Limited opened their first hotel in Japan on November 16. The ‘Noku Roxy’ is located near the Kyoto Imperial Palace grounds and just above Marutamachi Station.

Roxy acquired the existing 21-year old hotel, formerly called the ‘Tokyu Hotel Harvest Kyoto’, in October 2014 and have refurbished the interior and exterior. The property had previously been acquired by Ken Corporation in January 2014. Read more

by Zoe Ward

Hyogo-based company starts boutique historic hotel brand

Nipponia Sasayama Hotel 1

In early October a Japanese association called NOTE opened up a series of historic hotels in the Sasayama Castle Town in Hyogo Prefecture. The boutique hotels are located in traditional and historic Japanese homes that have been carefully restored. NOTE currently has 11 hotel suites in four buildings in the town, and operates them under their NIPPONIA Sasayama Castle Town Hotel brand. They have also converted a former bank (c1934) in Toyooka into a hotel, restaurant and cafe.

NOTE is a Sasayama-based association that was established in 2009 with the purpose of reinvigorating rural areas through restoring old and vacant houses, promoting tourism and supporting local businesses. The food served in the hotel restaurants, for example, is sourced locally to support the town’s farmers, while staff are hired locally where possible.

NOTE is aiming to have 10 hotels in operation by the 2020 Olympics.Read more

by Zoe Ward

NTT to develop luxe hotels with fine-dining restauranteur

Hiramatsu

NTT Urban Development, the real estate development arm of the NTT communications group, is jointly developing several high-end hotels with restaurant and wedding planning company Hiramatsu.

Hiramatsu is known for their French and Italian restaurants, wedding planning, catering and wine businesses. In May 2015, they announced their foray into the hotel industry with the establishment of Hiramatsu Hotels & Resorts.

Meanwhile, NTT Urban Development has decided to pursue the development of hotels and resorts to cater to the explosive growth in the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan. On October 1, 2015, they established a hotel and resort division in their commercial department. Read more

by Zoe Ward

Karakami Kankoh to close two 1960s hotels in Wakayama

Hotel Koganoi and Shirohama Seaside Hotel Wakayama

Karakami Kankoh, a Sapporo-based hotel and onsen operator, will close two ageing hotels in Wakayama Prefecture next year.

Hotel Coganoi (103 rooms) and the Shirahama Seaside Hotel (91 rooms) were both built in 1961. Despite having operating ratios of around 70% between April and August this year, the continued operation of the hotels has proven difficult due to their age and the fact that they were built to the old and out-dated earthquake codes. The company had considered retrofitting the buildings, but the 1 billion Yen (8.4 million USD) cost was considered too high. Both hotels will close at the end of March 2016.Read more

by Zoe Ward