Kobe Maya Hotel seeking national heritage listing
A non-profit organisation is seeking donations to help preserve the 88-year old Maya Hotel and prepare it for a potential national heritage listing.
The art deco hotel was built in 1929 on the hills overlooking Kobe City. It has been closed since 1993 and has been left to rot and fall into ruin. In 2016, a local group obtained permission from the owner, an Osaka-based real estate company, to open it up for public tours.
88-yr old building on 2.6 hectare site in Minato to be sold
Japan Post Insurance is selling their former Tokyo Service Center building and land in Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo. The potential sale price and date has yet to be confirmed, although it is expected that the property will be offered for sale by tender. With land of this size, the eventual sale price is likely to be in the 10s of billions of Yen (several hundred million USD).
Japan Post Insurance expects to report a capital gain of 30 billion Yen (approx. 270 million USD) on the sale, which, given their very long history of ownership of the property, may be a close indicator of their preferred sale price.
*Update: The property was sold to Mitsui Fudosan Residential in February 2018. Japan Post Insurance posted a capital gain of 85.03 billion Yen (approx. 780 million USD) on the sale.
The property is located along the street from the Australian Embassy and directly across the street from the historic Tsunamachi Mitsui Club - a members only club that was built in 1913 for the Mitsui family.
The Art Deco building was once theMinistry of Communications and Transportation Postal Life Insurance Building. It was constructed by Obayashi Corporation in 1929 at a cost of 4,350,000 Yen. In those days the annual salary of a doctor was around 4,800 Yen.Read more
Hakone Fujiya Hotel to close for 2 years for earthquake retrofitting
Last month, Hakone’s historic landmark Fujiya Hotel announced that they will be temporarily closing the hotel from April 2018 to conduct necessary earthquake retrofitting and refurbishment. The hotel will re-open in Spring 2020.
Fujiya Hotel’s main building was built in 1891 and is registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property along with the Comfy Lodge, Flower Palace and Kikka-so Inn Annex. Famous past guests have included Charlie Chaplin, Helen Keller, John Lennon, Prince Albert, Emperor Showa and the current Emperor and Empress of Japan.
The restaurant in the 122-year old Kikka-so Annex building, which was originally a holiday villa of the Imperial Family, will continue to operate as normal during the refurbishment.Read more
Historic Yugawara Fujiya Ryokan sold to fund, to reopen in 2018
The historic Fujiya Ryokan in Yugawara, Kanagawa, has been sold to a fund and will re-open in 2018.
The sukiya-style building was built during the Meiji period (1868-1912), while the gardens date from the previous Edo period. The ryokan was a famed high-end onsen until its closure in 2002. Since then, the building has sit empty and unused.Read more
Ginza’s oldest bar to close
Ginza’s oldest bar will close this month and the historic 89-year old building is likely to be demolished as the 80-year old owner is struggling to maintain the ageing structure.
Bordeaux opened in 1927 in a two-story European-style building in the Ginza 8 Chome address. It hosted many famous patrons over the years including Mitsumasa Yonai (37th Prime Minister of Japan), and Isoroku Yamamoto (Japanese Marshal Admiral). Businessman Jiro Shirasu (Wikipedia), was said to have had a permanently reserved seat in front of the fireplace.Read more
Developer to raze 84-year old building in Ginza
Ginza is about to lose another of its pre-war buildings as an 84-year old office building is under demolition by a developer.
Demolition started in early September with the removal of asbestos. The building will be completely demolished by early November.Read more
Historic Villa in Kobe searching for new owner
The owner of a 93-year old European-style residence in Kobe is looking for a new owner to carry on the home’s legacy. Open days in June and July were arranged for the house by the Heritage House Trust. The conditions of the sale will require the new owner to preserve the structure.
The 2-storey home was built on a hillside position in Higashinada-ku in 1923. It was designed by architect Shichiro Kigo (1884-1955) and built for businessman Jiro Inabata. It was later used as a reception hall for the Miyaji Steamboat Company. In the 1960s, most of the hillside surroundings were subdivided into a housing estate called Okamoto Garden. It was at this time that the current owner’s family purchased the property.Read more