Imperial Hotel
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The Imperial Hotel was a prominent fixture in Meiji period Tokyo. Financed by Shibusawa Eiichi, Ôkura Kihachirô, Iwasaki Yanosuke, and a number of other prominent businessmen, and located next door to the Rokumeikan, it opened in 1890.
It was built by Ôkura's construction firm, as the Rokumeikan was in 1881-1883, but was much larger and more expensive. The Imperial Hotel cost 260,000 yen, and was three stories tall, featuring 84 guest rooms, a ballroom that could accommodate 600 people, a library, and a number of game rooms, libraries, and a salon equipped with both organ and piano.
References
- Dallas Finn, "Reassessing the Rokumeikan," in Ellen Conan (ed.), Challenging Past and Present: The Metamorphosis of Nineteenth-Century Japanese Art, University of Hawaii Press (2006), 235.
