News On Japan

Imperial Hotel Kyoto to Open in Central Gion

KYOTO - The Imperial Hotel Kyoto is set to open on March 5th in the heart of Gion, one of Kyoto’s most renowned districts, with the interior unveiled to the media on March 2nd ahead of its debut.

The newly completed Imperial Hotel Kyoto stands in central Gion, incorporating parts of the exterior walls and decorative features of Yasaka Kaikan, a nationally registered tangible cultural property long regarded as a local landmark.

A reporter at the scene noted, "The glass from Yasaka Kaikan has been preserved in the entrance ceiling, allowing visitors to feel the atmosphere of the original building."

Yasaka Kaikan, widely familiar to residents and visitors alike, has been carefully integrated into the hotel’s design, with portions of its façade and ornamentation reused to maintain a connection to the area’s architectural heritage.

The hotel offers 55 guest rooms, including the Heritage Junior Suite, which provides close views of the Gion Kobu Kaburenjo theater located on the same grounds.

Guests can also enjoy sweeping views over the Gion district from the hotel’s bar, where cocktails featuring matcha and other Kyoto-inspired ingredients are served, highlighting the city’s distinctive character in both design and hospitality.

Imperial Hotel Kyoto is scheduled to officially open on March 5th.

Source: KTV NEWS

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Japan's Obon travel rush began on August 7 under severe disruption from Typhoon No. 13, with hundreds of flights canceled across Okinawa and Kagoshima as Shinkansen trains and expressways prepared for their main outbound peak on August 8, while a second typhoon raised concerns about further travel trouble next week.

A large and strong Typhoon No. 13 was making its closest approach to Okinawa's main island and the Amami region on August 7, bringing torrential rain, violent winds and waves exceeding 8 meters as the slow-moving storm threatened to prolong severe weather through August 8.

Requests for rapidly constructed "instant houses" are growing across areas of Kumamoto Prefecture devastated by the recent earthquake, providing air-conditioned temporary shelter for residents who have been sleeping in tents and vehicles beside their damaged homes.

Toyota Motor has begun recruiting residents of Shizuoka Prefecture to live in Woven City, its experimental community for developing future technologies, with about 25 households expected to move into the site for two years from March 2027.

Nine days after the Kumamoto earthquake, a supermarket in Hikawa, where the strongest seismic intensity of 7 was recorded, is moving toward reopening while providing free groundwater to residents as about 3,200 households remain without running water.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Travel NEWS

All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines are expected to lower fuel surcharges on international tickets issued in September and October after a decline in the fuel prices used to calculate the additional fees.

Japan is one of those countries that people visit once and then return to again and again and again, because it is unlike any other place on the planet.

The rainy season appears to have ended in the Hokuriku region and both southern and northern Tohoku, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on August 5, marking the apparent end of the season across the entire country.

A fire destroyed a wooden reception building at a subtemple within the grounds of Kodaiji in Kyoto on August 3, burning about 60 square meters but leaving no one injured and causing no damage to the temple's main buildings or cultural properties.

The legal speed limit on many residential roads will be lowered from 60 kilometers per hour to 30 kph on September 1, as police urge drivers to recognize that pedestrians should take priority on narrow neighborhood streets.

A new pedestrian bridge has opened across the Nihonbashi River, connecting the Otemachi-Marunouchi business district with the neighboring Kanda area as part of a redevelopment project aimed at improving access and revitalizing central Tokyo.

Six airlines, including All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Air Do, will move the baggage check-in deadline for domestic flights at Haneda Airport to 30 minutes before departure from September 1.

Three female lions at Tama Zoological Park have died in succession after suffering dehydration and multiple organ failure, with heatstroke suspected as the cause.