A luxury hotel converted from a historic former prison in the western Japan city of Nara opened Thursday, with its operator aiming to use part of the revenue from the property to help preserve the nationally designated cultural asset.
Guests will be able to enjoy the facility's rich history while staying in one of 48 spacious suites created by combining several former solitary and shared cells. Exposed brick walls and high-set windows retain traces of the building's original use.
Hoshino Resorts Inc, which runs Hoshinoya Nara Prison, held a media preview Tuesday at the red-brick complex, which was completed in 1908.
Four of the prison's five cell wings, arranged radially around a central guard station, have been converted into guest accommodation.
Hoshino Resorts operates the property as part of efforts to turn the historic complex into a tourist attraction. The site is near Nara Park, known for its free-roaming deer and landmarks including the Todai-ji temple complex.
A one-night stay starts at 147,000 yen per suite room, and guests can also visit the Nara Prison Museum on the site during their stay.
"We want to pass on the history and value of this building to future generations," said Masaya Kakegawa, the hotel's general manager. He added that he hopes the hotel becomes one of Nara's leading destinations for overnight visitors.
The hotel is targeting an occupancy rate of 80 percent within three years.
The prison was one of five major penitentiaries built by the government during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) as part of efforts to showcase the modernization of confinement facilities in Japan. It later served as a juvenile prison before closing in 2017 due to aging facilities.
The complex was designated as a nationally important cultural property the same year. It had initially been scheduled to open in 2024 but was delayed partly to allow for an earthquake-resistance assessment.
© KYODO
14 Comments
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Gobshite
Good idea, but "A one-night stay starts at 147,000 yen per suite room " I'd pass on that
sakurasuki
Without hostage justice experience treatment, that won't be a true full experience, right?
wallace
Very expensive and no get-out-of-jail-free card.
Wallis Gelmar
@Gobshite - I agree, but 147,000 yen for a night in a Hoshinoya resort if you are coming from Europe or the US isn't bad value these days.
kohakuebisu
I wonder what it said or whether the building had been reinforced over the years with structural steel.
The building looks great, which is turbocharged due to the rarity of redbrick buildings in Japan. I looked at the website and the rooms strike me as a bit meh and conventional hotel chic compared to places like Battersea Power Station, that cigarette warehouse in Liverpool near Everton's new ground, or the Flatiron building in Times Square.
I don't know how to express this well, but I think it says something about a fall in civic pride and investment in public spaces that a building built for prisoners in 1908 now looks so spectacular that you can reuse it as a high-class hotel.
garypen
The Flatiron building is not in Times Square. It's about 20 blocks south of Times Square.
Vanillasludge
I’d have to rob a bank to afford the rooms, at which point I could go to jail for free.
Yohan
I wonder if you have a nice view looking out of the windows of your hotel room or if you see only some brick walls. There are also no balconies either. Checking out the home page of the Hoshino Resorts it seems the rooms are rather small and only for max. 2 persons, totally not over 70 sqm and the windows are rather high, you need a ladder to look out of your room.
Ghost Pine
Lovely building. They should serve breakfast in the mess hall with servers dressed as guards.
Ghost Pine
One of the most interesting recently constructed buildings where I live is the brick jailhouse, a large building with small windows but the building is beautiful because it is brick.
Mickelicious
Hurrah for buildings like this, proving how resilient brick actually is in Japan, and how people are being royally ripped off in buying single generation housing and offices. Shame!
ZENJI
We have a similar hotel in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The old Addington Prison is now backpackers lodging.
quercetum
Most rooms for two people are
quercetum
much smaller 30 sqm.