The Westin Osaka: Amazing collection of invaluable historical documents

Westin Hotel in Osaka has many invaluable historical documents. These include two letters actually written by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and Kanpaku Toyotomi Hideyoshi and a poem also actually written by Shogun Oda Nobunaga. These are displayed on the 26^th floor. Also there is a large document hanged at an elevator hall on the seventh floor. This was written by a famous historian in the warring states period that tells about characters of major six Shoguns. It would be very interesting and surprising even for Japanese people to know that “Dokuganryu” the nickname of Shugun Date Masamune came from this document. They are really worth watching. For more information, please visit FORIMS of Grand Collection of Japanese Traditions.

Home page of The Westin Osaka

                                        The letter written by Tokugawa Ieyasu

                                      The poem written by Oda Nobunaga

              The document that gave Date Masamune his nickname of Dokuganryu 

Otoginoyado Yoneya in Fukushima : If you wish to enjoy fantastic stay!

I have never enjoyed such a fantastic stay in any other hotel or Ryokan. Otogino-yado Yoneya is full of fantasies of traditional Japanese fairy tales. Otogi means fairy tale and yado means accommodation, so Otogino-yado means an accommodation where fairy tales exist. You will meet heroes and heroines of Japanese fairy tales there. The most amazing arrangement I experienced was that the dinner was based on a story of some fairy tale. Each dish that represents each chapter of the fairy tale is served one after another with narration of the story. When I visited there, the fairy tale for the dinner was Ningyohime which is Japanese little mermaid. If you are interested in collecting more information on the Otoginoyado in English, please feel free to send e-mail to the office of Grand Collection of Japanese Traditions. jtraditions@gmail.com 
Homepage of Yoneya

Meigetsuso in Yamagata : Music evernt is held every full moon night

Meigetsuso is one of the most suitable Ryokans in the Yamagata prefecture for people from outside Japan. Their strong interest in welcoming those people is shown on their well designed website of English version. They hold a music event every month on the night of full moon. Many famous musicians play at their hall. If you stay in Japan on the night of full moon, I recommend you visit this Ryokan to enjoy their music event along with their gorgeous accommodation, meals and hot spring baths. For more information, please visit their website  

http://www.meigetsuso.co.jp/english/ 
Also you can see some additional pictures of their facilities in the forum of Grand Collection of Japanese Traditions

Concert hall

 Inside of the concert hall

100% fresh squeezed vegetable juices available 

for all guests at a relaxation room in front of a large 

hot spring bath room.

Hotel the Manhattan: The remnant of the bubble economy having a copy of a curtain from "Gone with the window".

Japan enjoyed what we call“The bubble economy” for four to five years starting 1986. Some memberships of golf courses were sold at half million US dollars. Salesmen for that kind of expensive memberships did not have any problem in selling them at that period. Westin hotels, InterContinental hotels, Rockefeller Center, Plaza hotel New York etc were bought by Japanese companies at that time. Of course, some hotels were built incredibly gorgeously in Japan during that period. The Manhattan, seen on the way to Tokyo from Narita Airport,is one of such typical hotels. When you walk in, you will be amazed with its glorious marbles used here and there. In one of meeting rooms, there is a curtain which was specially created as a copy of the one used for the famous movie“Gone with the window”. The heroin Scarlett O'Hara who did not have money to buy a dress used the curtain to make a fantastic dress to participate in a ball reception to meet wealthy people. The hotel is well worth visiting. For more information, please visit Chiba of "Hotels" on the map of Grand Collection of Japanese Traditions. and you can find the website of the Manhattan.

 

Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel: The Oriental hotel was the place where Jazz was played for the first time in Japan

An advertisement of Oriental Hotel was seen on the newspaper published on August 3 in 1870. That hotel was built by people from Prussia in a residential area for foreigners in Kobe. There are many anecdotes about the hotel, some of which are as follows. Joseph Rudyard Kipling who is known for his famous title “The Jungle Book” said “The Oriental Hotel serves better meals than Ruffles in Singapore or Victoria in Hong-Kong.”. A letterhead of the Oriental hotel was found in a bag left at Titanic under the ocean. Also this is the hotel where Jazz was played for the first time in Japan. The DNA has been carried into Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel. To reach their homepage, please visit Hyogo of "Hotels" on the map of Gland Collection of Japanese Traditions. 

 

Newspaper published on August 3, 1870

                                             The hotel looks like a gorgeous cruiser

Nagahama Royal: Home of the hot spring that gave a baby boy to (Shogun) Kampaku Hideyoshi

Nagahama is one of a few major cities that were developed by Hideyoshi, one of the great shoguns (actually he used Kampaku instead of Shougun for his title ) who lived over 400 years ago. We can enjoy walking around the area composed of many old houses built during the Edo era. The area is called Kurokabe Square. There are many shops, restaurants and gift shops. More than 3 million people visit this city every year.

Shogun Hideyoshi, who had almost given up on a successor after his many failed, had a baby boy after he visited the hot spring there. The hot spring was then named “Tiko Kodakara No Yu” which means "this is the hot spring that brought a baby boy to the Shogun." The Nagaham Royal that stands there facing beautiful Lake Biwako owns the hot spring. Please visit Shiga on the “Hotel” map of Grand Collection of Japanese Traditions and you will find this hotel there.  Also visit Shiga on the map of “Tourism Information” and you will find more stories about Shogun Hideyoshi at the Nagahama Tourism Association.

Windsor Toya: The hotel that accommodated all dignitaries during the 34th G8 Summit held in 2008

I would like to hear opinions about Windsor Toya from hotel experts around the world. I have visited more than 500 hotels around the world and from my experience I believe that this is the most gorgeously built hotel in the world. This hotel is known as the accommodation where the 34^th G8 Summit was held in 2008. Multiple hotels are always selected for the Summit for security reasons but only that time, all dignitaries stayed in Windsor. This remarkable fact raised the reputation of the Windsor. Please visit Hokkaido on the map of “Hotel” of Grand Collection of Japanese Traditions and you will find this hotel.