Japan: With the Olympics coming and tourism rising, the Japanese boutique hotel industry is seeing a major rebirth.
Though Tokyo’s hotel landscape has been long dominated by sterile chains and high rises, Trunk (Hotel) is one of many smaller establishments rising in the capitol city.
It is the brainchild of Yoshitaka Nojiri, founder of Japan’s largest wedding company Take & Give needs. While the 15-room hotel was initially themed around marriage, it now aims for something more esoteric.
“Socializing,” is at the building’s core, with an attempt to instil well-being in the hotels guests. This came from Nojiri, a Shibuya resident, seeking to give back to the neighbourhood both socially and financially.
The design incorporates a number of trendy boutique concepts, like a focus on sustainability in design, hyper locality in materials, and charitable giving. Its rooms are also all designed around creating varieties of sociable behaviour.
This hotel is one of many currently breaking through the Japanese market. With Foreign tourists almost doubling since 2015, they hope to create alternatives to chains or traditional inns.
Concerns do exist with oversaturation, as the BBC reports a possibility of supply exceeding demand by over 12,000 rooms in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto.
Trunk plans to open 10 new properties in 10 years, according to Fortune. Their latest is Trunk (House), a converted Geisha house which opened in August.
Other hotels opening in Japan include a planned space on the site of Nintendo’s first Kyoto office. With promise of a continued influx of tourism, Japan’s boutique market may soon be one of the world’s largest.
