Tracing 90 Years of RIHGA Royal Hotel History vol.3
“Creating a modern hotel for distinguished guests in Osaka”… In response to requests from Osaka’s political and business establishment, the Hotel New Osaka, predecessor of the RIHGA Royal Hotel, was established in 1935 as a project symbolizing the “Great Osaka” era. Since then, the RIHGA Royal Hotel has continually evolved with changing times and built up a tradition. Here we trace its 90-year history.
ROYAL HISTORY Vol. 3:
The Dreams and Pride Embodied in the Name “Royal”— Opening of the Osaka Royal Hotel
Opening of a New Hotel at the Current Location, Nakanoshima 5-chome
In 1952 (Showa 27), when the Hotel New Osaka reopened, there were only two hotels in Osaka city where distinguished guests could stay: the Toho Hotel (located in Bakuro-machi in the city, operating from 1949-67), which the Hotel New Osaka had created as a countermeasure during the post-war requisition period, and Hotel New Osaka itself.
With the postwar economy finally showing signs of recovery and an increase in foreign visitors to Japan, primarily Americans, the Hotel Osaka Grand opened in 1958 (Showa 33) as the third hotel in the same Nakanoshima area as the Hotel New Osaka. The building was constructed by the Asahi Shimbun Company and included a hotel, office space, and Festival Hall in a unified complex.
Even after the Hotel Osaka Grand opened, both the Hotel New Osaka and the Hotel Osaka Grand consistently maintained occupancy rates exceeding 90%, and with the advent of the era of mass high-speed transportation due to developments like the 1964 (Showa 39) opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen, and the Tokyo Olympics that same year, there were concerns about room shortages.
In light of these circumstances, the Hotel New Osaka’s new hotel construction project began in 1961 (Showa 36). The candidate site was located at 2-1 Tamae-cho, Kita-ku, Osaka City (present-day Nakanoshima 5-chome), south of the Dojima River, in an area that was then a warehouse district for paper companies. That site is now part of the current site of RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka.
There were objections due to the warehouse district location, but the president at that time, Tamesaburo Yamamoto—who had founded Asahi Breweries (today’s Asahi Beer) and was a leading figure in the Kansai business world—wanted to ignite Osaka’s growth by building a new hotel in Nakanoshima. The plan called for redeveloping that Nakanoshima site—close to business hubs like Osaka Station and Hommachi—that had once served as the Takamatsu Domain’s warehouse estate and later housed Osaka Higher Technical School, the predecessor to the School of Engineering of the University of Osaka.
The new hotel’s name was decided through a newspaper contest. The judging committee comprised distinguished figures including Kenjiro Shoda (President of the University of Osaka), Hideki Yukawa (Nobel Prize winner in Physics), Isoya Yoshida (architect), and Bernard Leach (potter). The name “Osaka Royal Hotel” was selected from nearly 90,000 entries submitted primarily by Osaka citizens. The hotel’s tagline was chosen through an internal company contest, with the winner being “International Dreams and Flavors” by Harubi Yonezu, who studied under head chef Kyuya Tsunehara.
The completion ceremony was held on October 9, 1965 (Showa 40), followed by an opening ceremony attended by Prince and Princess Takamatsu. The hotel opened for business on October 11.
The Royal Garden Room had a Japanese garden with a flowing pond, and in the bamboo grove there were Edo period Hoon-ji Temple style stone lanterns. The design was conceived by team led by Isoya Yoshida, a master of Japanese architecture and recipient of the Order of Culture award. Here and there throughout the building, paintings and other artworks of high cultural value inherited from the Hotel New Osaka era were displayed, and the four bars and seven restaurants became popular.
The Leach Bar on the first floor was designed by Isoya Yoshida based on an idea by the British potter Bernard Leach, with the participation of Mingei masters such as Kanjiro Kawai and Shoji Hamada.
In December of that same year, the Royal Arcade was completed on the first basement floor, which was unusual for a hotel at the time, and nine stores including flower shops and gift shops opened there.
Shigeru Gunji, the first general manager of the Hotel New Osaka, who later became president of the Osaka Royal Hotel in 1966 (Showa 41), described his emotions about the Osaka Royal Hotel at its opening in his book Undonkon (“Luck, Steadiness, and Perseverance”, published by Mainichi Shimbun):
“‘Having built such a fine hotel in Osaka, we Osakans can hold our heads high,’ said one giant of the Osaka business world as he put his arm around my shoulder. It was hard to suppress the joy welling up inside me.”
“How grateful I am that authorities and influential people from all walks of life are so pleased. We must not betray their expectations, and must work harder than ever to improve our service. By making the Royal prosper, we will repay our debt to Osaka, which has supported us for so many years.”
In this way, the Osaka Royal Hotel, like the Hotel New Osaka, took on the role of a guest house hotel welcoming the imperial family and foreign dignitaries, while setting out as a hotel beloved by a wide range of customers—treasuring the dreams and pride of Osaka embodied in the name “Royal.”
<References>
(1) ・Hiroshi Takata (Professor, Osaka Gakuin University) and Junichiro Tokue (Professor, Toyo University), “History of Hotels in Osaka: Focusing on Guesthouse Hotels” Japan Foundation for International Tourism, (Nol30) 2023.
Text by Eriko Michida, 140B
