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Japan bids adieu to landmark that hosted presidents, stars

13 Comments
By ELAINE KURTENBACH

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to make way for a pair of glass towers ahead of the 2020 Olympics

Real question, not sarcasm...Are those towers part of the Olympics, or are they just hoping to be finished by then?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I know it's close to the US embassy and all but why on earth would you have one of the most powerful leaders in the world visit there? It totally stinks, my office is close by and I wouldn't even take colleagues visiting from overseas for food there, let alone recommend they stay there. Bring on the new version, it's long overdue.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Does this mean Aso will be going to Yoshinoya? Hope he's okay with the menu.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Since he started working as a doorman decades ago, the hotel’s lobby hasn’t changed a bit, and he is glad of that.

Sorry, but IMO, and experience with The Okura during my stay in Japan, the lobby, as well as the whole hotel, had become simply out-dated and stuffy. Elements of the 1960's is one thing, being stuck in it is another.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

I think we have to remember in Japan, they historically like to tear down and rebuild structures every so often (after all, many famous Shinto shrines have their buildings torn down and rebuilt on a regular basis). Because the Hotel Okura doesn't meet 2015 earthquake safety standards, that's why it's being demolished to be replaced by something that does meet current standards, especially in light of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake experience.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Long overdue aesthetically and now required legally.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Loved the hotel. the restaurants and the bar.

Now. maybe they can come up with a better health club and swimming pool plan for non-hotel guests!!

Just my non-serious comment for now....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Great place because it was different from other hotels.

Supposedly there is a tunnel from the US embassy to the Okura in case a quick escape is/was needed from either place to the other.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Serendipitous that is a true statement!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

jerseyboyAUG. 31, 2015 - 08:36PM JST Since he started working as a doorman decades ago, the hotel’s lobby hasn’t changed a bit, and he is glad of that. Sorry, but IMO, and experience with The Okura during my stay in Japan, the lobby, as well as the whole hotel, had become simply out-dated and stuffy. Elements of the 1960's is one thing, being stuck in it is another

Certainly the common complaint, but why not renovate rather than raze? Tokyo certainly does not need another highrise hotel. They made a brave effort in the lobby of the International, but it hardly holds a candle to the FLW original. And what they cobbled together for the Shin Marunouchi Building is pretty horrible. There simply is very little interest in preserving much modern architecture.

Raymond ChuangAUG. 31, 2015 - 08:52PM JST I think we have to remember in Japan, they historically like to tear down and rebuild structures every so often (after all, many famous Shinto shrines have their buildings torn down and rebuilt on a regular basis).

A popular and modern misconception. Ise Jingu is the only Shinto shrine that is rebuilt section by section on a regular schedule and not all the buildings are "renewed." Of course others have been rebuilt but that has been mostly the case due to fire, earthquake or remodeling and/or enlarging the whole complex.

Prior to WWII, public buildings were built to last (lots of late Meiji and Taisho era building survived WWII), private housing being the exception and there, too, are exceptions in the best examples of vernacular architecture.

Otherwise, much of what has come down or still needs to come down in cities are the remnants of structures dating from the first couple decades or so after when Japan was still relatively poor and most public structures were boxy and made of poured concrete.

Recently, public perceptions have begun to change about the value of "used" houses, which for a couple decades now have been built more seismically stable and better insulated.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Geez, that's pretty sad. Keep the things that you enjoy, and stop bulldozing them for the Olympics that lasts for a few days that no one wants. It's another vanity loss because of Abe. Surely such an iconic building would have found another use?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Was a great statement about Japanese ideas of style and class at the beginning of the Japanese bubble years. good service and some really good restaurants too.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

KaerimashitaSEP. 01, 2015 - 11:05AM JST Was a great statement about Japanese ideas of style and class at the beginning of the Japanese bubble years.

The Bubble began in the mid-80s, almost 25 years after the first part of the hotel was completed in time for the 1964 Summer Olympics.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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