What is the secret of the oldest hotel in the world, which has been operating for over 1300 years

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In our time of actively developing tourism, it will not be difficult to open your hotel if you have the money and desire. But making it profitable, and even keeping it afloat, is not so easy. However, the owners of the Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan Hotel managed to achieve the impossible. Their brainchild has been working since 705 (!) Years, having survived dozens of generations of guests and owners. And this despite the fact that the hotel is located not at all in a popular seaside resort and not even in the capital. What is the secret of such a long life of this vacation spot?

He survived fifty generations

No, this is not a myth: the hotel was actually built in 705. No older hotel has been found in the world, so in 2011 it was officially entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest hotel in the world, as well as one of the oldest businesses that still operates.

The hotel was opened by the enterprising Japanese Fujiwara Mahito, who, according to an ancient family tradition, was the son of the personal assistant of Emperor Tenji. This ruler, in turn, is known as a fearless warrior, a good poet, and also the author of the first legal code. By the way, the subject of Fujiwara himself wrote poetry and helped the ruler in compiling poetry collections. Subsequently, the Fujiwara family became an influential and famous court clan in Japan.

Perhaps the emperor's patronage in relation to his father became a springboard for Fujiwara Mahito in creating such a successful business. When the first owner was gone, the business was inherited by his son. Over the long years of the hotel's existence, 52 generations of owners have changed here, and they are one and the same family. Such is the family business that stretched out for centuries!

What is the secret of popularity?

This unique hotel is well known for its thermal waters. It is located in Yamanashi Prefecture (Honshu Island) at the foot of the Akaisi mountain range, and since its inception, for more than 1,300 years, all hot water has come here directly from the local Hakuho springs. Well, the ancient Japanese appreciated spa treatments no less than modern lovers of wellness rest.

The healing springs of onsen are hot waters heated by stones or, as they say in Japan, "the fiery heart of our planet."

In ancient times, warriors came to such springs to rest after the battle and to thank their gods for surviving the battles, as well as to improve their health after suffering wounds. Therefore, onsen are closely associated with Japanese history and religion. It is the demand for local sources of analysts that is called the main reason for such a long popularity of the hotel.

By the way, the heating in the house runs on the same hot water, and the tap water is also local, natural.

In addition, Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan is located on one of the ancient routes leading to the iconic Mount Fuji. The Shinto faith views the mountain as "one of the gods born in a time when the earth was in chaos." As you know, Fuji has been an object of pilgrimage for Japanese emperors since ancient times, and ancient samurai used its slopes as a place for combat training.

On the way to Fuji and on the way back, wealthy, award-winning Japanese people happily stayed here at the hot spring hotel. Among those who like to relax in the hotel were fierce samurai warriors and all-powerful emperors. Of course, over the 13 centuries, the building had to be demolished and rebuilt more than once, but three factors remained unchanged: the extremely successful location of the hotel, the most picturesque views that opened up to visitors, and the very popularity of this cozy place.

What is "Onsen"

Traditional Japanese onsen are natural springs, but later indoor baths filled with mineral water began to appear. And if earlier such baths were mixed (both sexes bathed in them at the same time), now, as a rule, there are separate baths for men and separate ones for women. Or a certain time is allocated for the ladies and a certain time for the gentlemen.

Before the Japanese water procedure, as well as before visiting a regular public bath or swimming pool, it is customary to thoroughly wash your body with soap, rinsing in the shower. When immersed in and out of the bath, it is customary to wrap the body with a towel. During your stay in the water, you can put it next to it or cover your head with it.

In the oldest hotel in the world, the hosts offer guests to visit the onsen in kimono robes. By the way, there are both public baths for representatives of each gender, and VIP-onsen, which can be accessed directly from the room.

Onsen is an intimate, almost sacred place. The best thing about taking such a bath is to contemplate nature in a completely relaxed state and contemplate on the eternal.

A long-lived hotel these days

Now the hotel has about 40 rooms open to visitors, and several baths (some of them are open-air, and some are indoor) are ready to heal with their healing waters everyone who dares to come to this remote place located in the depths of the main Japanese island.

By the way, although this hotel is intended mainly for the sphere of domestic tourism, recently Europeans have also begun to look into it: for example, returning from Fuji, as the Japanese rulers did in the old days.

And although the hotel looks very modern (excellent renovation, excellent cuisine and service, the staff speaks a little English, etc.), it still retains Japanese traditions. For example, during a meal, you sit on the floor on the tatami, it is customary to take off your shoes, it is advisable to wear national Japanese clothes, and according to the latest data, there is no WI-FI in the hotel. However, such conservatism does not bother visitors at all.

Moreover, the cost of rooms in the oldest hotel on the planet, located in a place far from the city, is by no means low and is kept at the same level as in new hotels of a similar class.

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