Refusing to check out of the Hotel Okura

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Last days: The exterior of Hotel Okura Tokyo’s main building. | FLICKR/MARIA BØRJA CC BY 2.0
A photo of Hotel Okura Tokyo taken on Jan. 12, 1961, shows developments one year and four months before the official opening. | COURTESY OF HOTEL OKURA TOKYO
Founding fathers: Chairman Kishichiro Okura and President Iwajiro Noda observe construction progress on the hotel in 1961. Okura passed away at the age of 80, eight months after the hotel opened. | COURTESY OF HOTEL OKURA TOKYO
Vintage charms: Hotel Okura Tokyo's rooms featured bedside dial phones and small television sets (with a channel selector switch). | COURTESY OF HOTEL OKURA TOKYO
Renovations: The first large-scale change to Hotel Okura Tokyo was the addition of the 388-room South Wing, which opened on Nov. 26, 1973. | COURTESY OF HOTEL OKURA TOKYO
View from above: Hotel Okura Tokyo soon after its opening in 1962 | COURTESY OF HOTEL OKURA TOKYO
Luxury: Hotel Okura Tokyo's Imperial Suite, surrounded by rooftop gardens, was where VIP's from around the world would come to stay, away from hustle and bustle of the city. | COURTESY OF HOTEL OKURA TOKYO
Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana stayed at Hotel Okura Tokyo in 1986. | COURTESY OF HOTEL OKURA TOKYO
Politician's hideaway: Former U.S. President Richard Nixon is greeted at Hotel Okura Tokyo in 1982. Several American presidents have stayed at the hotel over the years, as it is conveniently located across the road from the U.S. Embassy. | COURTESY OF HOTEL OKURA TOKYO
A woman attends a desk for the cloak room in May. | MIRI MATSUFUJI
Teruyasu Ito helms Tani Shirt Co. on a lower floor of Hotel Okura Tokyo in May. | MIRI MATSUFUJI

by Cameron Allan Mckean
Staff Writer

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Jun 6, 2015

Hotel Okura Tokyo first opened its doors to the public on May 20, 1962, as the country’s era of rapid growth and modernization finally hit its stride.

Alongside the bullet train and other large-scale infrastructure projects that were completed at the time, the hotel came to embody the growing ascendency of Japan, as the world looked to Tokyo for the ’64 Olympics.