The Kumamoto Prefectural Government on Friday ordered the operator of a hotel that refused to accommodate former Hansen's disease patients to shut down for three days from March 15 to 18.
The penalty was imposed on the Ai-Ladies Kyuden Kurokawa Onsen Hotel in the town of Minami-Oguni because it violated the Hotel Business Law by rejecting reservation requests made by 22 people at a sanitarium in November when it was informed that they once had Hansen's disease, prefectural officials said.
The hotel operator has said it will close down the hotel, but has not said when.