Despite failing inspections for decades, no changes were ever made at the hotel where a fire killed seven on Sunday, the city of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, admitted Tuesday, adding the facility wasn't even up to code at the time of the first inspection in 1987.

The municipal government initially said that although the Hotel Prince wasn't up to current building code, it met the standards at the time of construction in the 1960s and therefore the hotel owner could not be forced to make renovations.

But after checking records and related legal provisions, the city now says structural changes to the hotel put it in violation of the law as early as 1987.