The Hachijo Royal hotel was opened on the volcanic paradise island and tourism was bustling! It was promoted as the “Hawaii of Japan”. 30 years later and times changed. Traveling abroad became the norm and spending your earnings traveling to a local island soon lost its appeal. The hotel was forced to close its doors in 2006.
Having visited the hotel site recently, it revealed a very sorry state of affairs. Even though it’s been only 15 years since ceasing operations the tropical heat and saltwater have ensured a swift deterioration of the hotel’s amenities.
History of Hachijo Royal Hotel
This hotel was built in 1963, used to host many honeymooners, and was the most luxurious hotel in Japan at that time. The mid-1960s heralded in an era that started to see Japanese tourists traveling abroad in significant numbers for the first time. Tourism on the Izu Islands was booming back then, especially on Hachijo-Jima.
The hotel complex was even audacious enough to embellish its then company’s president Eiji Yasuda with his own statue alongside his prized horse. Inspired by French Baroque architecture, this luxury hotel opened as one of the country’s largest palaces. It proudly displays plaster representations of Greek statues and ornate fountains.
But as international travel became easier for the masses, and with the real Hawaii just a little further along in the same direction, tourism saw a sharp decline and the island struggled to reinvent itself.
In 1996 the Hachijo Royal Hotel reopened as the Pricia Resort, which closed in August 2003 to re-open in 2004 as the Hachijo Oriental Resort. When the tourism boom came to an end, it struggled to attract guests and was finally abandoned in 2006.
Where is the Hachijo Royal Hotel located?
Hachijo Royal Hotel is located on a remote island approximately 180 miles off the coast of Tokyo, it is surrounded by a scattering of small islands collectively known as the Izu Archipelago. Due to its tropical climate and abundance of sandy beaches the island was dubbed the the “Hawaii of Japan” back in the 1960s in an attempt to boost domestic travel to the island from mainland Japan.
The salty air and humid conditions have ensured a swift deterioration of the once stunning building. Thick vegetation is also slowly encroaching from the outside and the interior of abandoned hotel is also slowly falling to pieces.
Photos of Hachijo Royal Hotel
