Memory of Shiba Park Hotel
Shiba Park Hotel was founded in 1948.
Since then, we have spent time together with our guests and the local community in the historic Shiba area through the Showa, Heisei, and now in Reiwa eras. We will continue to strive for a better and richer tomorrow as a library hotel with a collection of books based on the history, people, and climate of this town, while maintaining the comfort of the hotel.
"Women's Billet"
Predecessor of
Shiba Park Hotel
"Women's Billet"
Predecessor of
Shiba Park Hotel
On August 14, 1945, Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration and decided to end the war at noon on the following day, the 15th.
On September 15 of the same year, General Headquarters of the Allied Forces (GHQ) was relocated from Yokohama to Hibiya, and many people had to stay in Tokyo.
GHQ was searching for a building in Tokyo that would serve as a dormitory, and they chose Kyoritsu Women’s Professional School of Pharmacy, which had a student dormitory in the greenery of Shiba Park. The dormitory was named “Women’s Billet” and was used as a dormitory for female soldiers of the Occupation Forces. This was the birth of the facility that would become the predecessor of the Shiba Park Hotel.
Period of National Buyers Hotel
Period of National Buyers Hotel
In 1948, the Shiba Park Hotel began operating as a foreign trade mission hotel (Buyer’s Hotel) under the management of the Trade Agency (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry).
Guests were, of course, limited to foreigners. During the time of the National Buyers Hotel, where all payments were made in foreign currency, there is a record of a chocolate bar, which was still rare in Japan, being purchased with a 5-cent tip from the PX (store).
In 1949, the hotel was privatized and Shiba Park Hotel Co.
Release a ”American Plan"
Release a ”American Plan"
In 1956, with the addition of the first annex wing, the number of guest rooms increased to 137, and the Shiba Park Hotel steadily established itself as a leading hotel in Tokyo, both in name and reality.
At the time, hotel rates in Japan were world-famous for being high, causing many foreigners to complain. In order to attract foreign guests, Shiba Park Hotel broke the common practice in the Japanese hotel industry of charging an average of $8 per night, and introduced a novel “American Plan” rate of $10 per night for two people including two meals ($5 per person!). The $5 rate and excellent service were well-received by foreign visitors to Japan, and we created a stir in the Japanese hotel industry.
The Shiba Park Hotel became a household name even overseas.
Unique hospitality service was born
Unique hospitality service was born
In the late 1950s and 1960s, Shiba Park Hotel was a time when our staff devised and implemented unique services one after another.
One such service was the “shoe shine service,” in which night shift staff called “night boys” went around to each floor to polish guests’ shoes. At that time, many foreign guests sat in the hallway and enjoyed their leisure time. The staff would weave their way between them and polish each guest’s shoes. The guests who were accustomed to this service were very attentive, and every night they would leave their shoes in the hallway, ready to be polished.
Always sensitive to the needs of the world, we have also created a unique accommodation plan, the “Petit Study Abroad Plan,” which allows guests to experience a simulated stay abroad in Shiba Park Hotel in 2020, when overseas travel will be restricted. Throughout our long history, the hospitality spirit of each and every one of our staff members has built up to create Shiba Park Hotel.
Chinese restaurant
Peking Mansion opened
Chinese restaurant
Peking Mansion opened
In 1960, a second annex wing was completed and 78 guest rooms were added, bringing the total number of guest rooms to 215.
The Peking Mansion, the first Chinese restaurant directly operated by the hotel in Japan, was opened in the same building. Beijing cuisine is a court cuisine that developed in northern China, mainly in the imperial court, and was introduced to the Shiba Park Hotel by Mr. Wang Jingbin, who was invited from Hong Kong as the first chef of the Peking Mansion, Crab meat with scrambled egg white in Fu-Young style and stir-fried prawn with Peking sauce have been handed down for over 50 years since the establishment, and they are still popular traditional Beijing dishes.
New Zealand's national team
All Blacks stayed at the hotel
New Zealand's national team
All Blacks stayed at the hotel
Until the early 1990s, it was a common belief that the Shiba Park Hotel was the regular lodging for rugby teams visiting Japan, as Jiro Inumaru, the president of Shiba Park Hotel at the time, was a board member of the Rugby Football Association.
Jiro Inumaru, whose father Tetsuzo Inumaru was the founder of the Shiba Park Hotel and also the president of the Imperial Hotel, was a rugger who was a graduate of the Keio University rugby club. Jiro Inumaru’s rugby philosophy of “fair play,” “no sides,” and “team play is more important than star players” is strongly reflected in the hotel’s management. The All Blacks of New Zealand, who won the first Rugby World Cup in 1987, have been to the facility since then, and the international reputation of the facility has been further enhanced.
First sister hotel
Park Hotel Tokyo opened
First sister hotel
Park Hotel Tokyo opened
Opened in September 2003 on the upper level of the Shiodome Media Tower, built by Kyodo News in Higashi Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Based on the concept of “Infinite time and space amid congnizant Japanese beauty,” Park Hotel Tokyo is an art hotel where you can appreciate art in an art museum-like building.
Rebranding as
Library Hotel
Rebranding as
Library Hotel
In 2020, 72 years after its establishment, the Shiba Park Hotel has been rebranded under the new concept of “A library hotel that connects people, towns, and history.” The hotel has become a library hotel with a collection of approximately 1,500 books, while retaining the comfort of a good old hotel that has weaved its way through time in harmony with the traditions and culture of the area.
