Saturday, March 09, 2019

Japanese inn has been in the family for 52 generations

My bathroom page-a-day calendar pointed out to me today that the world's oldest continuously operating inn can be found in a small town in Japan.
The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan is a family-owned hotel and hot springs resort located in Yamanashi, Japan. It has been owned for over 1300 years by 52 generations of the same family, the descendents of Fujiwara Mahito, who first established the inn in 705 CE. The world's second oldest inn, Hoshi Ryojan, founded in 718 CE, is also in Japan, just a few hundred kilometres away.
Just for a bit of context, Toronto's oldest pub, the Wheat Sheaf Tavern, opened in ... 1849 (CE).

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