Uchikura & Co., LLC

The Year 705: When the World’s Oldest Hotel Opened
Japan is home to Kongō Gumi, founded in 578 and widely recognized as the world’s oldest continuously operating company. Remarkably, Japan is also home to the world’s oldest hotel.

 

Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Yamanashi Prefecture was founded in 705 by Fujiwara Mahito. It has operated for more than 1,300 years and is officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest hotel. (Guinness World Records)

 

What was the world like in 705?

 

China was experiencing the final year of the rule of Wu Zetian, the only woman in Chinese history to rule as emperor. The powerful Umayyad Caliphate extended across much of the Middle East and North Africa. In Europe, there was no unified England, the Viking Age had not yet begun, and Charlemagne had not yet been born.

 

Japan’s permanent capital at Nara would not be established until 710. This was centuries before the samurai rose to power, almost 500 years before the Magna Carta, and nearly 800 years before Columbus crossed the Atlantic.

 

Yet Keiunkan was already welcoming travelers to its natural hot springs.

 

Buildings, ownership structures, and management inevitably change. What survives is not a single structure but a continuing purpose: offering hospitality to the next guest.

 

That may be the real secret of business longevity. Preserve the purpose, but never stop adapting.