Imperial Hotel, Tokyo least 10 structures that have been part of the Imperial Hotel, including two designed by Frank Lloyd Wright: The original Imperial Hotel opened in November 1890 on the Northeast corner of what is now the hotel property. The hotel faced roughly North, with parts of the Imperial Palace moats (no longer extant) across streets on the North and East sides of the building. The hotel was backed by key Japanese leaders, such as Foreign Minister Count Inoue Kaoru and Viscount Shibusawa Eiichi. Shibusawa and Okura Kihachiro submitted an application to form the Tokyo Hotel Co. on November 28, 1887, in
Imperial Hotel, Tokyo was inspired by the Imperial Hotel. By 1936, Japan was preparing for the 1940 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and there was serious talk of replacing Wright's Imperial Hotel with a building more suited to the needs of the time. With only 280 rooms, the hotel was no longer financially viable. World War II intervened to cancel the Olympics and save the hotel from the wrecking ball. During World War II, the South wing of the hotel was gutted by incendiary bombs on 25 May 1945, and the Peacock room was destroyed. The hotel asked Wright to come back and design