Hyogo: Old Takarazuka Hotel Reproduced as Part of Tower Complex; Landmark Once Hosted Osamu Tezuka’s Wedding Reception

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:48 JST, March 1, 2025

TAKARAZUKA, Hyogo — A reproduction of the exterior of the old Takarazuka Hotel building has been unveiled in front of Takarazuka-Minamiguchi Station in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture. The old hotel, which was beloved by locals over the roughly 100 years of its existence, has been demolished and a new hotel built nearby.

The reproduction will officially open this spring as a four-story commercial building attached to one of the apartment towers under construction on the site of the demolished hotel.

Opened in May 1926, the old Takarazuka Hotel building was made in a Western style with an impressive red gabled roof. After World War II, the hotel was requisitioned by the Occupation Forces. When the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck, the hotel let quake victims use its baths. Osamu Tezuka, a manga artist who once lived in the city, was also known to have visited the hotel as a child and to have held his wedding reception there. Many people used the hotel for weddings and to celebrate other milestones in their lives.

The hotel was closed in 2020 due to the structure’s aging. A new hotel of the same name, though with a new design, was built about 400 meters away next to the Takarazuka Grand Theater. Hankyu Hanshin Properties Corp. is now constructing the two 32-story apartment towers on the site of the old hotel. The reproduction of the old hotel is directly connected to the north tower.