Abstract
This study investigates the characteristics and variations in the international expansion of Japanese Hotel Industry for the past 50 years. Japanese hotel industry has four international expansion phases; the first phase is “the organic growth” which Japanese hotel companies have expanded to Asia, Pacific and Europe areas gradually from 1960s to 1985. The second phase is “the rapid expansion” which the bubble economy has caused Japanese hotels to expand quickly to the US as well as the other markets from 1985-1995. The third phase is “the divestment” which most of Japanese overseas hotels have experienced divestment and/or disposal by sale because of the collapse of the bubble economy from 1996−2010, and the last phase is“ the Asia Pivot” which Japanese hotel companies have concentrated to Asia markets again since 2011. At the present, Japanese hotel companies have the long international experience, but the degree of multinationality is less than that of other hotel MNEs. And after the collapse of the bubble, the entry mode has changed from fully/partly owned operations to the non-equity alliance, that is, the management contract and franchising agreements.
