Many business travelers often stay in large cities because of the concentration of various urban functions. The number of foreign tourists visiting Japan has increased in recent years. The main destinations are metropolitan areas such as Tokyo and Osaka. Given this situation, it is necessary to develop cheaper accommodations for foreign and business travellers who want to stay in those areas for long periods.
The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics and factors behind the evolution of accommodations in the Sanya district, which is located in an “inner-city” in Tokyo.
Cheap lodging houses in Sanya have been in decline since the collapse of Japan's asset inflation-led economic bubble in the early 1990s. Managers of accommodations started to accept foreign and business guests. These accommodations have attempted to differentiate themselves from hotels located in central Tokyo in terms of service and lower tariffs.
The following three reasons, which this study clarifies, help explain why accommodations in the Sanya district have evolved. First, Sanya was traditionally developed as a “Yoseba”, a place in which day laborers lived. In addition, Sanya is located close to central Tokyo. Secondly, due to a decreasing number of day laborers, cheap lodging houses had empty rooms. Therefore, their managers started to accept foreign tourists and business travellers. In addition, various mass media started to report favorably on Sanya during the World Cup Football games in 2002, although the Sanya district previously had a negative image. Lastly, many foreign tourists began to stay in the area after the World Cup.
