Gajoen Kanko Hotel, Tokyo

I stayed here with my buddy in August 1959 on R & R from our base in Korea. The meals were great and the hotel was very clean and comfortable. The week we spent in Tokyo has never been forgotten. Shame it closed.

My grandfather spent some time here and as I'm living near Tokyo now, he wanted me to go find it. It closed down in 1995 -- went bankrupt, apparently -- and I'm not sure if the building remains. I'm just on my way there now -- I'll write again if I find it. --- I've just gotten back -- this was December 18th, 2011 -- and it has, in fact, been torn down, though the staff at the larger hotel next door, the "Gajoen" (not Gajoen Kanko) were really helpful in showing me the place it used to be. The building is no longer there, and they've built a wedding chapel (and a bit of space for hotel offices) where it used to stand. It's a very pretty place, and they've done some really nice work with gardening. It's full of Japanese maple and ginkgo trees, which still had pretty red and yellow leaves on them when I went.