Keiko Tamura 
Presidential Suite on the 38th floor of Waldorf Astoria Osaka, May 15, Kita Ward, Osaka City (©Sankei by Yasushi Kawamura)
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The development of luxury hotels, especially by foreign brands, is booming in Japan. With inbound tourist spending on the rise, developers have opened a new hotel in Osaka targeting wealthy overseas travelers. It is the first of its kind in Japan to offer a suite priced at around ¥2 million JPY (approximately $13,000 USD) per night. In Kyoto as well, developers are introducing new high-end hotel brands to Japan for the first time. Behind this boom lie several Japan-specific factors that are drawing in foreign investment.
For Visiting World Leaders
On May 15, Hilton revealed its top-tier hotel, Waldorf Astoria Osaka, to the press. The hotel opened in April 2025 in the GranGreen Osaka South Tower, just north of JR Osaka Station.
Waldorf Astoria Osaka features interiors that blend Art Deco style with traditional Japanese techniques. Its most luxurious accommodation, the 193-square-meter (2,077 square feet) Presidential Suite, starts at around ¥2 million per night (excluding tax and service charges). A hotel representative noted that the room is intended for use by "world leaders visiting for the 2025 Osaka Expo." Some families, the representative added, are also renting two of the roughly ¥500,000 ($3,200) per-night penthouses for extended stays.
Expansion in the Kansai Region
The global luxury hotel market is rapidly growing. British research firm Euromonitor International projects that the global market size will rise by 11.6% year-on-year in 2024. Forecasts suggest that Japan will surpass that average, with a 12.9% increase.
"Japan has ryokan inns that compete with luxury hotels and are highly popular among inbound tourists," explains Sachi Kimura, a senior consultant at Euromonitor. As a result, the share of luxury hotels in Japan's overall hotel revenue remains at 4.8%. That figure falls well below the global average of 14.5%. This underrepresentation is one reason why foreign investors see untapped potential in Japan's hospitality sector.
In the Kansai region, global luxury hotel brands are actively entering the Japanese market for the first time. Examples include the Four Seasons Hotel Osaka, which opened in Kita Ward in August 2023, and Patina Osaka, which launched in Chuo Ward on May 1.
Another high-profile project, Regent Kyoto, is scheduled to open in 2027 (Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City). Major developers such as Tokyo Tatemono and NTT Urban Development are backing the project.
Japan's Luxury Hotels Still a Bargain
Hilton has plans to expand its footprint in Japan from its current 40 locations to 100 over the next ten years. This includes partnership-based operations.
Joseph Khairallah, Hilton's Area Vice President for Japan, Korea, and Micronesia, declined to specify what percentage of their Japan operations would be high-end.
He noted that while domestic customers may feel hotel prices in Japan are rising, wealthy overseas travelers still view them as affordable compared to cities like Paris or London. Khairallah emphasized that both operators and hotel owners are now clearly focused on ultra-luxury hotels as a way to significantly boost profitability.
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Author: Keiko Tamura, The Sankei Shimbun
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