Japan is home to Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, the world’s oldest continuously operating hotel. The hot-spring inn in Yamanashi Prefecture was founded in AD 705 by Fujiwara Mahito and has remained associated with the same family for more than 1,300 years.
The inn is located near the Akaishi Mountains and is supplied by mineral-rich hot-spring waters. Its long history reflects Japan’s traditional ryokan culture, in which guests stay in rooms with tatami flooring, often eat seasonal meals, and bathe in shared or private thermal baths.
Guinness World Records recognized Keiunkan as the world’s oldest hotel in 2011. It is sometimes confused with Hoshi Ryokan, another Japanese inn founded in 718 and often described as the world’s second-oldest family business. “Continuously operating” is important: the claim refers to an uninterrupted hotel tradition at the same establishment, not merely the age of the building.