Kujira, the company behind the SEKAI HOTEL town hotel brand and a renovation business, has raised ¥150 million in a pre-Series A funding round.
The investment came from:
- PR TIMES
- Tadashi Okura, CEO of Eternal Hospitality Group
- Haseko Corporation
Kujira plans to use this money to expand SEKAI HOTEL across Japan and strengthen its operations.
What Is SEKAI HOTEL?
SEKAI HOTEL is a unique style of hotel business called a “town hotel.”
Instead of building a big hotel in one place, they:
- Renovate vacant houses and empty shops
- Use local restaurants as dining spaces
- Partner with local public baths for bathing facilities
Guests stay in renovated houses near shopping streets, eat at nearby restaurants, and use local bathhouses. In this way, the entire town becomes part of the hotel experience.
SEKAI HOTEL began in the Kansai region, and in December 2022, SEKAI HOTEL Takaoka opened in Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture.
Right now, the business is operating in:
- Fuse in Higashi-Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture
- Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture
Why This Model Is Special
The main idea of SEKAI HOTEL is to:
- Use local resources that are not fully used, like empty houses and shops
- Support local businesses such as restaurants and public baths
- Help solve regional problems like vacant properties and declining shopping streets
- Give guests a real local experience, not just a typical hotel stay
Instead of putting everything inside one building, SEKAI HOTEL designs the whole town as the “hotel.”
How the New Funds Will Be Used
Kujira will use the new funding to:
- Build regional branding consortiums with shopping districts, local companies, and governments
- Create strong partnerships with local communities
- Set up PR systems to attract inbound (overseas) tourists
- Develop digital tools and systems to manage reservations and share operational know-how
- Hire talent and improve organizational structure
The goal is to make the SEKAI HOTEL model easy to repeat in other regions, so it can be rolled out nationwide across Japan.
