Miyako Hotel’s Expansion into Texas

Source: Japan Business Association of Houston Gulf Stream

On October 15th, Kintetsu Enterprises Company of America (KIE), a member of Kintetsu Group and a company developing hotel operations in the United States, held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Miyako Hybrid Hotel in Plano, Texas, marking its third location in the U.S.

Plano is home to the North American headquarters and R&D centers of powerful Japanese companies, including Toyota Motor North America. Miyako Hybrid Hotel aims to open in the fall of 2027, offering guests the meticulous service characteristic of a Japanese hotel, alongside authentic Japanese cuisine.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by approximately 100 guests, including Mr. Zentaro Naganuma, Consul General of Japan in Houston, as well as local political and business representatives such as Plano Mayor John Muns and Texas State Senator Angela Paxton, and Mr. Wakai, President and Representative Director of Kintetsu Group Holdings Co., Ltd.

The history of the Kintetsu Group’s hotel business in the U.S. began in 1968 in San Francisco, California. This project was part of a redevelopment plan for the city’s Japanese-American residential district, which had been affected by the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Kintetsu became involved because the City of San Francisco asked its sister city, Osaka, for cooperation in the project. While many Osaka-based companies were reluctant to help, Kintetsu proactively stepped forward. Kintetsu built two hotels and two shopping malls in San Francisco’s Japantown, and these facilities became a major hub for the district.

In 2006, Kintetsu decided to sell its hotels and shopping malls in San Francisco to another company. The reasons for this decision included the reorganization within the Kintetsu Group, the consolidation of U.S. operational functions from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and the increasing population of non-Japanese residents in San Francisco’s Japantown. The Miyako Hotel opened in Los Angeles in 1989, and following the decision to consolidate U.S. functions mentioned earlier, the Miyako Hybrid Hotel opened in Torrance, a suburb of Los Angeles, in 2009.

In recent years, the success of Japanese Major League Baseball players has, fortunately, benefited the Miyako Hotel. Miyako Hotel Los Angeles has become an important stop for Japanese tourists visiting Los Angeles, thanks to a mural of Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani, painted by a local artist. This mural was created purely for non-commercial purposes, with the artist obtaining permission from the City of Los Angeles authorities, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Shohei Ohtani himself. Moreover, if guests install a related app on their smartphones, they can see an animation of Ohtani’s bat swing.

Thus far, the Miyako Hotel has mainly focused its business on the U.S. West Coast. However, the Kintetsu Group decided to expand because the Dallas, Texas area is becoming a critical base for Japanese companies and their U.S. partners—not only for North American and U.S. business but also for Central and South American business. This is why we recently held the groundbreaking ceremony.

If we can successfully open on schedule in the fall of 2027, we hope to make it a hotel that offers maximum omotenashi (Japanese hospitality), for example by providing relaxing bath spaces in each room instead of just shower stalls. We are eager to see how well Japanese service translates globally, and we would be thrilled if this hotel could become a hub for transmitting Japanese culture in the Dallas area and the state of Texas.

By Makiko Nemoto Kintetsu International