New Sanno Hotel
| New Sanno Hotel | |
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| General information | |
| Location | Minami-Azabu, Minato, Tokyo |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 35°38′50″N 139°43′30″E / 35.647254°N 139.724891°E |
| Management | United States Navy |
The New Sanno Hotel or New Sanno U.S.Force Center is located in downtown Tokyo. It offers a swimming pool, recreational facilities, a Navy Exchange, and other services designed for military travelers. The hotel is regulated and controlled by the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement. In addition to active duty and retired US military personnel eligible to use other Armed Forces Recreation Centers, DoD civilian employees duty stationing in Japan, contractors on DoD orders to execute contracts for the US Armed Forces stationed in Japan, US Embassy Tokyo personnel and individuals administratively attached to US Embassy Tokyo are eligible to use the hotel.
The original, privately owned Sanno Hotel opened in 1932 in Akasaka, Tokyo. The hotel, with a Western design, was considered one of the top three accommodations in Tokyo along with the Imperial Hotel and the Dai-chi Hotel. The hotel was frequented by government and military officials. The hotel served as the headquarters for dissident military units during the February 26 Incident in 1936.
The hotel was gutted by Allied bombing during World War II. In 1947, American occupation forces rebuilt the facility for use first as American family apartments and later as VIP and senior officers' billeting. From 1959 to 1972, it was used as field officer lodging and from 1972 to 1975 as billeting for E-7 and above. During this time, the property remained under the ownership of its original proprieters, to whom the government of Japan leased the facility for use by the US military.
In 1969, the property owners demanded the end of the leasing agreement and the return of the land and facility. After a prolonged legal battle, the Japanese government acquiesced with a promise to the US military of providing an alternative location for a lodging facility in central Tokyo. The new location was in Minami-Azabu, Minato, Tokyo. After eight years of planning and three years of construction at a cost of $39 million, the new, all-ranks hotel opened in October 1983.
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