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28 March 2024

Japan disaster evacuees move into luxury hotel

Published
By AFP
People made homeless by Japan's quake-tsunami disaster began moving into a luxury Tokyo hotel on Saturday, a report said.
The 700-room Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka, where rooms used to be advertised at prices up to 150,000 yen (ê1,750) a night, will become a temporary home for up to 360 people, Kyodo reported, citing government officials.
Room service will not be available, but the hotel-shelter will serve three meals a day, charging 300 yen for breakfast and 500 yen for lunch and dinner, Kyodo said, adding residents will not be charged for their stay.
The 40-storey hotel, once a favourite haunt of politicians and celebrities, closed in March after 55 years in business. It is due for demolition in July, meaning those who live there will have to move again soon.
"I'm feeling anxious as I don't know what'll happen in the future but I feel grateful that I can sleep on a futon," Kyodo quoted Shoichi Ono, an evacuee from Fukushima prefecture, as saying.
Tens of thousands of people across Japan remain in temporary shelters following the March 11 quake-tsunami that destroyed large areas of Japan's northeast coast.
Thousands have also been forced to evacuate their homes because of radiation around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where workers are battling to bring quake-hit reactors under control.