Japan’s first picture book hotel, EHON HOTEL, in Nara

Japan saw its first picture book hotel, EHON HOTEL, open two weeks ago. This hotel is designed from a child’s perspective. Unlike a typical hotel for rest, EHON HOTEL is made for children to read, play and enjoy, while the parents have amenities like a kitchen for use.

Various picture books are available in this hotel room, like pop-up books and bath books. For inquisitive children, there are also books that cover modern topics like gender and environmental issues. You even find rare picture books from various parts of the world.

Some aspects are designed specially from a child’s perspective, like exploration elements (like holes in walls or sections in the bookshelf to sit in), a graffiti wall for children to do their art at will, and even a Play wall made of wood.

Sustainability is also a focus for EHON HOTEL, particularly the local-first concept. For example, the ingredients for the meals are sourced from within Nara Prefecture itself. While the picture book hotel is not a restaurant, it wants to promote local production for local consumption. Furthermore, the hotel uses Nara’s wood in its construction.

Furthermore, EHON HOTEL collaborates with Bitugyaza, which operates a disability welfare office, to offer work opportunities for people with disabilities to do tasks such as indoor cleaning and laundry.

The EHON HOTEL project was started with the idea of addressing issues in Nara Prefecture. One issue is the high rate of vacant housing at over 14%, which is above the national average. Another is how to create a kid-friendly hotel in the prefecture with the fewest hotels nationwide.

The hotel is a collaboration between Hijiya Sangyo Co., Picture Book Store Libreria Cerbiatto, and Lifeline Service Co. Another is the building of more hotels that are kids friendly. Currently, it is a standalone room in the neighborhood of Nara’s Akahada town, with reservations limited to one family per day. They have plans to expand to 10 rooms within the next three, before expanding to the rest of Japan.

For interested users, here are some details:
Location: Akahada town, Nara City
Price: 20,000 yen (up to four guests), 10,000 yen (for day-only reservation) (may vary due to season)