[Playback ’96] Uttering sounds beyond words… Hideki Yokoi of “Hotel New Japan” and His “Ecstatic” Final Years

An elderly man with a vacant look in his eyes stepped out of a taxi

What was *FRIDAY* reporting on 10, 20, and 30 years ago? We take a look back at the topics that made headlines back then in [Playback Friday].This time, we’re featuring the August 16, 1996, issue—“Released Before Serving His Full Sentence for ‘Negligent Homicide’: ‘The Original Debt King’ Hideki Yokoi’s ‘Ecstatic Strolling Life’” —from 30 years ago.

The 1982 Hotel New Japan fire claimed 33 lives. Hideki Yokoi (then 83), the hotel’s owner, was charged with professional negligence resulting in death and sentenced to three years in prison. He had been serving his sentence since May 1994 but was released and returned home in mid-July 1996.*FRIDAY* captured images of Mr. Yokoi after his release—(text within 《》 is quoted from past articles; titles reflect those at the time).

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Our magazine spotted Mr. Yokoi one afternoon in July. It was in front of his massive 1,900-square-meter mansion—one of the most expansive among the luxury homes lining the streets of Denenchofu (Ota Ward), Tokyo.

《An elderly man with a vacant look in his eyes stepped out of a taxi. It was Hideki Yokoi, former president of “Hotel New Japan.” His steps were unsteady; he felt his way with his hands as he staggered toward the gate, supported by a male companion.There was no trace of the wealthy man who once boasted of having “1 trillion yen in assets”; on the contrary, his trademark bow tie, tied neatly, only served to evoke a sense of pity.》

The article conveys the reporter’s surprise at how much more frail Mr. Yokoi appeared than he had imagined. The reporter later called out to Mr. Yokoi as he was heading out. Then…

《A short while later, Mr. Yokoi reappeared. As expected, he was being escorted by the man, apparently going for a walk. “Mr. Yokoi, this is Friday,” I called out. He turned his face toward me, but seemed unable to understand what I was saying and showed no reaction.

Even when asked, “When did you return?” he merely uttered inarticulate sounds like “Ooh, ooh.” He didn’t seem to be avoiding the interview; instead, he staggered toward the reporter and grabbed his arm.The man with her panicked and tried to cover Ms. Yokoi’s head with his suit jacket to hide her, but she made a gesture as if to shake it off, and, pushed from behind, she disappeared through the back door》

The dream of redeveloping the former New Japan site…

According to people involved at the time, Mr. Yokoi was released from the Hachioji Medical Prison around May. He was immediately admitted to the Police Hospital in Iidabashi and returned home in mid-July. However, it is said that the “trance-like state” witnessed by this magazine continued.It seems he spent his days taking taxis to visit the headquarters of Toyo Yusen—a core company of the Yokoi Group where Mr. Yokoi’s eldest son served as president at the time—and strolling around the neighborhood. However, the article cites testimony from a close associate stating that this was no longer the case around 1924.

“When I met him just before his incarceration, standing in front of an illustration of the redevelopment project—with buildings lining the former New Japan site—he spoke passionately about how it was bound to succeed.His speech was a bit slurred, and his secretary had to fill in the gaps like an interpreter, but he wasn’t showing any signs of dementia. Even when he was hospitalized at St. Luke’s International Hospital for high blood pressure shortly after that, he showed no symptoms of dementia…”》

So, did he really change while he was in prison?

The Hotel New Japan had been left to stand as a massive ruin in the heart of the city for 14 years. Although this land was reportedly valued at 500 billion yen during the bubble economy, it struggled to find a buyer after the bubble burst.In 1995, Chiyoda Life Insurance—which had established a revolving mortgage of 75 billion yen on the property—purchased it at auction for approximately 59.8 billion yen. Demolition work had only just begun in February 1996. Subsequently, after Chiyoda Life went bankrupt, Prudential Life Insurance acquired the property.

Although Mr. Yokoi had amassed a vast fortune during and after the war, after losing the Hotel New Japan, his assets were mortgaged and he was deeply in debt. Not only was he in arrears on the transfer tax for the Hotel New Japan site, but his luxurious mansion in Denenchofu had also been seized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for unpaid taxes.

Mr. Yokoi’s “transformation” seemed to symbolize the decline of the group he led.

He dashed away when approached by reporters from another magazine

Mr. Yokoi rose from humble beginnings as the second son of a poor farming family in Aichi Prefecture and opened a textile wholesaler in Nihonbashi in 1930.During the war, he supplied the military, and after the war, he became a supplier to the U.S. military; the fortune he amassed is said to have amounted to 1 trillion yen in today’s value. He then used that money to snap up real estate and orchestrated takeovers of companies such as Shirakiya and the Fuji Hotel.

Then, in 1979, he acquired the Hotel New Japan. Although Mr. Yokoi was a complete novice in hotel management, his thorough streamlining efforts reportedly caused many employees to resign within a short period. He even skimped on renovation costs, failing to install sprinkler systems—leaving only the sprinkler heads in place as a mere facade.He also failed to inspect the automatic fire alarm system and left the interior finishes unchanged, without replacing them with fire-resistant materials. This would later lead to a major tragedy. Furthermore, when he rushed to the scene after the fire broke out, he instructed employees to remove custom-made luxury furniture worth 6.6 million yen, a move that drew significant public outrage.

Although Mr. Yokoi possessed vast assets, he also carried enormous debts. The Hotel New Japan fire dealt a severe blow to the company, and with public opinion thoroughly turned against him, the “Yokoi Group” went into a steady decline.In November 1998, Mr. Yokoi died of ischemic heart disease. By that time, he had already sold his mansion and was living at his younger brother’s home.At that time, his only remaining assets were the Daiei store (now Aeon Style) in Himonya (Meguro Ward) and the “Toyo Ball” bowling alley in Ikegami (Ota Ward).

Around the same time this magazine published its article, Noboru Hashimoto, then a photographer for *Shukan Bunshun*, conducted an exclusive interview with Mr. Yokoi while he was hospitalized at Tokai University Hospital.The story began with a tip that “a woman who appeared to be Mr. Yokoi’s mistress was visiting him in the hospital almost every day.” When a reporter approached Mr. Yokoi, who had appeared with two women, and asked, “How are you feeling?” one of the women stepped in front of him, and in that moment, Mr. Yokoi reportedly fled by running down the stairs with such speed that he did not seem like a sick man at all.

Which version of Mr. Yokoi was the true reflection of his later years? We will never know the answer.