From the Meiji to Reiwa era, a lumber merchant's house passed down through generations

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MARUYO HOTEL is the renovated main home belonging to a family of lumber merchants, the Maruyo Lumber Company. Kuwana is a place where high quality lumber such as Kiso cypress arrived via the Kiso Three Rivers, and many wealthy merchants had their main houses and warehouses here in Sembacho.

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Maruyo Lumber was founded as Maruyo Shoten by Yosaburo Sato, who was born in 1881. Originally a ship carpenter in Nagashima-cho, Yosaburo became the official lumber dealer for the Ministry of Construction (now the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism), and went on to become responsible for the delivery of railroad sleepers for the Kinki Nippon Railway and other railroads.

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Although Yosaburo settled in Sumiyoshi-cho, Kuwana City, he was eager to acquire land in Senbacho on the other side of the river. Senbacho had established itself as a place of wealthy merchants in Kuwana, and a home there was a status symbol that entrepreneurs longed for. Eventually, through hard work, he obtained the land where the current MARUYO HOTEL is located.

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With the prestige of a lumber merchant, the residence made of high-quality zelkova wood must have been the talk of the town at the time.

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The sons of Yosaburo, brothers Kazuyo and Kiyoshi, succeeded the second generation. After serving in the Pacific War, they returned to their hometown of Kuwana only to find that the entire area was burnt to the ground in a fire bombing, and the Maruyo house was lost. After the war, despite the lack of resources, they worked hard to gather lumber and rebuilt the building that is now the Maruyo Hotel as a symbol of revival.

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The company steadily grew as the post-war construction rush continued and business with major construction companies began.

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It was in the midst of Japan's period of rapid economic growth when the third generation, Kiyokazu and Tatsuo, took over Maruyo Lumber from Kazuyo and Kiyoshi.

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The company continued to evolve along with the times, starting new ventures such as the wholesale of lumber to the general housing industry and the handling of new building materials. However, with the arrival of the Heisei era, the company's third generation owners made the decision to shutter the business.

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It was Takeshi Sato, the great-great-grandson of the original founder, and first cousin once removed of Kiyokazu and Tatsuo, that picked up the baton to take over  the 70-year-old house, which had been the main house of the Maruyo Lumber family for many generations.

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Takeshi had previously created Pavillion MIWA, a members-only salon in Paris, France, and The Lodge MIWA, a 70-year-old renovated private hotel in Kyoto. With a dynamic spirit passed down from founder Yosaburo, he is a man of sophisticated tastes from Senbacho, undoubtedly a quality that flows through Maruyo Lumber's genes.
 

MARUYO HOTEL was created by a proud Kuwana native to unravel the history and culture of the family and region, and the connections between the present and the past.

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