Jisaburō MATSUBARA [c.1864-1918]

MATSUBARA Jisaburo was the owner of the Matsubara Japanese Hotel. Located at 18 Connaught Road on the Central waterfront.  He was also the proprietor of the Matsubara Bekkan Hotel at 10 Queens Rd Central.

 It opened its doors in 1905 and was one of only a handful of ryokan-style inns in Hong Kong at the time. Its customers included Japanese migrant workers headed to Thursday Island, one of 274 islands that lie between the tip of the Australian state of Queensland and Papua New Guinea in the Torres Strait, to work as divers in the lucrative pearl-shell industry.

It ks also likely that the Matsubara Hotel was connected to the traffic of karayuki-san to other parts of Southeast Asia, at least in the early years of the lodging house's operation.

Amongst other frequent guests were students of the Toa Döbun Shoin (East Asia Common Culture Academy) in Shanghai. Inaugurated on May 26, 1901, the Shanghai Academy was an offshoot of the semi-governmental Toa Döbunkai (East Asia Common Culture Association). Founded three years earlier in Tokyo by Prince KONOE Atsumaro (1863-1904), the Association's stated aims included enhancing Sino-Japanese relations, promoting trade, and countering Western ambitions in the area. 

Students at the Toa Döbun Shoin received training in both English and Chinese languages, as well as business practices and research methods, and were required to undertake extensive fieldwork throughout China. The investigation reports that the students produced were channelled to several Japanese government departments, and a number of the Academy's graduates went on to serve in Japan's intelligence services. 

These field trips, sometimes referred to as dai ryokò or "Big Trip" in the tradition of the "Grand Tour," often took the students to Hong Kong.

Their reports mention their accommodation was a large, shared tatami room, at the Matsubara ryokan.

In addition to the running of his hotel, Matsubara's food and beverage industry skills would eventually see him put in charge of the restaurant at the premises of the recently opened Japanese residents' club in Ice House Street. 

The Japan Club or Nippon Club, as it was known at one point-was officially established in 1905

The Ice House Street premises featured games rooms, dining and reading facilities, and the Club organised numerous sports and other social activities.

In 1918, Matsubara was at the Racecourse in his capacity as chief accountant for the Japanese Benevolent Society.  Starting in 1909, a large portion of the Society's revenue came from its booth at the annual "Derby Day" horse races in Happy Valley.

His wife survived him