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, a "private 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.
Reports from students who stayed there mention their accommodation was a large, shared tatami room, at the Matsubara ryokan. *
In 1905 Matsubara's was put in charge of the restaurant at the premises of the recently opened Japanese residents' club, the Japan Club (or Nippon Club) in Ice House Street. The Ice House Street premises featured games rooms, dining and reading facilities, and the Club organised numerous sports and other social activities.
After his death in 1918, "S. Matsubara", perhaps his son, started running the hotels.
* Translated from 爐峰櫻語：戰前日本人物香港生活談 using Google Translate
Like other places in the South, Hong Kong also has Japanese-run accommodation facilities. The famous Natsume Soseki once visited Tsuruya, as well as Tokyo Hotel, Matsubara Hotel, Nomura Hotel, Iroha Hotel, Asahi Hotel, etc.
In the early days of fieldwork, the international students at East Asia Dobunkan did not stay in hotels run by foreigners, but stayed briefly in hotels run by Japanese. From Meiji to Taisho, Matsubara Ryokan, Matsubara Annex, Chiyoda, Asahi, Yoshioka, and Nomura Ryokan were all places frequented by students. Matsubara Jisaburo and his wife, who owned Matsubara Hotel and Matsubara Annex, were well-established in the Japanese community at that time. Whether they were the upper-class people who were active in Central and Mid-Levels, or the lower-class people who lived in Wan Chai and sold their bodies or labor. In his own Japanese society, Matsubara Jisaburo ran on both sides at the same time and became a celebrity among the Japanese living in Hong Kong.
A student named Maeda once compared Hong Kong in 1910 and 1919, pointing out that decades after Hong Kong was developed, Japanese industry and commerce finally began to develop, and the hotel industry also began to get on track. Among them, the fully Japanese-style hotels are the ones mentioned above. These students have been away from their hometown for a period of time, and it must be quite a joy for them to be able to sleep on tatami mats and bathe in a furo again.
By the late Taisho period, 16 of the 35 tour groups had chosen Matsubara Ryokan, which shows that Matsubara Ryokan was already in the business of group guests for study tour groups and student tour groups as early as the early 20th century. According to the written record they left behind, the "Grand Travel Journal", the students used the Guangma "Hesi" room upstairs.
Photos of this organisation:
