K5 in Nihonbashi Kabutocho Earns the MICHELIN Key for a Third Consecutive Year

K5, a complex in Nihonbashi Kabutocho that Heiwa Real Estate (平和不動産) is developing as part of its townscape development efforts, has received the MICHELIN Key in the MICHELIN Guide Hotel Selection for the third consecutive year.

Heiwa Real Estate says it will continue to follow Eiichi Shibusawa's "Koto Hajime" spirit (starting something new), working toward a neighborhood where diverse personalities come together and creativity is born. K5 opened in February 2020. Its distinctive spatial beauty, created by renovating a historic building, and its hospitality have been highly rated in Japan and abroad, leading to this third consecutive selection.

MICHELIN Key for the Third Year in a Row

The MICHELIN Key is a rating indicator from the MICHELIN Guide, given to hotels that offer the most outstanding stay experiences. K5 was recognized for its imposing exterior, a space design that makes use of the historic building, and its original cultural experiences.

About K5

K5 is a micro-complex that, though small in scale, combines multiple functions, including accommodation (a hotel) and dining (a restaurant, a bar, and a coffee shop).

The building was completed in 1923 (Taisho 12) and later acquired by Heiwa Real Estate. From the 1980s onward it was covered with steel panels. Research eventually revealed that the building was designed by Yoshitoki Nishimura (西村好時), a leading figure in bank architecture, and that its original owner was Dai-Ichi Bank (第一銀行). It was built as an annex to the third-generation building of the Dai-Ichi National Bank (第一国立銀行), Japan's first bank, which Eiichi Shibusawa founded in 1873 (Meiji 6).

Heiwa Real Estate believed that restoring the building's original appearance and putting it to attractive use would raise not only the property value of the building but also the value of the surrounding area. It carried out renovation work, including a renewal of the exterior, and revived the building as K5. The project is the first step in creating liveliness as part of the Nihonbashi Kabutocho and Kayabacho townscape development.