Tomoe was born on
November 3, 1925.

“Hagi lacks a facility to accommodate guests from the central government.”
Tomoe was born when prominent members of the local area met with Tsunekichi Koto to discuss this matter. They included Member of the House of Peers Myojo Takiguchi, Giichi Tanaka - who later became the 26th prime minister of Japan, master modern Japanese painter Keigetsu Matsubayashi, and entrepreneur and later member of the Japanese Diet Fusanosuke Kuhara.

Tsunekichi named the new venture Tomoe, taking the “Tsune” character from his first name and combining it with characters expressing his wish for shared prosperity and blessings.
This was the beginning of the Tomoe ryokan.

Since that time, it has traced an honorable history suitable for the title of the State Guesthouse of Hagi.

We are carefully preserving this masterpiece
produced by a long, storied history.

Special VIP guest room Kaoh made entirely of Japanese cypress

Made entirely of Japanese cypress, the VIP guest room is a faithful reproduction of the guest room of the former State Guesthouse Hagi no Yado, Tomoe, where the Showa Emperor stayed at the time of the Yamaguchi National Sports Festival in 1963.

This room was honored earlier by the Showa Emperor while he was still the crown prince in May 1926, as well as other royal guests including the houses of Prince Hitachi, Prince Chichibu, and Prince Takamatsu.
The Japanese garden with its continually changing seasonal atmosphere was specially designed for the VIP guest room to make it clearly different from the other rooms.

Historical works of calligraphy and Hagiyaki pottery are also on display in the exhibition room and various other locations throughout the facility.
We hope you will examine the many fine works on display and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of Hagi.

Our inheritance and our gift to the future

During the period of feudal domains, Hagi prospered as a castle town producing 360,000 koku of rice and centering around Hagi Castle, the residence of the Mori Clan.
Hagi was also the birthplace of the Meiji Restoration, producing numerous famous historical figures including Shoin Yoshida and Shinsaku Takasugi.
The Hagi region became a center of history and culture, and we have been honored to host distinguished visitors from every age.

Coinciding with the start of a new era, Tomoe moved to its current location in 1989, the first year of the Heisei Period. After the move, we continued to preserve the spirit of the founders, the local culture, and most of all the traditional spirit of hospitality that we will continue to preserve as our gift to the future.