From the S&S archives: Hotel New Japan fire, 1982

Scenes from the February, 1982 fire at Tokyo's Hotel New Japan, in which 33 people died.

It was later found that the 10-story hotel in the Akasaka district failed to meet safety requirements. "We knew the hotel's fire-prevention system must be improved as soon as possible," manager Masao Hatano acknowledged in a Feb. 10, 1982 Associated Press story, "but because of our red-ink figure we could not get sufficient bank loans." Matano said a limited number of sprinklers had been installed on the first eight floors, but none on the top two. He estimated that it would have cost $6.6 million to fully equip all the rooms and corridors with sprinklers.

 The hotel's owner, billionaire Hideki Yokoi, was found guilty of negligence and sent to prison.

Firefighters pour water into the top floor of the 10-story Hotel New Japan in Tokyo's Akasaka district. A man injured in the fire is helped to safety. A fire victim huddles under a blanket outside the hotel. A firefighter eats a cup of noodles during the eight-hour effort to control the blaze. Newsmen are briefed by fire officials.