Japan's 127 year-old Imperial Hotel, Ltd. has announced the appointment of Yukio Kanao as General Manager of the Tokyo flagship Imperial Hotel, effective April 1, 2017. Kanao was formerly Deputy General Manager of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo and Senior Managing Director of Imperial Hotel, Ltd.

Photo: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/prwfile/release/M100617/201704110808/_prw_PI1fl_72E61t8p.jpg

Kanao, aged 55, joined Imperial Hotel, Ltd. upon his graduation from Tsukuba University in 1984, and was named Director of Sales at Imperial Hotel, Ltd.'s London office from 1997 to 2000. He was appointed Director of Sales at Imperial Hotel, Ltd.'s New York office from 2000 to 2002, and in 2007 was named Director of Rooms and Restaurants at the Imperial Hotel, Osaka. He was appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for Imperial Hotel, Ltd. in 2011, and from 2014 served as Deputy General Manager of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

Tokyo's Imperial was founded by Japanese aristocracy in 1890 on the same site it occupies today and opened as a venue to receive an increasing number of foreign dignitaries visiting Japan in the Meiji Period (1868-1912). It initiated many new services and facilities which have since become standard services for major Japanese hotels, such as all-inclusive Shinto and Christian wedding services, shopping arcades, and in-house laundry service, and introduced diverse Western cuisine to the Japanese public. For its range of classical Japanese hospitality, it is the traditional favorite of visiting dignitaries and celebrities from abroad visiting the Japanese capital.