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27-463: This ski resort was formerly run by Kokudo, and currently is run by Prince Hotel , which merged with Kokudo in 2006. Naeba is one of the most popular ski resorts in Japan due to its accessible location from Tokyo and relatively long snow season with snow making machines. On the bottom, Naeba Prince Hotel, which has 1,299 rooms, 20 restaurants, convenience stores, and other facilities, serves skiers. On top of

54-584: A 29.9% share of the new company. In late 2012 and early 2013, Cerberus proposed that Seibu Railway abolish five non-core lines, along with other restructuring measures throughout the Seibu Holdings group, but management refused to implement these changes. Cerberus then executed a tender offer to increase its stake to 35% as of June 2013, giving Cerberus the power to veto shareholder resolutions. Cerberus had aimed to raise its stake to 44%, bringing it closer to an outright majority, but Seibu management engaged in

81-559: A massive campaign to thwart the tender offer, including advertising within Seibu trains to passengers who owned stock. The East Japan Railway Company and several financial institutions also planned a support scheme to keep Cerberus from acquiring control of Seibu, but it was ultimately not implemented due to a lack of potential financial benefit for the investors. At the June 2013 shareholder meeting, several proposals by Cerberus were voted down, including

108-415: A site that originally housed graves of several Tokugawa family shoguns, whose bodies were moved to the neighboring temple of Zojo-ji . Originally, hotels branded as Prince Hotels were not wholly owned by Prince Hotels Company, but were instead operated by different companies, such as Seibu Railway, Kokudo, or Izuhakone Railway . The management system of Prince Hotels was described as "debt operation" by

135-564: A third gondola ' Dragondola ' connecting the resort to the Tashiro ( 田代 ) ski area, which in turn connects to the Mitsumata ( 三俣 ) and Kagura ( かぐら ) ski areas. Naeba hosted World Cup races in 1973 , 1975 , 2016 and 2020 . In the summer, the Naeba ski resort is home to Fuji Rock Festival . In February, Matsutoya Yumi ( 松任谷由実 ) (a.k.a. 'Yuming') holds a series of late-night concerts in

162-593: A university student: in 1956, he opened the Karuizawa Skate Center in Nagano . Upon graduating in 1957, he was employed by Kokudo Keikaku Kogyo (later Kokudo Corporation), of which his father was the chairman. In April 1964, Tsutsumi's father Yasujirō died. Despite the disagreement of his widow Masao, the thirty-year-old Yoshiaki Tsutsumi inherited control of the Seibu Corporation. Most observers had expected

189-582: The 1998 Winter Olympics , Tsutsumi—then head of the Japan Olympic Committee—used his financial and political influence, as well as a connection to the International Olympic Committee president, to give Nagano an edge on the bid. He continued to work with them even after stepping down from the committee, and has been cited by former Japan Olympic Committee members as the reason for Nagano's successful bid. The decision to host

216-754: The Japanese peerage lost their titles and were subject to crippling taxation on their real estate holdings. Yasujirō Tsutsumi , who controlled the Seibu Railway through the Kokudo Corporation, arranged to buy several of these families' properties at a discount and used them to develop hotels. The first of these hotels, the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa, opened in 1953 on the site of the Takeda-no-miya residence. The Tokyo Prince Hotel opened in 1964 on

243-509: The Joetsu Shinkansen by non-stop express bus. This station is approximately 190 km (120 mi) from Tokyo. The maximum slope is 32° on three slalom runs (called 'Bahn' in Japanese, from German); the longest run is 4.0 km (2.5 mi) and the vertical drop is 889 m (2,917 ft). In addition to the extensive skiing at Naeba itself (two gondolas, 33 ski lifts ), there is

270-506: The Winter Olympics in Nagano was heavily criticized by environmentalist groups, noting that the construction of the ski runs necessitated the removal of forestry, and the ski runs themselves infringed upon protected land. Also criticized was the financial conflict of interest: many of the businesses in the region were owned by Seibu. For contributions to international ice hockey, Tsutsumi

297-487: The company declared that their major shareholders accounted only for 64 percent of the company's shareholders, but that, in reality, the major shareholders at Seibu actually owned 88 percent of the company's shares. Such bogus ownership statement is suspected to be illegal falsification. Major shareholders can only get up to 80 percent of a Japanese company's stock to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange . That scandal

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324-449: The death of Tsutsumi in 1964, his third son Yoshiaki Tsutsumi inherited control of Kokudo and continued the practice of falsifying shareholder records. His holdings in Kokudo and Seibu led to his being deemed the "world's richest man" by Forbes magazine for four consecutive years from 1987 to 1990, with estimated net worth of $ 15–20 billion during the height of the Japanese asset bubble . He

351-529: The designated successor to be his elder half-brother Seiji Tsutsumi , who instead inherited the Seibu department stores. Though Seiji subsequently parlayed these stores into the Credit Saison empire, perceived rivalry between the two brothers' fiefdoms provided fodder for the popular press. As chairman, Tsutsumi focused on developing and expanding the vast land holdings inherited from his father. At one point, his companies were believed to own one-sixth of all

378-577: The election of outside directors and the abolition of non-core lines. As of June 2013 , Yoshiaki Tsutsumi remains a major investor in Seibu Holdings through his 36% investment in NW Corporation, the second-largest shareholder in the company with a share of around 15%. Tsutsumi refused to respond to the Cerberus tender offer at the urging of Seibu management. The following list uses the English translations of

405-578: The first chairman of the Japan Olympic Committee, resigning in 1990, after less than a year. Despite his resignation, he continued to exert significant control over the committee by selecting future chairmen, which effectively prevented his opponents from serving in the position. Tsutsumi's total net worth has been unclear, as it is unknown how much he owned in assets: he almost always refused interviews, and did not permit Seibu spokespeople to reveal company information. When Nagano bid to host

432-409: The hotel names. The Prince is the brand name for the most luxurious hotels by the company. Grand Prince Hotels is the brand name for city hotels. Prince Resorts Hawaii : Chairlifts are excluded. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi Yoshiaki Tsutsumi ( 堤 義明 , Tsutsumi Yoshiaki , born May 29, 1934) is a Japanese businessman. During the Japanese economic bubble , Forbes listed Tsutsumi as

459-560: The hotel's Blizzardium ballroom / an exhibition space. Prince Hotel The Prince Hotels, Inc. ( 株式会社プリンスホテル , Kabushiki-gaisha Purinsu Hoteru ) is the name of a hotel chain company headquartered in Toshima-ku, Tokyo , Japan. It is a subsidiary of Seibu Holdings, Inc. Together with Seibu Railway , Prince Hotels is the core company of Seibu Group . During the Allied occupation of Japan following World War II , many members of

486-421: The hotel, skiers can choose their accommodations from various types of hotels and ryokans, some of which has hot spring baths, in nearby Asagai town. Naeba Ski Resort composes Mt. Naeba Ski Resort with Kagura Ski Areas by combining both areas with Doragondola. On the opposite mountain across Asagai town, a small Asagai Area accommodates mainly family skiers. The resort is 40 minutes from Echigo-Yuzawa Station on

513-582: The land in Japan. A significant portion of Tsutsumi's business ventures went towards sports: he served as chairman of the Japan Ice Hockey Federation and owned the Seibu Tetsudo hockey club. Though he reportedly did not have much knowledge of baseball, 1979 saw his purchase of the Seibu Lions baseball team and the construction of a new stadium in the greater Tokyo area . He later served as

540-566: The media. It borrowed funds from banks, developed land using the funds, and borrowed more funds with the growth of land values. The system worked in the 1960s with Japanese economic growth , until the 1990s when the bubble economy burst. Under the reorganization of the Seibu Group following the de-listing of Seibu Railway in 2005, Prince Hotels Company merged with Kokudo. All the Prince Hotels are now operated by Prince Hotels Company. Because of

567-412: The unreasonable expansion in the past, the company has many underperforming facilities. Under the current plan of turnaround, it closed, sold, and plans to close or sell roughly 40 facilities. Tsutsumi registered Seibu Railway shares owned by Kokudo in the names of various affiliated individuals, often without their permission, so that the true ownership of the company was not readily apparent. Following

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594-545: The wealthiest person in the world during 1987–94 due to his extensive real estate investments through the Seibu Corporation , which he controlled. In 1987, he had a net worth of $ 20 billion (approximately $ 46 billion in today's value ). However, as a result of a series of scandals and his 2005 arrest, his net worth has fallen to such an extent that he was taken off the Forbes list of billionaires in 2007. Tsutsumi

621-566: Was arrested on securities fraud charges in March 2005. On December 21, 2005, Seibu Railway was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. A reorganization of the group, completed in February 2006, created Seibu Holdings to act as a holding company for both the railway and Prince Hotels. Cerberus Capital Management , an American investment fund, became the largest shareholder in Seibu Holdings with

648-407: Was born May 29, 1934, to businessman Yasujirō Tsutsumi and his mistress Ishizaka Tsuneko. He was one of Yasujirō's seven children, and spent his childhood in a Tokyo suburb with Tsuneko and his two younger brothers, Yasuhiro and Yuji. When he was around 7 years old, he met his then-14-year-old half-brother Seiji Tsutsumi ; the two were said to have an immediate disdain for each other. Tsutsumi

675-542: Was inducted into the builder category of the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1999. The January 17, 2005 edition of The Wall Street Journal made an investigation on Tsutsumi and the Seibu Corporation public to English readers. According to the paper, the Seibu corporation's headquarters were raided by police, who allegedly found evidence of several Japanese business law-breaking incidents. The police, for example, claimed that

702-496: Was originally opened in 2002 in Japan, after which Tsutsumi was ordered by a court out of the company, but he remained in it, although at a much less paid employment. While multiple Seibu employees were involved in the scandal, Tsutsumi was considered the ringleader, as a result of position in the company and his authoritarian management style. On March 3, 2005, Tsutsumi was arrested on suspicion of violation of securities trading law. Tsutsumi pleaded guilty, and on October 27, 2005,

729-464: Was said to have inherited his father's personality; he claimed to have begun assisting his father's business in elementary school, beginning with simple tasks like holding blueprints. Though his father subjected him to physical discipline, Tsutsumi was said to be his favorite—something that gained him significant corporate and political influence. Tsutsumi graduated from Waseda University in 1957. Tsutsumi made his earliest forays into business as

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