Since around 1992, my company, Adeka Co., Ltd. (Galerie Adeka), an importer of French paintings, has been holding French art exhibitions at Karuizawa Prince Hotel during the peak season in August and the New Year holidays. We used about 1/4 of the large hall called Asama, which is closest to the main entrance of the West Building, partitioned off with a removable wall. Before that, Seibu Shoji ran an art sales company called Prince Gallery in Aoyama, but when the bubble burst and they closed the art sales department, we were asked to take over. A plan was made to open Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza next to Karuizawa Prince Hotel, and our company decided to open a store there as well. It is a small resort shopping plaza with a total of 29 stores.
Planning began in 1994, and the building opened on July 22, 1995. A grand opening ceremony was held, with Seibu Group CEO Tsutsumi Yoshiaki in attendance to cut the ribbon. Tsutsumi was shown around the shopping plaza accompanied by Minamino Yoko, a beautiful singer and top idol of the time. During the bubble economy, Tsutsumi Yoshiaki had been ranked number one in the world's richest people six times between the 1980s and 1990s. The year before, in 1994, the new Shinagawa Prince Hotel opened, and a lavish party was held, inviting star entertainers such as Sawaguchi Yasuko, which was also broadcast on television. Tsutsumi Yoshiaki owned many French paintings, but we will save that story for another time.