"The owners agreed to treat the entire town as a single inn. Each ryokan would function as a "room." The streets would be the hallways, and the public bathhouses would be shared amenities, belonging to no single business but to the town as a whole."
"They adopted a guiding philosophy and posted it on signs throughout the village: kyozon-kyoei - coexistence and co-prosperity. They passed laws limiting buildings to three stories, preserving the traditional wooden architecture that gave Kinosaki its character. They fortified the riverbanks with volcanic stone."
"They rebuilt, together, not to maximize any individual business, but to protect the ecosystem that made all of their businesses possible. That was 100 years ago. Kinosaki is still thriving, and the philosophy still holds."
"In a world that increasingly rewards the opposite - dominance over cooperation, taking over giving - it may be the most urgent idea of the modern age."
A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Kinosaki on May 23, 1925, killing 283 people and destroying nearly all buildings. During the aftermath, surviving ryokan owners held more than 100 meetings to coordinate rebuilding. They agreed to treat the entire town as a single inn, with each ryokan acting as a room, streets serving as hallways, and bathhouses as shared amenities for the whole town. They adopted kyozon-kyoei, coexistence and co-prosperity, and posted it around the village. They limited buildings to three stories, preserved traditional wooden architecture, and fortified riverbanks with volcanic stone. Rebuilding together aimed to protect the ecosystem supporting all businesses.
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