The former Shimazaki Restaurant has been converted into a hostel with a café and bar. Originally a ryotei or traditional Japanese restaurant with performing geishas, a ryotei Shimazaki was one of the many such restaurants in Akasaka.

Because Akasaka is close to Japan's political center, Nagatacho, it became a major entertainment area, with well over 100 geisha houses by the 1930s, frequented by nearby Nagatacho politician, among others.

After the Second World War, Akasaka again became center of Tokyo with numerous big international hotels were estabilished in the 1950's. Until economic downturn in the late1980's, Akasaka was one of the Tokyo's most exciting area.