OSAKA -- Six startups in western Japan's Osaka Prefecture are set to launch a project on Thursday to refurbish vacant houses in the city of Osaka's Nishikujo district and operate them as guest rooms catering to tourists as a way to revitalize the local economy and make up for a shortage of hotels.
The Sekai Hotel project is led by Kujira, an Osaka-based company specializing in the renovation of existing homes. In Japanese, the term sekai refers to the world.
