This 115-year-old Japanese prison straight out of a dystopian movie is being turned into a luxury hotel with 48 rooms

• A Meiji-era prison in Japan is being turned into a luxury hotel with a restaurant and lounge.
• The new hotel at the Former Nara Prison is scheduled to open in early 2026 under Hoshino Resorts.

A Japanese resort company is converting an iconic former prison into a 48-room luxury hotel.

The Former Nara Prison, built in 1908 and designated a cultural property in Japan in 2017, is to be renovated by Hoshino Resorts, the company said in a Thursday statement.

The prison "will be reborn as a luxury hotel where guests can enjoy an extraordinary stay in its iconic red brick building with refurbished interiors," Hoshino Resorts wrote.

The complex features a star-like design, with five detention wings fanning out from a central command post.

Hoshino Resorts says the new hotel will have about 67,000 square feet of floor space, and feature a restaurant, lounge, and a museum for day visitors.

"A prestige project for the government, its elegant red brick structure embodies the Meiji era's ambition and craftsmanship as Japan opened its doors to the world," Hoshino Resorts wrote.

The Hoshinoya Nara Prison hotel is expected to open in early 2026, Hoshino Resorts added.

If the prison looks familiar to you, that might be because you watched the second season of "Alice in Borderland," the hit Japanese Netflix series. The series is set in an alternate universe, where the residents of Tokyo must duke it out in battle royale-style death games to return to the real world.

Two episodes of "Alice in Borderland" were filmed in the Nara prison. These episodes were from the show's "Jack of Hearts" arc, where the character Chishiya is trapped in the penitentiary and has to scheme his way out.

Nara prison was one of the first five Western-style detention facilities designed by Japan's government in the Meiji era, which ended in 1912. The city of Nara is just to the east of Osaka city.

It was renamed the Nara Juvenile Prison in 1946, and housed prisoners aged between 16 and 26. At the prison, inmates were tasked to learn vocational skills such as cutting hair and making license plates in workshops.

The prison complex, mostly built by prison workers, features a Romanesque-style main gate that towers over its surrounding walls and guards the front yard to a two-story administrative building.

Attached to the administrative building is a central watch house, from which guards could see all five of the prison's wards. Grilles on the floors of the second level allowed guards to observe cells on both levels at once.

Single-man cells featured a toilet, sink, a window, and a heavy wooden door that has no knobs, meaning it can't be opened from the inside even if unlocked. The entire complex was able to house around 635 inmates.

Plans to transform the prison into a hotel have been proposed since 2017, when the prison was closed and designated a cultural site.

Some renovations have been carried out to protect the buildings from earthquakes, per the Mainichi Shimbun. The outlet reported that the hotel was initially set to open in 2021, but that its opening was delayed.