If you’re planning on staying in a Tokyo hotel anytime soon you might want to pack an earthquake safety kit. A helmet might not be a bad idea either. Four hotels in and around Tokyo have shut down on fears that they do not meet earthquake safety standards.

The new closures follow last week’s revelation that architect, Hidetsugu Aneha, had falsified earthquake resistance data used in the building of Keio Presso Inn Kayabacho.

In addition to the Keio Presso Inn Kayabacho, the following hotels have closed until further notice:

• Sanco Inn Kuwana-Ekimae in Kuwana (138 rooms)
• Sanco Inn Shizuoka in Shizuoka Prefecture (196 rooms)
• Meitetsu Inn Kariya in Kariya (162 rooms)
• Az Inn Obu in Obu (120 rooms)

Officials now expect that Aneha may have falsified structural data for as many as 32 buildings.

Aneha apparently subcontracted for larger architectural firms such as Inoue Architect and Associates, who were impressed by his speedy work:

“He [Aneha] sometimes could finish the work in a day, although other architects would take several days,” an Inoue spokesman said. “We were grateful for Aneha’s fast work. But looking back at it, he completed the jobs too quickly.”

The story has grown even more complex with a couple of new developments:

• The head of the Tokyo branch of Kimura Construction Co. apparently encouraged Aneha to cut costs in order to offset expenses.
• The president of a Tokyo architect firm involved in the building of one of Aneha’s other suspect buildings has committed suicide.

This is all beginning to look like a remake of Kurosawa’s “The Bad Sleep Well”.

• 4 Hotels to shut until until quake risk is determined
• More dodgy building data found