originally, hotels branded as "prince hotels" were not wholly owned by prince hotels company, but were instead operated by different companies, such as seibu railway, kokudo, or izuhakone railway. the management system of prince hotels was described as "debt operation" by the media. it borrowed funds from banks, developed land using the funds, and borrowed more funds with the growth of land values. the system worked in the 1960s with japanese economic growth, until the 1990s when the bubble economy burst.