For those former guests and architectural buffs who lamented the demolition of the iconic Hotel Okura Tokyo, they can soon preserve a piece of it in their homes.

Hotel officials plan to sell on the Internet some of the furniture and fixtures used in the guest rooms and restaurants during the main building's 53-year history, with the proceeds going to charity.

“The purpose (of the sales on the Internet) is to share memories and contribute to society,” said an official of Hotel Okura Tokyo. “We decided (to sell the furniture and fixtures) as our customers said that they wanted to obtain them.”

The hotel, which is reconstructing its main building, plans to sell on the Internet a part of furniture and fixtures used in the guest rooms and restaurants of the aged main building, now under demolition.

All of the proceeds from the sales will be donated to organizations, including one that supports children in areas affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

The 11-story main building, which opened in May 1962 in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, was called “a masterpiece of Japan’s modernism architecture.” It welcomed VIPs from Japan and abroad for more than 50 years.

The demolition work to make way for two new buildings on the site started in September this year despite an international campaign to preserve the old building, which included editorials in leading newspapers. The new main building is scheduled to start operations in 2019, a year before the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The main lobby of the old main building featured hanging lights called “Okura Lanterns,” and tables and chairs that replicate Japanese apricot flowers. They will also be used in the new main building.

Starting Nov. 4, part of the hotel's other furniture and fixtures will be sold on two websites. One will be “reU funding,” jointly operated by portal site operator Yahoo Japan Corp. and advertising agency Dentsu Inc. The other will be “Ticket Pia,” operated by ticket sales company Pia Corp.

The reU funding website will offer a total of 343 pieces of 58 items, including sets of tables and chairs used in suites and the restaurant “Tokarin,” in an auction-style format.

The Ticket Pia website will offer about 2,000 pieces of 27 items, including products that utilized wallpaper and carpet used in the old main building, at fixed prices. These will range from 1,800 yen to 1 million yen ($15 to $8,278), including tax.

One of the organizations that will receive part of the proceeds will be El Sistema Japan, which is engaged in music education efforts in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, and Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, both of which were affected by the 2011 disaster.