Japanese hotels are often placed into neat categories: namely, the luxury skyscrapers of Tokyo and the sublime ryokan of the countryside. In The MICHELIN Guide’s first Key distinctions — Inspectors' picks for the most outstanding hotels in Japan — each of these forms was well represented.
But so too were a number of hotels, scattered throughout the country, that simply defy categorization. These are those hotels — among the most unique in Japan.
SETOUCHI RETREAT by Onko Chishin
Matsuyama, JapanIt is fortunate that Tado Ando —one of the world's most renowned architects — works so frequently with hotels. This one, less internationally celebrated than the Benesse House (featured below) is nonetheless a similar feel: like sleeping in an art museum. It was just that in a former life, but today it’s the site of two beautiful, minimalist buildings and a long infinity pool overlooking the Seto Inland Sea. One guest room has its own onsen, another has its own wood balcony and garden. All are as dreamy as the resort itself, which is filled with works from other renowned minimalists.
The Tower Hotel Nagoya
Nagoya, JapanLikely the only hotel in the world inside a TV tower. Nagoya’s 1954-vintage television tower is a special landmark to this city, and it has new life as a hotel. In some rooms, the tower’s iron support beams actually cut diagonally through rooms — while views look out onto the nearby park. One room actually invites guests to sleep in an art gallery, but each accommodation is a wonderful mix of vibrant and industrial, adorned with work by local artists.
Izumo Hotel The Cliff
Kumura, JapanA hotel with only eight accommodations (plus a single villa bookable in its entirety), each room is cut into the cliff and referred to — accurately — as a private cave. The rooms are just ten meters from the waves of the Sea of Japan, each with its own terrace and jacuzzi, and above them is the restaurant. Also on-site: a sauna exclusive to hotel guests.
Benesse House
Naoshima, JapanThe Benesse Art Site is simply a wonder. Here, countless installations — and works by artists ranging from Claude Monet to James Turrell — are spread between a series of islands in the Seto Inland Sea, their modernist forms in constant interplay with the natural landscapes. The hotel itself makes its home across four different locations on Naoshima Island, including one within a Tado Ando-designed building accurately named Oval. Hotel guests can expect special privileges, including unlimited reentry to particular exhibits and special hours to access the museum after closing.
Genji Kyoto
Kyoto, JapanJapan’s ryokan are famous. But Machiya, another traditional Japanese form — long, narrow, traditional wooden townhouses — are less so, and more unique to Kyoto. Genji pays tribute to their history, with the architect’s primary goal to keep the original proportions of the machiya that made its home here before the hotel. The rest of the hotel’s inspiration comes from the 1,000-year-old novel the Tale of Genji, with tributes in the form of gardens, sculptures and art by Kyoto artists in each room.
SHISHI-IWA-HOUSE Karuizawa
Karuizawa, JapanHere, in the woods an hour outside Tokyo, is a testament to just what can happen when you give total creative control to two of the best at their craft. At Shishi-Iwa-House, two Pritzker Prize–winning architects create their fantasy version of a hotel. Known as SSH, it’s more or less three different hotels in close proximity: two of the buildings were designed by architect Shigeru Ban, with the third by Ryue Nishizawa. Between the three spaces are some 25 rooms in wood and glass structures that seem to float above and snake through the forest. For one of his buildings, Ban surveyed the site and asked for a painstaking map of all 260 trees in his way, including their measurements. He then designed a hotel to flow naturally around them.
JANU Tokyo
Tokyo, JapanJanu Tokyo is the first of its kind, the flagship of a new brand that’s a sister to the world-famous Aman Resorts. If the Aman hotels are known for their incredible privacy and seclusion, Janu is meant to be a touch more playful, while maintaining the reputation for modern high luxury. Case in point: no less than eight dining venues, including a lively Italian emporium, a Patisserie with baked goods to-go and a gorgeous, minimalist bar. The wellness space is among the largest gyms in the city, a beautifully serene space home to group classes as well as private spa houses.
Hero image: At Izumo Hotel The Cliff, private cave-like rooms sit just meters from the Sea of Japan.
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