Sankara Hotel & Spa Yakushima

We tell everyone who’ll listen that it’s absolutely essential, when you’re in Japan, to get out of the city. Not because we’ve got anything against Japan’s cities, but simply because it’s easy to spend several visits chasing the sensation you felt the first time Tokyo blew your mind, and overlooking the fact that the quickest route to another peak travel experience is a simple change of surroundings and a trip out of town, to a place like Sankara Hotel & Spa.

It doesn’t get much more country than Yakushima, an island off the southwestern tip of the Japanese mainland, at the same time one of the greenest, rainiest and most stunning locations on Earth. This lush, wooded, mountainous island was the inspiration for Princess Mononoke’s forest, and today, a couple of decades after the last logging operation ceased, this UNESCO World Heritage Site has become something like a Japanese version of Walden Pond.

Rather than the ultra-traditional ryokan concept, tatami and all, Sankara’s twenty-nine rooms are Western in format — floors are for walking, not sitting. The concept is “auberge,” and like so many other French traditions, it travels well. The rooms are sophisticated and comfortable but they’re a bit understated; the restaurant and spa are the main event, at least in-house. The spa imports Thai treatments and aesthetics. The real attraction, though, it must be said, is the island itself — Sankara offers sea views or forest tableaux out every window, and offers hikers and adventurers a base camp for exploring the island’s endless trails. A country inn, however thoughtfully crafted, is only as good as its setting — fortunately in this case there’s no upper limit.

How to get to Yakushima:
-From Tokyo: 2-hour flight to Kagoshima then a half-hour flight or 3-hour ferry to Yakushima.
-From Osaka: 1.5-hour direct flight to Yakushima.

How to get to Sankara Hotel & Spa:
-15 minutes from Anbo seaport by hotel's complementary transfer service.
-30 minutes from Yakushima airport