23 of The Best Luxury Hotels in Japan to Book Right Now

Welcome to the final word guide to Japan’s most fascinating hotels—from an ultramodern hideaway in Tokyo to a serene ryokan tucked amongst verdant forests. Whether you crave minimalist design, luxury onsen hot spring retreats, or authentic cultural immersion, these 23 handpicked stays as a part of our newly updated Hotels We Love list dedicated to Japan showcase the country’s unmatched fusion of tradition, innovation, and hospitality. Expect thoughtful picks that put you in the middle of things or take you off the beaten path, and where service, style, and native storytelling come together in perfect harmony.

Aman Tokyo

• Location: Tokyo
• Why we like it: A real urban resort with unmatched service in the center of town
• From $1,900
• Book now

Aman Tokyo delivers imaginative cultural experiences and superlative service to the middle of Japan’s capital. Elevators open onto a Thirty third-floor lobby with a soaring atrium, where the point of interest is a seasonal ikebana flower arrangement, reflected in a shallow pool surrounded by rock gardens. The 84 guest rooms, inspired by traditional Japanese ryokans and designed by Singapore-based Kerry Hill Architects, are among the many city’s largest entry-level accommodations. They’re a minimalist’s dream, with chestnut floors, sliding shoji screens, floor-to-ceiling windows framing city views, and huge stone furo soaking tubs value clearing a whole afternoon for.

Equally worthy of an prolonged exploration, the sprawling spa, which has onsen-style baths and a 98-foot pool, offers treatments that embrace the herb-based Kampo healing philosophy. Of the hotel’s dining options, the eight-seat Musashi by Aman is essentially the most coveted reservation, with its omakase experience led by master chef Hiroyuki Musashi. Read Afar’s full list of top hotels in Tokyo. —Adam H. Graham

Aman Kyoto

• Location: Kyoto
• Why we like it: Modern suites, forest bathing, and centuries-old trees turn a stay right into a meditative retreat within the hills above town
• From $2,600
• Book now

The situation itself is a serious selling point: 80 acres of serene forest within the foothills of Mount Daimonji, half-hour from Kyoto Station and five minutes by automobile from Kyoto’s famous Kinkaku-ji temple. Here, Aman Kyoto’s 26 modern suites stretch across an atmospheric riverbed shaded by trees. The forest is punctuated with native maples, cedars, and blue oaks, an excellent setting for forest-bathing excursions. Much of the property was built with materials from the encircling woods: cypress soaking tubs, heated stone bathroom floors, and bamboo dividers with clean, minimalist lines and varied textures that provide a restorative setting. —AHG

Asaba

• Location: Shuzenji, Shizuoka
• Why we like it: A 500-year-old ryokan complete with private onsen baths and seasonal kaiseki
• From $1,020
• Book now

Since 1494, the Asaba family has been welcoming guests to their esteemed namesake ryokan in Shuzenji, a hot spring town founded greater than a millennium ago by Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi. A member of Relais & Châteaux, this intimate inn has 12 traditional guest rooms with tatami mat flooring, each overlooking a tranquil pond, a bamboo forest, and a historic Noh stage still used for infrequent performances. Meals are served in-room while guests chill out in yukata robes; a seasonal kaiseki dinner might feature black rice sushi with anago eel, corn tempura, and locally grown muskmelon. A conventional Japanese breakfast can be included. Every room has its own private onsen bath—just make sure you request a Western-style bed if preferred.

Azumi Setoda

• Location: Ikuchijima Island
• Why we like it: Rooms open onto a personal Zen-inspired outdoor space with cedar and cypress finishes and a balcony or garden view
• From $815
• Book now

Ikuchijima Island is legendary for its lemons and Shimanami Kaido cycle route. And leave it to Adrien Zecha, founding father of Aman Hotels, to create a completely latest reason to return here: Azumi Setoda, a retreat within the 149-year-old former home of the island’s distinguished Horiuchi family. For the 22-room minimalist inn, which is within the town of Setoda, he hired Kyoto-based architect Shiro Miura. The retreat captures the languorous mood of the Seto Inland Sea while still offering access to the broader Seto Inland Sea art scene, including Naoshima, with its famous yellow pumpkin installation by Yayoi Kusama. Curved roof tiles, exposed beams, and a courtyard with a cherry tree offer a taste of Old Japan. The guest rooms are decorated with rice paper screens, cypress wood bathtubs, and gardens that face a landscaped courtyard, while the community bathhouse across the road is complimentary for guests. —AHG

4 Seasons Hotel Osaka

• Location: Osaka
• Why we like it: Pilgrimage-worthy restaurants, rooms that evoke an urban ryokan
• From $850
• Book now

Consider the 4 Seasons Hotel Osaka as two hotels in a single: 154 rooms are Western-style, done up in muted tones inspired by spices, while the twenty eighth floor houses Gensui, town’s first urban ryokan, with 21 rooms lined with tatami mats and bedding from 450-year-old brand Nishikawa. On the thirty sixth floor is a spa with ofuros (traditional baths), a sauna, and a 52-foot-long infinity pool that appears out over Osaka Castle in the space. 4 Seasons adds to town’s impressive culinary lineup with Jiang Nan Chun, a Cantonese restaurant serving dim sum at lunchtime, and Sushi L’Abysse Osaka, a partnership between French chef Yannick Alléno and Japanese chef Itaru Yasuda, who pair French bites with unique twists on sushi and give attention to low-waste ingenuity, equivalent to wasabi peel simmered in soy sauce as a garnish for sashimi. See Afar’s full review of the 4 Seasons Hotel Osaka. —Yukari Sakamoto

Fufu Kawaguchiko

• Location: Kawaguchiko
• Why we like it: Every room has a personal onsen with front-row views of Mount Fuji
• From $525
• Book now

It’s hard to top the Mount Fuji views on the contemporary-feeling Fufu Kawaguchiko, which opened in 2018 within the wine country town of Kawaguchiko, about two hours southwest from Tokyo by bullet train. The 32 guest rooms have giant glass windows that face serene Lake Kawaguchi, which lies about three miles away, and all have private balcony onsen tubs made with Fuji lava stone. The setting gets extra cozy with outdoor firepits and cashmere throws. The on-site restaurant pairs local wine with such seasonal dishes as Fuji Sakura Pork seared on lava stone with blueberry butter. —AHG

Hiiragiya

• Location: Kyoto
• Why we like it: A storied ryokan with impeccable seasonal kaiseki and warm, generational hospitality
• From $820
• Book now

Established in 1818, this heritage Kyoto ryokan, easily one in every of Japan’s best, has been run like a sacred shrine by seven generations of the Nishimura family. Consider it a sanctuary where you’ll be able to fully immerse yourself in the standard Japanese inn experience—think low-slung lacquer tables, sliding fusuma doors, multicourse kaiseki meals, and pristine white shoji screens. Watch Japanese white-eye birds flit through the private camellia garden; bundle up in your yukata to dine in-room on abalone with miso egg yolk sauce and sea urchin chawanmushi (a savory egg custard) served on Kiyomizu ceramics; and drink a nightcap of sake before sinking into the freshly laid tatami mat in one in every of property’s 24 guest rooms. —AHG

Hoshinoya Taketomi

• Location: Taketomi Island, Okinawa
• Why we like it: Traditional red-roofed villas, coral-sand paths, and starry skies make this Okinawan escape seem to be one other world
• From $700
• Book now

This small southern Okinawan island, a part of the Ryukyu archipelago, is a tropical escape that’s home to Hoshinoya Taketomi. The resort’s 48 spacious villas feature red roofs carved with Shisa lion figurines, and so they cluster around a breezy dune manufactured from coral sand. Accommodations feature large soaking tubs, day beds designed so you’ll be able to relish refreshing breezes, and stone partitions that provide extra privacy. Sit back with a fresh shikuwasa juice, produced from a native citrus, and luxuriate in plucky Okinawan music sessions and walks along the white-sand Kaji Beach, known for its star-shaped grains of sand. Cool down in the new afternoon by doing laps within the long sunken oval pool, also alluring at night when the celebs above Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park, an International Dark Sky Park, glitter overhead. —AHG

Hotel Cultia Dazaifu

• Location: Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture
• Why we like it: A beautifully restored traditional house steps from Dazaifu Shrine
• From $280
• Book now

Leafy temple town Dazaifu and its Tenmangū shrine are a quiet world other than busy Fukuoka, Kyushu’s largest city, which is half-hour away by automobile. Positioned across the road from the three,000-acre shrine complex is the 13-room, tile-roofed Hotel Cultia Dazaifu, comprising three 150-year-old buildings and manicured ponds; the shrine’s grounds with their 6,000 plum trees are only a brief walk away. The previous residence of the Yoshitsugu family, whose paintings and scrolls still decorate doors and partitions, is connected by outdoor stone paths, each room screened off by sheer linen noren, some with private gardens, stone lanterns, and vaulted ceilings. All are accented with pops of modernity like Danish chairs and phone charging points. Don’t miss the hotel’s French fusion restaurant, which plates up dishes like sautéed red gurnard, Mitsuse chicken confit, and tender Hakata wagyu beef. —AHG

Hotel the Mitsui Kyoto, a Luxury Collection Hotel & Spa

• Location: Kyoto
• Why we like it: Centered on a centuries‑old courtyard garden with a hot spring spa
• Loyalty program: Marriott Bonvoy
• From $670
• Book now

Hotel the Mitsui Kyoto, a Luxury Collection Hotel & Spa, sits just across from the Seventeenth-century Nijo Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The grounds have belonged to the celebrated Mitsui family for hundreds of years, lending the hotel each historical gravitas and a primary location. Its 160 spacious rooms, designed by André Fu, are arranged around a serene, curated garden.

A highlight is the thermal onsen pool, where guests can wear swimsuits—a rare concession in Japan, designed to make international visitors more comfortable. For a more traditional experience, book one in every of two private onsen baths. Dining is equally refined: Noted chef Tetsuya Asano, formerly of the Ritz Paris, helms the contemporary Franco-Japanese restaurant Toki, while Jean-Georges alum Fumio Yonezawa oversees Forni, the relaxed all-day Italian restaurant. History lovers will adore the rooms with direct views of Nijo Castle that provide a one-of-a-kind perspective. —YS

Kai Beppu

• Location: Beppu, near Fukuoka
• Why we like it: A recent ryokan that embraces Beppu’s vibrant onsen culture—intimate hot spring dips included
• From $440
• Book now

Opened in 2021, the 68-room oceanfront Kai Beppu is in Beppu, 90 minutes from Fukuoka on Japan’s southernmost island of Kyushu. Designed by the celebrated Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the structure is cloaked in sho sugi ban, a technique of charring cedar so it doesn’t burn. Like many properties in Beppu, guests come for the restorative onsen, which takes many forms here: private balcony ofuro tubs, a landscaped ground-level onsen, and a dangling glassy infinity footbath, all high in hydrogen carbonate. Inspired by onsen towns, Kai Beppu has an in-house street grocery store and nightly performances of a rhythmic onsen jug band—a real “only in Japan” experience. —AHG

Kayotei Ryokan

• Location: Yamanaka
• Why we like it: A chic ryokan where all the pieces feels rooted in nature and craftsmanship
• From $830
• Book now

There’s a reason why renowned international chefs wish to visit Yamanaka, a hot springs town in Honshu’s seaside Ishikawa prefecture: to make a pilgrimage to Kayotei Ryokan, a 10-room private inn with onsen baths fed by natural mineral springs from the bottom below it. Here, multi-course kaiseki meals are prepared mostly with the encircling agricultural area’s organic produce, from the fish to the tofu. Every ingredient has a story: The rice maker uses geese for pest and weed control instead of chemicals, and the midwinter nori, or seaweed, is harvested by brave souls who face the big waves and slippery rocks along the coast. Book one in every of the tatami-floored rooms with a personal onsen, and make sure you take a look at the impressive collection of antique tansu scrolls and pottery throughout the retreat. —Jennifer Flowers

Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo

• Location: Tokyo
• Why we like it: A sanctuary within the sky where panoramic city and Mount Fuji views meet Michelin-starred dining and a world-class spa
• Loyalty program: Friends of M.O.
• From $630
• Book now

Occupying the highest nine floors of the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, designed by renowned Argentine architect César Pelli, the Mandarin Oriental showcases postcard views of Mount Fuji to the west, Tokyo Skytree and the Sumida River to the east, and Tokyo Bay to the south. The hotel also turns to nature for its design inspiration. The property itself resembles a tree, with its entrance at the underside of the tower representing the bottom; on the highest floor, fabrics and carpets suggest leaves and branches, creating the sensation of a forest cover. The 157 rooms and 22 suites were designed with such flourishes as bonsai trees and cherry blossom motifs. On the thirty seventh floor spa, a signature “Totally Tokyo” treatment uses pine, bamboo, plum, green tea, and rice hulls to stimulate the senses and restore a way of clarity. For dinner, choose from French, Spanish, and Italian restaurants.

Miyamasou

• Location: Hanase, Kyoto Prefecture
• Why we like it: A four-room mountain retreat with private river-view bathtubs and world-class foraged kaiseki
• From $830
• Book now

Attending to Miyamasou is an experience unto itself. The hour-long drive from Kyoto on a narrow road passes Japanese cedar forests, small towns, temples, and shrines. The ryokan is legendary for its two Michelin-starred, multicourse kaiseki dinners that showcase ingredients from the forest like gingko nuts and carp sashimi from a close-by river. After a hot bath in heated mountain spring water, guests dine of their yukatas in private rooms. The five immaculate tatami-floored accommodations feature sliding doors that lead out to terraces that hang over a rushing river, whose sound lulls guests to sleep at night. Book well upfront, given the inn’s diminutive size and outsize repute. —JF

Nishimuraya

• Location: Kinosaki Onsen
• Why we like it: A chic ryokan in a storied onsen town with private forest-view baths, garden-facing rooms, and access to Kinosaki’s beloved seven public hot springs
• From $580
• Book now

The charming seaside town of Kinosaki Onsen, 2.5 hours northwest of Kyoto, is home to Nishimuraya, set along the willow-lined Otani-gawa River. The eighth-century town’s seven tattoo-friendly onsen each have their very own individual appeal, and it’s common to listen to the sound of wood geta sandals on the pavement, worn by visitors who’re hopping from onsen to onsen. Nishimuraya has two properties: the brand new Hotel Shogetsutei, and the older Honkan, which has 29 rooms inbuilt the Sukiya style modeled after teahouses, with wood terraces, sliding screens, and massive windows facing Japanese gardens with sculpted shrubs and trees. The private onsen at Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei are essentially the most dramatic on the town. They give the impression of being out onto a 30-acre mountain forest and are perfect for guests who want more privacy.—AHG

Palace Hotel Tokyo

• What to anticipate: A modernist retreat next to the Imperial Palace
• Location: Marunouchi
• Loyalty program: Leaders Club (Leading Hotels of the World)
• From $630
• Book now

Only a moat separates you from the Imperial Palace at this stylish and modernist 284-room hotel with newly debuted Premiere Suites. Palace Hotel Tokyo dates back to 1961, however it was rebuilt from scratch and reopened in 2012 with 10 restaurants and a serene Evian Spa, replete with a high-tech fitness center and pool. Guest rooms and suites are done up in golds, creams, and light-weight greens accented against dark, polished woods. But better of all are the outdoor balconies—a rarity in Tokyo.

The hotel’s range of curated activities is planned in-house and includes visits to sumo-wrestling events and contemporary art and architecture tours with local experts. The superb Western breakfast on the Grand Kitchen offers a parade of French-inspired baked goods—raspberry croissants, perfectly puffy cream-filled doughnuts, and kugelhopf—together with duck confit, sausage, and pâté en croûte, which you’ll be able to order on the leafy moat-side terrace. See Afar’s full list of the most effective hotels in Tokyo. —AHG

Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono

• Location: Niseko (Hokkaido)
• Why we like it: An alpine sanctuary for each powder lovers and summertime adventurers
• Loyalty program: World of Hyatt
• From $310
• Book now

Park Hyatts in Japan aren’t only next level, they’re arguably essentially the most Japanese of the international chains within the country, with generous touches of omotenashi throughout. Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono’s 100 spacious rooms—including 28 suites, each with a personal onsen—occupy 4 separate buildings and overlook the Annupuri range. The spa is surrounded by a stream and hemmed by birch trees. It features a pool and a tattoo-friendly onsen—a rarity in Japan, where tattoos are sometimes still found to be taboo.

Accommodations have deep soaking tubs, oversize beds, huge walk-in closets for storing bulky winter luggage, and sofas that convert to an additional bed for families or small groups. Near a dozen restaurants are on offer, including a deli, sushi counter, cozy charcoal-grill robata, and French-Japanese teppanyaki, not to say a personal karaoke dining room. Onsite ski valet services pamper powder pilgrims, while an early-bird First Tracks program with the overall manager himself gets you on the piste before it opens. Summer activities bookable onsite include all the pieces from golf and zip-lining to cycling, rafting, and excursions to the National Ainu Museum, which showcases the culture of the Ainu people. —AHG

Patina Osaka

• Location: Osaka
• Why we like it: Historic elegance with cutting-edge wellness next to Osaka Castle
• From $660
• Book now

Opened in 2025 with interiors shaped by natural light, smooth woodwork, and organic textures, Patina Osaka is a contemporary retreat that sits between Osaka Castle and the industrial district of Umeda. The 221-room property includes minimalist suites with large soaking tubs, some with castle views. However the top draw could also be its wellness center, which incorporates cryotherapy, oxygen chambers, forest-bathing rituals, and even poolside yoga in a dramatic glass-walled space. Five dining concepts include a rooftop Basque restaurant, a contemporary teppanyaki grill, and a tea lounge that nods to traditional Japanese teahouses. —JF

The Ritz-Carlton Nikko

• Location: Nikko National Park, Tochigi Prefecture
• Why we like it: A lakeside sanctuary with an onsen, panoramic verandas, and world-class dining amid shrines and cedar forests
• Loyalty program: Marriott Bonvoy
• From $695
• Book now

Positioned in Nikkō National Park—home to marshy grasslands, dense forests, and sacred peaks—The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko offers 94 modern guest rooms, each with a veranda overlooking either Lake Chūzenji or Mount Nantai. The hotel is the primary within the Ritz-Carlton portfolio to have an on-site hot spring, drawing its restorative waters from nearby Yumoto Onsen. Guests can unwind here after a day of cross-country skiing, guided nature walks, or temple visits led by local monks. Japanese and Western design influences mix throughout the property, from Nikko-bori woodcarvings and kumiko latticework to using Mashiko pottery within the restaurants. Dining highlights include local specialties like yuba (soy milk skin) and Tochigi wagyu beef, while Western menus are overseen by noted chef Kanji Kobayashi. —YS

Shisui, a Luxury Collection Hotel

• Location: Nara
• Why we like it: A contemporary sanctuary steps from Nara Park, with private outdoor onsen within the guest rooms
• Loyalty program: Marriott Bonvoy
• From $430
• Book now

On the eastern fringe of Nara, just across from the grazing deer and greenery of Nara Park and the Mount Kasuga Primeval Forest, sits Shisui, a Luxury Collection Hotel. Opened in fall 2023 and redesigned by Kengo Kuma and Associates, the property centers around a low-slung wood constructing originally constructed in 1922 because the Nara governor’s residence. Classical touches like a tiled roof gate and the tranquil Yoshikien garden—once a part of a temple complex—imbue the hotel with a powerful sense of place.

The 43 guest rooms are shiny and serene, due to floor-to-ceiling windows that frame views of nearby Mount Wakakusa; select deluxe rooms and suites have in-room hot springs or open-air baths. Guests may chill out within the hotel’s spa and onsen, which uses volcanically fed waters, or make the most of a 24/7 fitness center. Dining options include a sushi bar and Suiyou, a restaurant inspired by the Silk Road culinary traditions that shaped Nara during its era as Japan’s capital (710–794 C.E.). However the standout would be the elegant bar that spills into the garden—an excellent place to sip sparkling sake in the course of the blue hour after a day spent exploring Nara’s UNESCO-listed treasures. —AHG

Simose Art Garden Villas

• Location: Hiroshima
• Why we like it: A floating art resort on the Seto Inland Sea
• From $1,600
• Book now

Simose Art Garden Villas, a latest art complex and resort on the Seto Inland Sea in Otake, which is an element of the Hiroshima prefecture, opened in April 2023 near Miyajima’s UNESCO-listed Itsukushima Shrine. The constellation of buildings are the work of Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Shigeru Ban. 4 of the ten villas date back to the Nineteen Nineties and were rebuilt here this 12 months and include Le Corbusier-inspired structures with colourful Mondrian panels. Five latest waterside villas use an Austrian lightweight Kielsteg design featuring sliding wood panels with key holes to let in light, while two rooms have deep cypress ofuru tubs. A glass-walled French restaurant and a mirrored museum featuring floating and glowing gallery modules, each designed by Ban, are open to the general public, but museum access is exclusive and free to guests within the evenings and mornings. —AHG

Six Senses Kyoto

• Location: Kyoto
• Why we like it: An urban sanctuary where Heian-era elegance meets inner courtyards, a biohacking spa, and hyperseasonal cuisine
• Loyalty program: IHG One Rewards
• From $1,260
• Book now

Kyoto, a city of 1.5 million people known for its Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and ancient crafts traditions, is an ideal match for Six Senses, whose Kyoto property embraces its setting through thoughtful design and guest programming. Designed in soothing neutral tones by Blink Design Group, the 81 guest rooms and suites—the grandest is a sprawling Three Bedroom Penthouse—either face outward toward town or inward to green gardens.

On the indoor-outdoor Sekki restaurant, the menu changes every two weeks, playing into the hyperseasonal approach that is clear within the veggie-focused, root-to-stem dishes that comprise greater than half the offerings. Meanwhile, Sushi Oga Higashiyama, an outpost of a noted Osaka sushi restaurant, serves top-quality sushi with the red vinegar rice for which it’s famous. Read Afar’s full review of Six Senses Kyoto. —Kathryn Romeyn

Yagyu No Sho

• Location: Shizuoka
• Why we like it: A 15-room retreat with private and communal baths tucked inside a bamboo forest
• From $640
• Book now

Tucked right into a bamboo grove within the riverside village of Katsura Imperial Villa in Shizuoka prefecture, the modern-feeling Yagyu no Sho ryokan is inbuilt the Sukiya-zukuri style, an architectural aesthetic once reserved for traditional teahouses. The 15 serene rooms act as a meditative retreat, with bell-shaped windows, sliding doors, and tatami mats—some with private outdoor spaces that overlook quiet ponds. The standout amenity here, though, is the onsen: several private baths stuffed with mineral-rich volcanic water and a big open-air communal bath that borders a mossy forest. —AHG

This text was originally published in May 2023. It was updated with latest reporting in June 2025.