{"id":94400,"date":"2023-03-24T22:58:11","date_gmt":"2023-03-25T02:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.tablethotels.com\/en\/?p=94400"},"modified":"2024-08-21T09:48:57","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T13:48:57","slug":"emotional-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.tablethotels.com\/en\/2023\/03\/emotional-rescue\/","title":{"rendered":"Emotional Rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Nazuna
Nazuna Kyoto Gosho<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a whole, Japan\u2019s hotels have long been thought of as restrained and innocuous. But there are emotions to be found. You just need to know where to look.<\/h4>\n

When you\u2019ve been in the hotel game as long as we have, you hear a lot of things. Specifically, you hear a lot of shorthand ways to summarize things: the style of a particular hospitality group, for example, or the hotels of a particular destination. The latter is as strange as it sounds. Unless we\u2019re talking about the Eastern Bloc in the Eighties, how could all the hotels in a location be similar enough to the point of stereotype? Especially in a place as aesthetically delightful as Japan?<\/p>\n

For years, it was accepted that Japan\u2019s hotels were largely repetitive and predictable, and that this was by design. Even the ryokan, unique and wonderful as it is, is based on a fairly strict set of traditional guidelines. Likewise in the cities, service and reliability were perhaps valued a bit more than any personal statement by the designer. There was thought to be an innocuousness that was aimed primarily at the business traveler. I’m not here to tell you that these stereotypes aren’t somewhat true. Restraint is fundamental to Japanese design. But so is subtlety \u2014 a trait that stereotypes tend to overlook.<\/p>\n

Inherent to the minimalist nature of Japanese interior design is the ease with which even the slightest decorative element can become a focal point. A single flower, a piece of pottery, a small painting \u2014 free from noisy competition, their presence is elevated, providing a concentrated burst of beauty that can rival a room full of frills and frippery. Light also plays a large role, like a sunbeam falling across the floor in just the right way. Or, maybe all the materials inside are simply deferring to the nature outside, nothing meant to distract from the scene through the window.<\/p>\n

\"Aman
Aman Kyoto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of course, not everyone appreciates these delicacies to the extent intended. We\u2019d live in a very different-looking world if they did. Nonetheless, they are expressions of emotion.<\/p>\n

So is Japan\u2019s hotel reputation unearned? Yes and no. It might\u2019ve been a more valid criticism in the 20th century. In the past ten or fifteen years, though, we\u2019ve seen a sizable shift. Innocuousness is no longer an international failsafe; travelers have grown accustomed to the bold artistic proclamations found at hotels elsewhere in the world, and Japan has adjusted accordingly. There\u2019s still a sort of grand stoicism on display at many newer openings, and discipline + craftsmanship remains the order of the day \u2014 but there\u2019s also more emotion, and it\u2019s much less subtle.<\/p>\n

Presented here now is a small slice of Japanese hotels, both new and well-established, that have made some of our favorite design decisions. Most express their feelings loudly. Others, you just have to look in the right place.
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Setouchi Retreat AONAGI<\/a><\/h2>\n
Matsuyama, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Setouchi<\/a><\/p>\n

Tadao Ando’s masterful eye informs every inch of Setouchi \u2014 patient, quintessentially Japanese cleanliness and profoundly empty stretches of space induce a reverent consideration of the materials at hand. It\u2019s never overbearing, but it does inspire a welcome silence; gazing at the abstract rock garden or through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, you\u2019ll most definitely feel the frenetic activity of the mind slow to match your surroundings.<\/p>\n

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Ace Hotel Kyoto<\/a><\/h2>\n
Kyoto, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Ace<\/a><\/p>\n

The first Ace hotel in Asia is the Ace Hotel Kyoto, designed by Kengo Kuma and Commune Design. Kuma\u2019s primary contribution as architect was his powerful revision of an early modernist telephone exchange by Tetsuro Yoshida. And Commune and Kuma together were responsible for adapting Ace\u2019s eclectic, bohemian aesthetic to Kyoto, paying tribute to this historic city without falling into shoji-screen clich\u00e9s.<\/p>\n

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Aman Tokyo<\/a><\/h2>\n
Tokyo, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Aman<\/a><\/p>\n

Once you enter the Aman Tokyo, on the 33rd floor of the Otemachi Tower, the city streets become a mere memory. The modernist spaces are calming to a degree that\u2019s awe-inspiring, almost religious. The interiors were designed by Kerry Hill; the Australian architect is clearly comfortable remaining faithful to Japanese idiom. It\u2019s not quite the full tatami experience, but it\u2019s a fairly traditional one all the same.<\/p>\n

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TRUNK Hotel<\/a><\/h2>\n
Tokyo, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"TRUNK<\/a><\/p>\n

TRUNK hotel is the local version of something like the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg: youth-oriented, high-design, hyper-social. But it\u2019s no mere copy \u2014 as is so often the case in Japan, what sets it apart is the sheer quality of its execution, which is in turn the product of a fanatical attention to detail \u2014 as well as a fanatical attention to reusing and rehabilitating what might otherwise be discarded.<\/p>\n

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Nazuna Kyoto Gosho<\/a><\/h2>\n
Kyoto, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Nazuna<\/a><\/p>\n

Built from a pair of extra-large kyomachiya shop-houses connected by a newly built garden, Nazuna Kyoto Gosho is a modern re-interpretation of a classic form, an evolution of an aesthetic that stretches back centuries. The interiors are both familiar and surprising, and every detail is exquisitely crafted \u2014 the theme, in fact, is \u201cwagashi,\u201d the finely wrought miniature confections that are traditionally served with tea.<\/p>\n

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Shonai Hotel Suiden Terrasse<\/a><\/h2>\n
Yamagata, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Shonai<\/a><\/p>\n

Suiden Terrasse is set on the Shonai plain, a particularly fertile area of land irrigated by snowmelt runoff from neighboring peaks. Guests are in for quiet stays, with an opportunity to contemplate the slow movement of seasons, as the Suiden is surrounded by working rice fields. The hotel takes its cues from the crop, with architect Shigeru Ban\u2019s thoughtful nods to its cultivation informing its thoroughfares and common areas.<\/p>\n

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Hotel Noum Osaka<\/a><\/h2>\n
Osaka, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Hotel<\/a><\/p>\n

If Tokyo is tasked with representing the future, while Kyoto carries the weight of the past, then maybe Osaka can be free to simply be itself. Hotel Noum Osaka eschews high concept in favor of what might be the defining feature of present-day Japan: unpretentious excellence. The rooms are minimalist and modest but invitingly warm and reassuringly comfortable.<\/p>\n

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Benesse House<\/a><\/h2>\n
Naoshima, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Benesse<\/a><\/p>\n

We love all our hotels, but listen: this is truly a special one, a hotel worth a pilgrimage for anyone at all with an interest in art and architecture. Located on a tiny, isolated island in the Inland Sea, Benesse House is essentially a collaboration between the billionaire art collector Soichiro Fukutake and the Pritzker prize\u2013winning architect Tadao Ando, with major works and site-specific installations by everyone from Jackson Pollock to James Turrell.<\/p>\n

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Okcs Retreat Goto Ray<\/a><\/h2>\n
Goto, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Okcs<\/a><\/p>\n

The Got\u014d Islands are known as a place for prayer and religious contemplation. Okcs Retreat Goto Ray, though it\u2019s a thoroughly secular establishment, fits right in to the islands\u2019 famous tranquility \u2014 the hotel\u2019s architecture and design makes the most of the natural light as well as the spectacular views of the surrounding landscapes and seascapes. In its concept it\u2019s a fusion of modern and ancient visions of Japanese hospitality.<\/p>\n

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Hotel Cycle<\/a><\/h2>\n
Hiroshima, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Hotel<\/a><\/p>\n

At Hotel Cycle, you don\u2019t even have to step off your pedals \u2014 you can ride right into this cavernous space, which includes not just the hotel but a restaurant, a bar, a caf\u00e9, a bakery, a Giant bike shop, and much more. The building\u2019s interior retains the warehouse atmosphere of its waterfront surroundings, but the rooms temper their industrial origins with organic warmth \u2014 and hooks for hanging up your bike.<\/p>\n

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Hotel Indigo Inuyama Urakuen Garden<\/a><\/h2>\n
Inuyama, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Hotel<\/a><\/p>\n

Hotel Indigo Urakuen Garden pays aesthetic tribute to Inuyama Castle and the famous Jo-An tea house, even as it offers its guests a thoroughly contemporary stay. It\u2019s set within the grounds of the garden, which means easy views of the verdant forest as well as the hilltop castle itself. The rooms feel Japanese, but they\u2019re not ultra-traditional \u2014 colorful graphic murals, carpets, and furnishings contribute to a lively look.<\/p>\n

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Share Hotels Kumu Kanazawa<\/a><\/h2>\n
Kanazawa, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Share<\/a><\/p>\n

At The Share Hotels Kumu Kanazawa, unapologetically contemporary post-industrial design, bare concrete and all, meets Japanese hospitality tradition; we\u2019ve never seen tatami rooms look quite so modern. The Western rooms are impressive as well, and the bathrooms are a futuristic, minimalist vision. All of the interior spaces are stylish, clean-lined yet organic, impressive but not imposing \u2014 design-forward, but above all else, a welcoming space.<\/p>\n

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Aman Kyoto<\/a><\/h2>\n
Kyoto, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"Aman<\/a><\/p>\n

Aman took their time getting to Japan, but the results have proven to be well worth the wait. The third, after the skyscraper-topping Aman Tokyo and the ryokan-style Amanemu, is set in a vast private garden and an expanse of unspoiled forest \u2014 within Kyoto city limits, at the foot of a wild mountain \u2014 that was intended as the site for a textile museum before it became the immaculately designed, fantastically luxurious Aman Kyoto.<\/p>\n

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