74 Best Hotels in Japan

Founded in 1818 to accommodate provincial lords visiting the capital, this elegant inn is well known for its restrained and subtle beauty. The private hallway leading to each room's doorway makes all the accommodations feel like suites. The seven rooms in the modern wing have private gardens, even on the upper floor, and are equipped with cedar baths. Rooms in the older wing set the standard for quiet elegance, with exquisitely sculpted wooden details and in some cases gold-leaf sliding doors. In traditional ryokan style, meals are served in your room by a kimono-clad attendant. Hiiragiya has an annex a few blocks away with more affordable prices.

At once exquisitely refined and delightfully friendly, Kankaso exemplifies the best of Japanese hospitality, and a delicious kaiseki dinner is included, as is breakfast. Beautiful gardens surround this peaceful ryokan near Todai Temple, and inside, elegant ikebana arrangements adorn the alcove. Each room is decorated with scrolls and pottery. Although the building has been renovated over the centuries, its 1,200-year-old central beam testifies to its longevity. The communal baths look out onto the gardens. 

This small, sedate ryokan sits quietly on the edge of a peninsula called Oku-Matsushima, offering a place for you to relax, enjoy nature, and soak in the onsen, as it is not easily accessible from other sights in Matsushima. Many regulars stay several nights because of its sublime dinners, perfect privacy, and breathtaking views. If you come in winter, take advantage of the package deals. The snow-capped pine trees add to the serenity.

Situated amongst the trees beside a river, Myoken Ishiharaso is the perfect rural escape. Most of the rooms are new and modern and overlook the river, so you can always hear the rushing waters. There is a rotemburo (outdoor hot spring) for mixed bathing that sits on the edge of the river and another private outdoor hot-spring pool that you can book in advance—both are wonderful. After bathing, enjoy an incredible multicourse Japanese dinner that along with breakfast is included in the room rate. The ingredients in both meals are fresh, seasonal, and cooked to the highest standards. Vegetarian and vegan options are available. This hotel can get very expensive during Japanese holidays.

If you're going to splurge for a luxury ryokan, this is the place. Housed in a cluster of traditional houses (the oldest was built nearly 300 years ago), Ryokan Kurashiki elegantly blends the feel and service of traditional Japanese inns with the modern comforts of high-end hotels. Each of the ryokan's suites is housed in its own building, complete with Western-style beds and tatami-mat rooms tastefully decorated with art and antiques.

Shinsen is the best ryokan in Takachiho and one of Kyushu's finest (it's also quite expensive), since more than half the rooms have an open-air bath. The elaborate Japanese kaiseki dinner and breakfast included in the price are well worth the expense. If you have any dietary requests, just let them know in advance and they can be catered to. The entire staff are devoted to welcoming their guests. From Shinsen it is a short walk to Takachiho Shrine.

Founded by the Okazaki family more than 300 years ago and now run by the 11th generation, this hotel is justly celebrated for its hospitality, sumptuous but subdued decor, impeccable service, and splendid gardens. Dignitaries, presidents, and royalty have all been guests here. Every room is unique, furnished with superb antiques from the family collection and equipped with a fragrant cedar bath. Other amenities include a library and an elegant gift shop. The kaiseki ryori meals are prepared with skill and style.

This midcentury yet traditional inn is within walking distance of the downtown shopping area and has authentic sukiya-zukuri style (teahouse architecture): the rooms have views of the landscaped garden. Each tastefully decorated room has a cypress-wood bath. As at most ryokan, the room rate includes two excellent meals. Guests are served kaiseki ryori, including the specialty tempura, in their rooms. Custom meals are available for vegetarians and vegans.

When not submerged in the mineral waters at this relaxing lodging that dates from 1925, you can warm yourself by the glowing coals in the irori (sunken hearth) in the lobby and enjoy the delicious included meals. The rates include breakfast and dinner; the kaiseki course dinner is usually served in your room (vegetarian options are available). The inn is among the shops and galleries near the thermally heated Lake Kinrin, which gives off steam much of the year. Service is excellent, with kind and thoughtful staff. 

Exquisite furnishings, indoor and outdoor hot-springs baths, and spacious, predominately Japanese-style rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows are among this hotel's draws. Prices are high, but they include a multicourse dinner, served in your room, and breakfast the next morning. The inn is a 10-minute walk west up a steep hill from Atami Station, but the hotel operates a station shuttle bus for guests.

A splurge but absolutely worth it, this high-class ryokan behind the Dogo Onsen bathhouse delivers the royal treatment. The guest rooms are extremely spacious and offer views of the hot spring and the city, vistas you can also enjoy from your private balcony while soaking in a wooden tub in water drawn from the springs. The Japanese-style rooms have wooden floors and tatami sections, but instead of futons there are Western-style mattresses. The optional meals, inspired by French haute cuisine, are in private rooms in the restaurant downstairs.

This lodge connected to Dewa-Sanzan Jinja by a long stairway allows you to enjoy the shrine and scenery at the summit after most tourists have gone home by staying in communal, Japanese-style rooms with shared baths. Early birds may join priests at the main shrine for morning prayers—a great way to start the day. The cedar-lined approach is more than majestic, but inside, this shukubo, or monk's lodging, is spartan. The large tatami-mat rooms can be separated by fusuma (sliding paper doors) to create smaller rooms. Two vegetarian meals are served daily. The signature dish, tasty sesame tofu, is thicker, richer, and creamier than regular tofu. Since the lodge does have an irregular schedule to accommodate events, be sure to check. Reservations are best made by phone, and when you (or someone who speaks Japanese) call, you can check the dates and also request vegan meals. If you are taking the bus, get off at the final stop, and it is a 10-minute walk a bit down from the summit.

Individual cottages, some with thatched roofs in the greenery of Nara Park, make Edosan one of Nara's most peaceful and unique lodgings. Indulge in a traditional kaiseki dinner served in your cottage while you gaze through a large round window out into the lush landscape. One cottage has a private bath, and there's also a communal bath for other guests.

This friendly temple, close to Okuno-in, is where you can take part in morning prayers and observe the morning fire ceremony. Much like staying at a ryokan, the accommodation is all tatami, varying from modest 11-square-meter (118-square-foot) rooms for solo travelers to smart, family-size options. All room rates include a good vegetarian dinner and breakfast served in-room. From the cable-car terminus, take the bus for Okuno-in and get off at the Karukayado stop. Eko-in is several hundred meters east along the main road.

Namari's most famous ryokan (and its most famous onsen) is a dark wood house made of Japanese zelkova trees that is starting to show its age but still seems to have stories to tell, with rustic rooms without private baths in the main building and newer rooms with private baths in a concrete annex. The main reason to stay here is to have the opportunity to steep in the venerable Namari Onsen, which has a high ceiling and a round shape that resembles nothing so much as a giant inkwell. It is not the only hot spring available to you (and the water in the hot springs can be hot to the uninitiated), but the outdoor baths along the river are more milky. Relatively rare in these modern times, the ryokan has mixed-sex bathing with some hours reserved solely for women or men depending on the bath. Although the rooms in the main building have no private toilet, many find them nicer and more atmospheric than those in the newer annex, where the rooms do have private baths; the corner rooms overlooking a waterfall are particularly roomy and tastefully furnished. You can also use their bath for ¥800 per person without staying, and rent a towel for a few hundred yen extra.

Modern luxury permeates Fujiya Ryokan, which you could mistake for some kind of art gallery. Designed by architect Kuma Kengo, the sleek guest rooms are equipped with state-of-art amenities, and there are five hot-spring baths. The five exquisite hot-spring pools made from different natural materials such as granite, bamboo, and Japanese cypress provide total relaxation, and each is available to all guests for private use. Because the inn does not have dining facilities, you'll receive two substantial yet sublime Japanese meals served in your room. Contact them to arrange pickup from the train station or if you are arriving by car at their lot before getting into town. The ryokan area is not accessible by car.

This family-run ryokan on Shuzenji's main street has rooms that look out on the Katsura-gawa, plus gorgeous stone- and wood-lined indoor hot springs. Meals are a European-influenced take on a kaiseki course.

The owner of this small ryokan in Honmura, which has three Japanese-style rooms and one guesthouse, spent decades in France and Morocco before returning to Naoshima to turn his family's 17th-century home into an inn. In the main house are exquisitely decorated tatami rooms, though the sliding screen doors aren't as quiet as many travelers would like. For more privacy ask for the annex guesthouse, which has its own kitchen and sleeps up to four people. Meals are available.

Set in the Jogasaki forest, this traditional Japanese inn has modern, comfortable rooms, but still retains classic elements like tatami mats, sliding screen doors, and chabudai (low dining tables) with zabuton (cushion seating). The onsen are made of wood for rustic appeal.

A top choice for a luxury ryokan experience, Hanajyukai overlooks city and sea from a flower-covered mountainside. In typical ryokan fashion, most rooms are fully tatami, but some also incorporate wood flooring, and there are rooms with beds (not futon) tastefully incorporated into the traditional design; book one of the "designers rooms" for that. Or splurge on a "rotemburo-tsuki" room, if you want a private hot-spring bath. Dinners are classic kaiseki with French twists, although no-meal plans are available if you want to cut costs or eat out in Takamatsu. The scenic rooftop spa will melt your travel stress away. The inn is a 10-minute taxi ride from the city center.

This small ryokan has welcomed guests since 1804 with a strictly traditional experience: 10 large tatami rooms share a single bath and four clean but old-fashioned pit toilets, and the walls are sliding paper screens. Delicately arranged dinners are served in your room (book meals in advance for an extra cost). The ryokan can be booked in English via  www.japaneseguesthouses.com.

An elegant ryokan built upon the ruins of an old Mori clan estate, the luxurious Hokumon Yashiki pampers you in a style the ruling elite were surely accustomed to in the good old days. The inn overlooks a garden in the samurai section of town, near the castle grounds. 

Almost a century old, this traditional inn has wood-decorated tatami rooms and narrow, squeaking corridors. The hosts are congenial and considerate, and for a small extra fee will prepare breakfast. Hoshide-kan is near the quaint Kawasaki area, five minutes north of Kintetsu Station or 10 minutes from JR Station. Follow the main street and it's on the right just before the second set of signals. If you want to explore the city on two wheels, the inn rents bicycles for ¥300 a day.

On tiny Yokoyama Island, this small inn has painted its name in large letters on the red roof. Ishiyama-so is a two-minute boat ride from Kashikojima; phone the day before and your hosts will meet you at the quay. The inn isn't fancy, but it offers six well-maintained rooms overlooking the sea. You'll find tea sets and yukata (Japanese bathrobes) in both the Japanese- and Western-style rooms, and breakfast and dinner plans are available.

For traditional elegance, it's easy to like this venerable Japanese inn. It's the oldest and most famous lodging on the island, and everyone important has stayed here. The rooms in the wheelchair-accessible newer wing are nice enough, but the older rooms have more character. Two quaint cottages on the grounds have suites decorated with antiques. Prices vary widely according to the size of your room, the view, and the kaiseki dinner you select, so be sure to get it all ironed out when you make reservations. Breakfast and dinner are usually included in the rates and can be made Western-style. Nonguests can also enjoy the food.

The private onsen bathtubs on each room's balcony here have breathtaking views of the unspoiled valley below. The Japanese-style rooms are luxurious. Follow Route 45 as it curves right and transforms back into the old Route 32; make a left just after the decrepit pink Kazurabashi Hotel, and the lush Iya Bijin will come up on your right.

This traditional inn just up the road from Kazura-bashi has spacious rooms, an outdoor hot-spring bath, and unobstructed views of the valley, but the home-style feast you're served at dinner and breakfast are what you'll write home about. Two meals are included in most rates, but breakfast-only and dinner-only options are also available at a much lower rate.

Perched on the edge of a steep ravine above the Iya River, this upscale hot-springs inn provides absolute luxury in the middle of nowhere. Iya Onsen is one of Japan's three "secret" baths (if you ask locals where the other two are, nobody seems to know). Reasons to stay here include the sweeping views from most guest rooms, the lavish meals, and the riverside hot-spring bath accessed by cable car. When the mist rises from the valley in the early morning, it really does feel like you're in a hidden world. A hotel bus picks up overnight guests from Oboke Station at 3:10 pm (reservation needed).

Built in the traditional honmune-zukuri style, this hot-springs lodging has a characteristic peaked roof, ornamental woodwork above the front gable, and bow windows. The spacious lobby has crossbeams made from the trunk of a zelkova tree. There are two hot-spring baths: Kikuburo is made of Italian marble with a large carved chrysanthemum, while beniburo has an open-air tub. Ground-floor guest rooms face the garden, and some have private cypress baths. Artfully arranged meals on lacquer trays arrive in your room. The hotel is a 20-minute bus ride from Matsumoto Station to Asama-onsen, which is northeast of the city at the foot of the Utsukushigahara highlands.