Japan, Art Islands and Onsen

Fourteen nights that pair Japan's great cities with its quieter coasts, by private car, ferry and first-class train. Sumo wrestlers at morning practice in a Tokyo stable, the Benesse House Museum open to hotel guests until 11:00 p.m., James Turrell's Open Sky at sunset at the Chichu Art Museum, the private salon of a Kyoto weaving house founded in 1688, and lunch in an ama hut with the divers of Ise-Shima.

Length: 14 nights
Pace: Five stays
Style: Art, culture, rail, onsen
Route: Tokyo to Naoshima to Kyoto to Ise-Shima

TokyoThree nights
NaoshimaThree nights
KyotoFour nights
Ise-ShimaTwo nights
TokyoTwo nights

A double-arched stone bridge over a palace moat, with a white tower among pines behind.

Days 1 to 4 · three nights

Tokyo

Met on arrival and driven to the hotel. Early one morning, a visit arranged by Aman Tokyo to a sumo stable to watch the wrestlers train. A full day with a private guide through the historic districts, food halls and pop-culture neighbourhoods, and a half day of museums, galleries and specialist shops.

Where you stay

Aman Tokyo

Aman Tokyo looks out from the upper floors of the Otemachi Tower, moments from the Imperial Palace Gardens and connected to Otemachi station below. Its 84 suites are finished in wood, stone and washi paper, each with a deep furo bathtub, and on clear days some look as far as Mount Fuji.

A stone torii gate on a sandy beach, with low islands on a pale sea beyond.

Days 4 to 7 · three nights

Naoshima

First-class bullet train, private car and ferry to Naoshima. A full day among the island's art, with works by Yayoi Kusama, James Turrell, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Rei Naito and Monet; as guests, you can stay in the Benesse House Museum and Sugimoto's Time Corridors gallery until 11:00 p.m. On a Friday or Saturday, Turrell's Open Sky at the Chichu Art Museum at sunset, a seated viewing of 45 minutes for no more than 30 people. A day for the installations on Teshima and Inujima or out on the Inland Sea.

Where you stay

Benesse House

Benesse House opened in 1992 as both a museum and a hotel, with contemporary art in the guest rooms and outdoors. Rooms in Tadao Ando's Museum building look out over the Inland Sea, and Oval, reached by monorail from the museum, has just six rooms on the hill.

A long covered wooden walkway beside a raked garden, with red and green maples behind.

Days 7 to 11 · four nights

Kyoto

Ferry, car and first-class train to Kyoto. Kimono dressing at the salon of HOSOO, Nishijin weavers since 1688, which is not open to the public, then the gallery and private shopping at the flagship. Temples, shrines, Gion and the bamboo forest, a private tea ceremony with a vegetarian temple lunch, and a full-day excursion to the Miho Museum, Nara, Hiroshima and Miyajima or Himeji. A half day for a geisha dinner, Zen meditation or ikebana.

Where you stay

HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO

HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO stands opposite Nijo Castle, where the executive branch of the Mitsui family kept its Kyoto home for over 250 years. Diners look out on a garden planted for the seasons, and the thermal spring spa uses water drawn from a source on site.

Two rocks in the sea joined by a thick straw rope, with low cloud over the horizon.

Days 11 to 13 · two nights

Ise-Shima

A private transfer to Ise-Shima, or a helicopter on request. Amanemu arranges one private experience for each night of the stay: the Inner and Outer Shrines of Ise and their old approach streets, a charcoal-grilled seafood lunch in an ama hut while the divers tell their stories, or a sunset cruise on Ago Bay. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, the sacred Sai-shi Mai dance at dusk on the Sunken Terrace, with Mikimoto Pearl Island and the onsen in between.

Where you stay

Amanemu

Amanemu sits beside Ago Bay in the forested hills of Ise-Shima National Park, close to Ise Grand Shrine. Suites draw on traditional minka architecture, each with its own onsen bath, and the 2,000-square-metre spa is built around mineral-rich hot springs.

Days 13 to 15 · two nights

Tokyo

First-class bullet train from Nagoya back to Tokyo, a final half day with the guide, and a last afternoon at the Aman Spa, with its 30-metre pool and onsen-style baths. A private transfer to the airport.

Where you stay

Aman Tokyo

The journey ends where it began, at Aman Tokyo, high in the Otemachi Tower above the Imperial Palace Gardens. After the onsen of Ise-Shima, the Aman Spa, with its 30-metre pool, onsen-style hot baths and views across the city, makes an easy last afternoon.

Arranged on request

A sumo stable at morning practice

Aman Tokyo arranges a morning at a sumo-beya to watch the wrestlers train and to hear the history and traditions of the sport.

The museum after hours

Overnight guests at Benesse House can stay in the Benesse House Museum, except the Valley Gallery, and Hiroshi Sugimoto's Time Corridors gallery until 11:00 p.m.

Open Sky at sunset

On Fridays and Saturdays, the Chichu Art Museum's night programme seats up to 30 people beneath James Turrell's Open Sky for a 45-minute viewing as the light goes.

Lunch with the ama divers

At Amanemu, a charcoal-grilled seafood lunch in an ama hut, listening to the stories of the divers, one of the private experiences included with each night.

The HOSOO salon

Kimono dressing at the salon of HOSOO, Nishijin weavers since 1688, which is not open to the public, then the gallery and private shopping at the flagship.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

At Amanemu, the rites to become a parishioner of the shrine, with purification, offerings and a goshuin stamp, or a waterfall purification at Ama-no-Iwato with a local guide.
The helicopter from Nagoya to Amanemu, in about 35 minutes.
Two nights in Hakone on the way from Tokyo to the Inland Sea.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.