Michelin Key 2026
In September 2026 the Michelin Guide named 145 hotels and ryokan in Japan in its Key selection: 7 with three Keys, 23 with two and 115 with one. Below are the ones written up in English on STAYLOG, each with guests’ stay reports and room-tour videos.
Source: Michelin Guide, Michelin Key hotel selection Japan 2026. The number of Keys is Michelin’s decision, not ours.
ブルガリ ホテル 東京
The Bulgari hotel on the upper floors of Tokyo Midtown Yaesu. The interiors come from the brand's Italian design team, and the rooms, worked in black and gold, carry the house style over intact.
パレスホテル東京
An independent hotel facing the moat of the Imperial Palace. What sets it apart is that the water and greenery of Wadakura moat are in view directly from the rooms, some of which have balconies. The pastry shop and the bar inside draw people from the neighbourhood as much as guests.
フォーシーズンズホテル東京大手町
On the upper floors of a tower in Otemachi, with the view opening both towards the Imperial Palace and towards Tokyo Station. The glass-walled pool and spa sit at the very top, and swimming while looking out over the city is what stay reports come back to.
強羅花壇
A long-established ryokan at Gora, on the site of a former imperial family villa. The buildings step down the slope, and the long corridors and the windows keep the mountain green in view. Some rooms have their own open-air bath.
あさば
A long-established ryokan at the centre of Shuzenji Onsen, with a Noh stage set across the pond. The view over the water to the stage is the image of the place, and the surface of the pond changes with the season.
アマネム
A hot spring resort inside Ise-Shima National Park, on high ground looking down over Ago Bay. Low buildings are spread across the slope, and every room has its own indoor hot spring bath.
HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO
Directly opposite Nijo Castle, on the site of the Mitsui family’s own residence. You enter through the Kajiimiya gate, moved here and rebuilt, and the guest wings stand around a garden at the centre. A thermal spring drawn from under the grounds feeds the bathhouse.
坐忘林
A ryokan of detached villas in the birch woods at Hanazono in Niseko. Each villa has both an indoor and an open-air hot spring bath, and they are placed so that no villa sees another.
ザ・リッツ・カールトン日光
On the shore of Lake Chuzenji, looking out at the lake on one side and Mount Nantai on the other. It was the brand's first resort in Japan built with a hot spring, and has a communal bath in the building.
ふふ 日光
Next to the Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park, with a hot spring bath in every room and the greenery of the Daiya river in front of it. Toshogu is a few minutes away by car.
アマン東京
Aman's first urban hotel, on the upper floors of Otemachi Tower and topping out on the 38th. The lobby is an atrium of roughly 30 metres, and the washi-and-stone interior is kept unusually dark for a city hotel. Every room is a suite: the smallest Garden View Suite is 71 sqm, the Aman Suite 157 sqm. All rates include breakfast and the wellness floor, with a 30-metre indoor pool and Japanese baths.
ザ・キャピトルホテル東急
A hotel in Nagatacho, connected directly to Tameike-Sanno and Kokkai-gijido-mae subway stations and about ten minutes by car from Tokyo Station. It stands facing the trees of the neighbouring Hie Shrine. It holds five stars in the Forbes Travel Guide 2026 and two Michelin Keys in the 2026 selection, and has Japanese and Chinese restaurants. Akasaka, Kasumigaseki and Ginza are easy to reach by subway.
ジャヌ東京
The first hotel under Aman’s sister brand, in the Azabudai Hills development. With a large wellness floor and a run of restaurants, it aims at being a place where people gather — the opposite of the guarded quiet at Aman Tokyo.
ふふ 河口湖
A FUFU house in the woods by Lake Kawaguchi, every room with its own hot spring bath. On the right day Mount Fuji shows itself from the rooms and the public areas, but that is entirely down to the weather.
THE HIRAMATSU 軽井沢 御代田
A grand auberge in the woods at Miyota, next door to Karuizawa. The rooms face the forest and each has its own hot spring bath. Being away from the centre of Karuizawa, there is little built up around it.
強羅花壇 富士
Opened by Gora Kadan on 20 July 2025 at Subashiri in Oyama, on the eastern foot of Mount Fuji. All 42 rooms are suites, three of them detached villas. The communal baths, fed by a natural alkaline spring from below the grounds, have both indoor and open-air pools, and the heated swimming pool is set so that the window runs out towards Fuji. There is a golf course on the grounds.
アマン京都
In a private forest at the foot of Takagamine, north of Kinkaku-ji. It sits away from the city, and the grounds are covered in moss and cedar. The buildings are kept low and scattered, so that walking the garden becomes part of the stay.
カペラ京都
A hotel at Komatsu-cho in Gion, Capella’s property in Kyoto, five minutes on foot from Gion-Shijo Station on the Keihan line. Kenninji and the Yasaka Pagoda are within walking distance, and Hanamikoji is close. It holds two Michelin Keys in the 2026 selection. The building draws on the design of machiya townhouses, has a Japanese garden and a spa, and its rooms face inner courtyards.
The Shinmonzen
A hotel on Shinmonzen-dori in Gion, designed by Tadao Ando, on a street of antique dealers along the Shirakawa. Keihan Sanjo and Gion-Shijo stations are within walking distance, and so are Kenninji and Chion-in. It holds two Michelin Keys in the 2026 selection, keeps its room count small and displays contemporary art inside.
西村屋 本館
A traditional Japanese ryokan at Kinosaki Onsen, founded in the Ansei era of the Edo period. It is a 15-minute walk from Kinosaki Onsen Station (with a free bus from the ryokan association), and about 18 minutes by car from the Toyooka-Izushi interchange. Kinosaki is known for its round of public baths, and all seven are within walking distance. It holds two Michelin Keys in the 2026 selection, has its own garden and serves kaiseki made with ingredients from Tajima.
庭園の宿 石亭
A ryokan of 12 rooms at Miyahama Onsen, across the water from Miyajima. The rooms are spread through a garden of about 1,500 tsubo and fall into three kinds: rooms in the main house, detached rooms and separate pavilions. Every room has its own bath, open-air or semi-open-air among them. Dinner is served in your room and breakfast in the dining hall. It holds two Michelin Keys in the Michelin Guide 2026.
ベネッセハウス
A combined museum and hotel on Naoshima, designed by Tadao Ando, about ten minutes by car from Miyanoura Port. Contemporary art is on permanent display in the building and on the grounds, and guests can view it outside opening hours. Naoshima is one of the stages of the Setouchi Triennale. It holds two Michelin Keys in the 2026 selection. The accommodation is split across four buildings — Museum, Oval, Park and Beach — each built differently.
御宿 竹林亭
An inn next to Mifuneyama Rakuen at Takeo Onsen in Saga, facing a garden of 150,000 tsubo. Takeo Onsen is said to have a history of 1,300 years, and its tower gate is an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It holds two Michelin Keys in the 2026 selection. The garden is known for its cherry blossom and azaleas in spring, and guests may walk it freely.
ENOWA YUFUIN
An auberge in the Maruo district of Yufuin, about five minutes by car from JR Yufuin Station, with rooms and dining spread across large grounds at the foot of Mount Yufu. Its cuisine is built around fermentation and farming, using vegetables from its own farm. It holds two Michelin Keys in the 2026 selection and keeps its room count small.
6 videos
亀の井別荘
A ryokan in the Kawakami district of Yufuin, next to Lake Kinrin, with detached buildings set in a wood of mixed trees. It began as a villa in 1921 and later became an inn. The centre of Yufuin is within walking distance. It holds two Michelin Keys in the 2026 selection, has its own dining room and tea house, and looks out on the landscape at the foot of Mount Yufu.
雅叙苑
A ryokan at Myoken Onsen in Kirishima, about 15 minutes by car from Kagoshima Airport and from the Mizobe-Kagoshima-Kuko interchange. Its buildings are thatched farmhouses moved to the site, with sunken hearths, and it serves food made with vegetables from its own garden. It stands in the hills along the Amori River and holds two Michelin Keys in the 2026 selection. It keeps its room count small.
ハレクラニ沖縄
A resort on the coast at Onna, on the west side of Okinawa's main island. It is split into a Beachfront Wing and a Sunset Wing and holds several pools, one of them carrying the orchid mosaic that is the emblem of the original Halekulani in Waikiki.
ローズウッド宮古島
A resort in the Nikadori district of Miyakojima, one of Rosewood’s properties in Japan. Miyakojima is linked to Irabu Island by the Irabu Bridge, and the resort faces the East China Sea, with the island’s beaches easy to reach by car. It holds two Michelin Keys in the 2026 selection. Most accommodation is in villas, and the restaurants serve food made with Miyakojima ingredients.
ユサンディ
Five pool villas at Fukai, in the north of Ishigaki island. They sit on about 20,000 square metres of ground that was left as close to its natural contours as possible, so each villa has a garden of a different character. The architect was Dan Norihiko. Interiors are minimal and white, and the walls use Ryukyu limestone, the stone of Shuri Castle and the island’s field walls. Four of the five are one-bedroom villas for two adults, with two semi-double beds pushed together and a gazebo with a daybed in the grounds. Bath amenities are by Aromatherapy Associates of Britain. The restaurant serves breakfast and dinner, the latter Italian cooking built on Ryukyu ingredients. The name means dusk in the language of Okinawa.
1 more 2-Key properties are listed on the Japanese version of this page.
山翠ニセコ
A hotel in the centre of Niseko Hirafu, about 20 minutes by car from JR Kutchan Station, within walking distance of the ski gondola. It keeps its room count small, in an area looking towards Mount Yotei, and holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. There is a lounge, and restaurants cluster nearby. Niseko draws visitors from Japan and abroad.
雪ニセコ
A hotel in Niseko Hirafu, about 15 minutes by car from JR Kutchan Station. Every room has a kitchen and a washing machine, suited to longer stays. Hirafu is the heart of the ski area, drawing visitors from Japan and abroad in winter. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, is kept quiet inside, and looks out toward Mount Yotei and Annupuri.
パーク ハイアット ニセコ HANAZONO
On the slopes of the Hanazono area in Niseko, with ski-in, ski-out access and rooms that face Mount Yotei head-on. It has a communal hot spring bath and a pool.
MUWA NISEKO
A residence-style resort in Niseko Hirafu, about 120 minutes by car from New Chitose Airport. It has direct access to the slopes and a wellness facility. Niseko is known for its snow, and in summer it is a base for rafting and climbing. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. The rooms have kitchens.
4 videos
東山ニセコビレッジ・リッツ・カールトン・リザーブ
A Ritz-Carlton Reserve hotel at Niseko Village, connected directly to the ski resort. There is a free shuttle bus from Kutchan Station and it is about ten minutes by taxi from Niseko Station; in winter, ski buses run from New Chitose Airport and Sapporo. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, has restaurants and a spa, and looks out toward Mount Yotei.
HOTEL 白林 HAKODATE
A hotel in the former Russian consulate on a hill in Funami-cho, Hakodate, restored and joined by a new wellness wing. The consulate was built in 1908 by Imperial Russia. All six rooms are suites, each with its own private sauna. The hotel has French cuisine at the main dining room, Byakuya, which looks down on Hakodate harbour; Sushidokoro Funami, an eight-seat counter; and a bar.
AZUMA FARM Koiwai
An inn in the forest of Koiwai Farm in Shizukuishi, about 30 minutes by car from Morioka Station. The stay is built around the life of the farm, at the foot of Mount Iwate. Koiwai Farm is a private farm founded in the Meiji era, and some of its buildings are Important Cultural Properties. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, and the farm’s lone cherry tree and Kamimaru cowsheds are within walking distance.
ANAインターコンチネンタル安比高原リゾート
A resort at Appi Kogen in Hachimantai, Iwate, about five minutes by car from Appi-Kogen Station. It is next to the ski area, a base for skiing in winter and golf and trekking in summer. An ANA InterContinental property, it holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection and has restaurants and a hot spring.
OSTERIA SINCERITA
An auberge taking just three groups, at Akayu Onsen, the annex of the ryokan Yamagata-za Takinami, about eight minutes by car from JR Akayu Station. The rooms have open-air baths and saunas. Akayu is in Nanyo, among vineyards and wineries, and the auberge holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. It serves Italian cuisine and stands apart from the main Takinami building.
2 videos
山形座 瀧波
A ryokan at Akayu Onsen in Yamagata. All 19 rooms have hot spring water running straight from the source. On the grounds stands KURA, a storehouse moved here and rebuilt as a modern space.
鬼怒川渓翠
A resort at Kinugawa Onsen, opened in December 2022, with an open-air hot-spring bath and balcony in every room. It is about three minutes on foot from Tobu World Square Station and about ten minutes by car from Kinugawa-Onsen Station (with a transfer). The Kinugawa gorge spreads out in front. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, and Nikko and Kawaji Onsen are easy to reach by car.
別邸 仙寿庵
A ryokan at Tanigawa Onsen in Minakami, with an open-air bath fed directly from the hot spring in every room. It is about 25 minutes by bus from Jomo-Kogen Station on the Joetsu shinkansen, about eight minutes by car from Minakami Station on the Joetsu line and about ten minutes from the Minakami interchange. It sits at the foot of Mount Tanigawa and holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, with a large bath and a dining room.
TRUNK(HOTEL)YOYOGI PARK
A hotel facing Yoyogi Park in Tomigaya, Shibuya, within walking distance of Yoyogi-Hachiman Station on the Odakyu line and Yoyogi-koen Station on the Chiyoda line. It has a rooftop pool looking out over the park, and central Shibuya is within walking distance. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection and has a restaurant and a bar; park-side rooms look down on the trees.
パーク ハイアット 東京
Occupies the upper floors of Shinjuku Park Tower and has been open since 1994. Known as a film location, its top-floor bar and glass-walled pool have been landmarks since the day it opened.
K5
A hotel in Kabutocho, Nihonbashi, Tokyo, about five minutes on foot from both Nihombashi and Kayabacho stations on the Tokyo Metro, and about seven minutes by taxi from the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station. It keeps its room count small; every room has a record player, and the largest, the K5 Suite, is 80 sqm with a kitchenette. There is a restaurant, bars and a café on site. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection.
ふふ 東京 銀座
The first city address for FUFU, which built its name in hot spring towns. It stands in Ginza 1-chome and still pipes hot spring water to the rooms. The building is made to shut out the street, given over entirely to holding on to quiet in the middle of the city.
マンダリン オリエンタル 東京
A city hotel occupying the upper floors of the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower. Every room is high up, so whichever one you take, Tokyo is laid out below. The spa and the dining rooms carry a lot of the weight here and are used by people who are not staying.
ザ・プリンスギャラリー 東京紀尾井町
On the upper floors of Kioi Tower, with a lobby lounge on the thirtieth looking out over the city. The green of the Imperial Palace and the Akasaka Estate fills more of the view than it does from most hotels in central Tokyo.
ザ・ペニンシュラ東京
On the corner at Hibiya, facing the outer gardens of the Imperial Palace and Hibiya Park head-on. The lobby lounge on the lower floors works as a place to meet, and plenty of the people in it are not staying. The rooms are generously sized all the way up.
シャングリ・ラ 東京
A hotel on the upper floors of the Marunouchi Trust Tower main building, facing the Nihonbashi exit of Tokyo Station. JR Tokyo Station is a minute’s walk away, and Marunouchi and Nihonbashi are both within walking distance. The rooms are on high floors with open views over central Tokyo. It holds four stars in the Forbes Travel Guide 2026 and one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, and has a spa and a pool.
東京ステーションホテル
A classic hotel inside the Marunouchi building of Tokyo Station, opened in 1915 and connected directly to the Marunouchi South Exit. The red-brick station building is an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Marunouchi, the Imperial Palace Outer Garden and Ginza are all within walking distance. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, and some rooms face the inside of the station’s domes, using the building’s structure as it is.
フォーシーズンズホテル丸の内 東京
A small hotel with few rooms, on the upper floors of a building connected to the Nihombashi exit of Tokyo Station. It is a different property from the Four Seasons at Otemachi, and different in scale and character. Some rooms look down on the Shinkansen platforms.
アンダーズ 東京
The upper floors of Toranomon Hills Mori Tower. There is no check-in desk; staff handle it in your room or in the public areas. The rooftop bar on the top floor looks straight at Tokyo Tower.
オークラ東京
A rebuilding of the Hotel Okura, which first opened in 1962, in Toranomon. It is split in two: the low-rise Heritage Wing and the high-rise Prestige Tower. The lobby of the old main building has been preserved and recreated, down to the lantern-shaped lights and the arrangement of tables that people came to photograph.
The Aoyama Grand Hotel
A hotel in Kita-Aoyama, Tokyo, on the site of the former Bell Commons building. The rooms are done in mid-century modern throughout and are generously sized: 32 sqm for a standard, 39–41 for a superior, 46–48 for a deluxe, 51 for the two-room premium twin and 56–61 for a suite. There is a gym and shower room for guests only. Eating and drinking covers a lot of ground: an all-day dining room, a Japanese counter, an Italian restaurant and a rooftop bar on the top floor, an Edomae sushi counter, and a lunch-only tonkatsu room supervised by Kuroki Jun of the Tokyo restaurant Kurogi. Three minutes on foot from exit 3 of Gaienmae Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line.
5 videos
ザ・リッツ・カールトン東京
At the top of Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi, with every room high up. On a clear day the view carries as far as Mount Fuji, which is why stay reports keep returning to which way a room faces.
JWマリオット・ホテル東京
A hotel in Takanawa, opened in October 2025, connected directly to JR Takanawa Gateway Station and three minutes on foot from Sengakuji Station on the Asakusa and Keikyu lines. It is the first JW Marriott in the Tokyo area. Shinagawa Station is close, making the shinkansen and Haneda Airport easy to reach. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, has restaurants and a spa, and its rooms are on high floors with open views over the city.
フェアモント東京
A hotel in BLUE FRONT SHIBAURA at Hamamatsucho and Shibaura, opened in July 2025 as the first Fairmont in Japan. It is six minutes on foot from the south exit of JR Hamamatsucho Station, twelve from Daimon Station and ten from Hinode Station on the Yurikamome. Haneda Airport is easy to reach by monorail. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection.
1 Hotel Tokyo
A hotel in Akasaka with direct access from its grounds to exit 12B of Tameike-Sanno subway station, served by the Ginza, Namboku, Chiyoda and Marunouchi lines. It belongs to a lifestyle brand built around environmental care, with plenty of planting inside. Akasaka, Roppongi and Toranomon are within walking distance, and it holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection.
オーベルジュ ときと
An auberge at Nishiki-cho in Tachikawa, within walking distance of JR Tachikawa Station, offering a stay built around its food. Tachikawa is the hub of the Tama area, about 30 minutes from Shinjuku on the JR Chuo line, and Showa Kinen Park is within walking distance. It keeps its room count small and holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection.
インターコンチネンタル横浜 Pier 8
A hotel on Shinko Pier in Yokohama, about ten minutes on foot from exit 4 of Bashamichi Station on the Minatomirai Line and twelve minutes from Minatomirai Station. It is attached to a cruise terminal, and harbour-facing rooms look out over the port of Yokohama. The Red Brick Warehouse and Yamashita Park are within walking distance. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection and has restaurants and a bar.
ザ・カハラ・ホテル&リゾート 横浜
A hotel in Minatomirai, about eight minutes on foot from Shin-Takashima and Minatomirai stations on the Minatomirai Line. It is the Japanese outpost of The Kahala of Hawaii, close to Yokohama Station and Landmark Tower. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection and has restaurants and a spa. Rinko Park and the Minatomirai shopping areas are within walking distance.
Casa CABaN HAYAMA
An inn at Horiuchi in Hayama, on Sagami Bay, reached by car from Zushi or Shin-Zushi Station. Hayama is known for its imperial villa and beaches, and Enoshima and Kamakura are an easy drive away. It keeps its room count small and holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. Hayama is about an hour and a half from Tokyo by car, with seaside restaurants scattered along the coast.
エスパシオ箱根迎賓館 麟鳳亀龍
A nine-villa property in a ravine at Miyanoshita in Hakone. Guests check in at an upper reception on the old Tokaido road and descend to the valley floor on a private funicular, a ride of about five minutes. The grounds cover about 44,021 square metres with about 2,184 square metres of floor space. The name refers to the four guardian creatures — kirin, phoenix, tortoise and dragon — and a dragon stands at the centre of the courtyard pond with a phoenix at the main reception. Each of the nine villas is assigned to a particular artist, and its interior is built around their work in karakami paper, plaster, kumiko joinery, sculpture, dyeing or lacquer. The water is from the Dogashima spring, fed continuously. Meals are served in the villa rather than in a dining room. About five minutes on foot from Miyanoshita Station on the Hakone Tozan railway.
THE HIRAMATSU 仙石原
A hotel built around its food, in the woods at Sengokuhara in Hakone. The hot spring runs straight from the source, and the rooms face the forest. Both the water and the landscape differ from Gora, on the other side of Hakone.
ふふ 箱根
A mountain resort ringed by the Hakone range. Every room has a hot-spring bath in a bathroom whose windows open wide — not a separate outdoor bath. The rooms use Gora onsen and the communal baths Owakudani onsen, two different springs. The buildings are kept low along the slope, so what fills the windows is green.
箱根・強羅 佳ら久
An east and a west wing on high ground at Gora, every room with its own open-air hot spring bath. The view runs across the Hakone range and, on a good day, out to Sagami Bay. There is a bath with a view on the top floor.
里山十帖
An inn at Osawa in Minamiuonuma, Niigata. There are 13 rooms, one of them a detached cottage, finished in solid timber and plaster and furnished with Scandinavian vintage pieces by Finn Juhl, Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjærholm among others. The water comes from the shared Osawa-yama source, a sodium chloride-bicarbonate spring. Because the source is only 27 degrees it is heated and circulated, with fresh spring water fed in continuously. From the open-air bath, called Amanogawa, the mountains on the Joshinetsu border are in view, including Mount Makihata. The restaurant, Sanaburi, works to what it calls local gastronomy — putting the land and culture of Minamiuonuma on the plate — and holds one Michelin star. Guests generally arrive by fixed-fare taxi from Echigo-Yuzawa on the shinkansen.
あらや滔々庵
A ryokan at Yamashiro Onsen in Kaga, run by the same family for eighteen generations since the days of the feudal domain. It is about ten minutes by car from JR Kaga Onsen Station and has a large bath drawing water straight from the source. Yamashiro is known as a place where the artist Rosanjin stayed, and Kutani porcelain kilns are scattered around it. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection.
べにや無何有
A ryokan at Yamashiro Onsen in Kaga, with rooms set on grounds surrounded by bamboo and hot-spring water drawn to every room. It is about ten minutes by car from JR Kaga Onsen Station. Yamashiro is known for Kutani porcelain and its links to Rosanjin. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, has a tea room and a reading room, and offers time in the garden each morning to loosen up.
一 能登島
A sushi auberge on Notojima, about eleven minutes by car from Wakura-Onsen Station and about 13 minutes from the Wakura interchange of the Nanao-Tatsuruhama bypass. It faces Nanao Bay and has a hot spring. Notojima has an aquarium and a glass museum and is linked to the mainland by two bridges. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, serves sushi-centred meals and keeps its room count small.
3 videos
ふふ 軽井沢 陽光の風
A FUFU house in the woods at Karuizawa, every room with a hot spring bath. It is a separate property from FUFU Kyu-Karuizawa in the same town, and differs in both setting and how the rooms are arranged.
ふふ 旧軽井沢 静養の森
A house in the woods of Kyu-Karuizawa with a hot spring bath in every room. The stand of trees on the site was left as it was, so what a room looks onto is forest rather than the next building. A separate property from FUFU Karuizawa in the same town.
BYAKU Narai
An inn in Narai-juku, in Shiojiri, Nagano. Narai-juku sits exactly halfway along the 69 stations of the Nakasendo road and survives as the longest post town in Japan, its Edo-period streetscape intact. The inn occupies four historic buildings, each given back the trading name it carried from the Edo period. The main one, Toshiyoshi-ya, was the Suginomori sake brewery, founded in 1793; the others are Uehara-ya, Shimamo-ya and Kanekami-ya. There are 16 rooms, and because the existing structures were kept, no two have the same layout. The bathhouse, San-sen, draws spring water from the headwaters of the Shinano River — it is not a hot spring. The restaurant, Kura, occupies what was the brewery. Five minutes on foot from Narai Station on the JR Chuo Line.
扉温泉 明神館
A ryokan at Tobira Onsen in the mountains of Matsumoto, about 40 minutes by car from the Matsumoto interchange, with a free shuttle bus from Matsumoto Station. A member of Relais & Châteaux, it is known for its standing bath beside the mountain stream. It is close to the trailheads for the Utsukushigahara plateau and holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. There are several baths, and meals use local ingredients.
松籟荘
A ryokan in the Yudanaka-Shibu onsen area, in the Heion district of Yamanouchi, Nagano, at the foot of Shiga Kogen. The Jigokudani Monkey Park, known for monkeys bathing in hot springs in winter, is nearby. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. Yudanaka-Shibu is known for its nine public baths, and the Shiga Kogen ski areas are easy to reach by car.
熱海・伊豆山 佳ら久（オリックスホテルズ&リゾーツ）
A hotel at Izusan in Atami, about seven minutes by car from JR Atami Station, with a transfer (first come, first served, by reservation). It stands on a slope looking down on Sagami Bay and has a hot spring. It has held one Michelin Key in 2024 and 2025 and again in the 2026 selection. There are several baths, and the rooms look out to sea.
THE HIRAMATSU 熱海
A hotel built around its food, on the high ground in Atami. Every room has a bath fed by the hot spring, and the view is over Sagami Bay. The brand began as a restaurant business, and dinner sits at the centre of the stay.
アルカナ イズ
An auberge on the Kano River at Yugashima in Izu, surrounded by the Amagi mountains, reached by car from Shuzenji Station. The stay is built around its cuisine, and the rooms are spread across the grounds. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. Amagi is known as the setting of Yasunari Kawabata’s The Dancing Girl of Izu.
おちあいろう
A hot-spring ryokan at Yugashima in Amagi, where two rivers meet, housed in buildings registered as Tangible Cultural Properties. It has three hot-spring baths and two saunas.
富士スピードウェイホテル
A hotel next to Fuji Speedway, part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection, about 25 minutes by car from Gotemba Station and Gotemba Premium Outlets, with a free shuttle bus. It displays motorsport material inside. It sits at the eastern foot of Mount Fuji, with the summit in view on clear days. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, and some rooms face the circuit, so you can watch races from the hotel.
沼津倶楽部
An eight-room inn at Senbon Matsubara in Numazu, Shizuoka. It began in 1913, when Miwa Zenbei — head of the Mitsuwa soap company and a student of tea — built a sukiya-style teahouse in about 10,000 square metres of garden, meaning to hold tea gatherings for a thousand people. Inside it are a three-mat tea room moved here from Kyoto and rooms in a mixed Japanese and Western style. In 2006 a residential wing was added, designed by the architect Watanabe Akira: rammed-earth walls layered from the sand and soil of the Fuji river, a roof of Yoshino cedar laid almost unworked, and a water basin fed by Fuji spring water. Every room looks onto the pine grove and the basin. The spa draws its water from a well on the property, from the same Mount Fuji aquifer as the Kakitagawa springs. Dinner is a course of Chinese cooking supervised by Saito Hirofumi, a Sichuan specialist.
THE HIRAMATSU 賢島
A hotel built around its food on Kashikojima, facing Ago Bay. It has a thalassotherapy spa using seawater, and rooms looking out at the islands in the bay. Ise Jingu is within driving distance.
ハシェンダ ヴィソン ホテル
A hotel within VISON, a commercial resort in Taki, Mie, connected directly to the Seiwa-Taki and Taki-VISON Smart interchanges of the Ise Expressway, about 20 minutes to Ise Grand Shrine by expressway. It opened in August 2024 with design supervised by The Conran Shop, and holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. VISON brings together restaurants and shops.
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御宿The Earth
An inn on the coast at Ijika in Toba, where every room is a suite with an open-air bath and a deck. It is about 35 minutes from Kintetsu Toba Station by free shuttle bus (by reservation). It stands in old-growth forest facing the Pacific, and Ise Grand Shrine is reachable by car. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection and has several baths; Toba Aquarium and Mikimoto Pearl Island are an easy drive.
エースホテル京都
A hotel inside Shinpuhkan at Karasuma-Oike, with Kengo Kuma involved in its design. It is connected directly to the south gate of Karasuma-Oike subway station, three stops and about six minutes from Kyoto Station. Shinpuhkan reuses the former Kyoto Central Telephone Office building and has restaurants and shops. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. Some rooms have record players.
貴船 右源太
An inn at Kurama-Kibune-cho in Kyoto, close to Kibune Shrine, reached by bus from Kibuneguchi Station on the Eizan Railway. In summer the area sets up kawadoko dining platforms over the Kibune River, and it is cooler than the city. A mountain path leads to Kurama-dera. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. The road up from Kibuneguchi Station is a steady climb, and the summer kawadoko and autumn leaves draw crowds.
ギャリア・二条城 京都 by バンヤン・グループ
A hotel at Ichinocho in Nakagyo-ku, near Nijo Castle, two minutes on foot from Nijojo-mae Station on the Tozai subway line and about twelve minutes by car from JR Kyoto Station. It is Banyan Group’s Garrya brand, within walking distance of Nijo Castle, a World Heritage site, and close to the Imperial Palace and Nishijin. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection and has a restaurant.
ザ・ホテル青龍 京都清水
At the foot of Kiyomizu-dera, in a primary school building from the early Showa era that has been kept and converted. The old façade and its arched windows remain, with rooms and restaurants built inside. The building is itself part of the view around the Yasaka Pagoda.
ザ・リッツ・カールトン京都
On the bank of the Kamo river, looking across it to the Higashiyama hills. It is in the middle of the city but built low along the water, so the rooms look out onto the river and the gardens.
翠嵐 ラグジュアリーコレクションホテル 京都
On the bank of the Oi river, east of Tenryu-ji in Arashiyama. Wings kept from a Meiji-era villa stand alongside modern ones, so the building your room is in changes what the room is like. The garden makes use of the riverside setting.
デュシタニ京都
A hotel in the temple town in front of Nishi Honganji, the first Dusit Thani in Japan, opened in September 2023. It is about twelve minutes on foot from the central exit of JR Kyoto Station, with Nishi Honganji and Higashi Honganji within walking distance. It holds four stars in the Forbes Travel Guide 2026 and one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, and has several restaurants including a Thai restaurant.
パーク ハイアット 京都
A low-rise city hotel on the slope of Ninenzaka, with the Yasaka Pagoda close enough to fill a window. It keeps its room count down and its height in line with the streets of Higashiyama around it.
バンヤンツリー・東山 京都
A hotel at Seikanji Ryozen-cho in Higashiyama, opened in summer 2024 as Banyan Tree’s first property in Japan, about 20 minutes by car from JR Kyoto Station. It stands at the foot of the Higashiyama hills, close to Kodai-ji and Kiyomizu-dera, and holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. The rooms are set along the slope, and there is a spa. A taxi is the easiest way from Kyoto Station.
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柊家
A ryokan on Fuyacho street, in business since the end of the Edo period. Many writers stayed here, Kawabata Yasunari among them. The rooms divide between the sukiya architecture of the main house and a newer wing with modern fittings.
フォーシーズンズホテル京都
Next to Myoho-in in Higashiyama, with Shakusuien — a pond garden said to be more than eight hundred years old — inside the grounds. The guest wings are arranged around it, so the water is below you from indoors.
ふふ 京都
The FUFU house in Kyoto, on the approach to Nanzen-ji, with a hot spring bath in every room. Temples and old villa grounds surround it, and it sounds nothing like the middle of the city.
星のや京都
A ryokan on the water along the Oi river in Arashiyama, reached by the hotel’s own boat from the landing at Togetsukyo. There is no road to it, which makes the arrival itself part of the stay.
ホテル ザ セレスティン京都祇園
A hotel on Yasaka-dori in Gion. It is a ten-minute walk from Gion-Shijo on the Keihan line and twelve minutes from Kyoto-Kawaramachi on the Hankyu line, with a free shuttle bus from Kyoto Station of about ten minutes. It has a large communal bath. The Yasaka Pagoda and Kiyomizu-dera are within walking distance, and it holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection.
ROKU KYOTO
A low-rise resort at the foot of the Takagamine hills, next to the Shozan gardens. It has a communal bath fed by a natural hot spring and an outdoor pool facing the garden. Being out of the city, it is quiet in a way the centre is not.
インターコンチネンタルホテル大阪
A hotel next to Grand Front Osaka in Umeda, about five minutes on foot from JR Osaka Station and the Hankyu, Hanshin and Midosuji-line Umeda stations. Guests can use the pool, large bath, sauna and fitness room. Umeda’s shopping is within walking distance. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, has several restaurants and a bar, and Kansai Airport is easy to reach by JR or limousine bus.
ウォルドーフ・アストリア大阪
The brand’s first hotel in Japan, on the upper floors of the Umekita development. It faces the park created in the redevelopment north of Grand Front Osaka, so there is greenery below you in the middle of Umeda.
コンラッド大阪
On the upper floors of Nakanoshima Festival Tower West, with the rooms at around the fortieth floor. The view opens north towards Umeda and south across the rest of the city.
ザ・リッツ・カールトン大阪
Opened in Nishi-Umeda in 1997, the first of the international luxury houses in the Kansai region. The eighteenth-century English interiors run through the whole building, which sets it apart from the modern hotels that opened recently.
W大阪
The first W in Japan, on Midosuji, the avenue that runs through the middle of Osaka. Tadao Ando designed the exterior as a black rectangular block; inside, the hotel turns the other way and uses colour and light hard. It points somewhere different from the other luxury hotels in this book.
パティーナ大阪
A hotel at Bamba-cho, southwest of Osaka Castle Park, the first Patina hotel in Japan from Capella Hotel Group. It is about ten minutes on foot from Morinomiya and about eight from Tanimachi 4-chome on the Osaka Metro, close to the castle’s outer moat. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection and has restaurants and a spa. Osaka Castle Park and the Naniwa Palace site are within walking distance.
フォーシーズンズホテル大阪
On the upper floors of a mixed-use building in Dojima, the brand's first property in the Kansai region. It holds both modern floors and a "Garden Floor" done in tatami and shoji.
JWマリオット・ホテル奈良
A hotel on Sanjo Oji in Nara, the first JW Marriott in Japan. It is about ten minutes on foot from Shin-Omiya Station on the Kintetsu Nara Line, and well placed for driving to the Heijo Palace site and Nara Park. It holds four stars in the Forbes Travel Guide 2026 and one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, and has a Japanese garden and a tea room.
紫翠 ラグジュアリーコレクションホテル 奈良
A hotel on Noboriji at the western edge of Nara Park, on the site of the former governor’s residence. It is a three-minute walk from the Kencho-higashi bus stop (by bus from JR Nara Station) and 15 minutes on foot from Kintetsu Nara Station. Kofukuji and Todaiji are within walking distance. The building takes its design from Japanese architecture and looks out on the green of Nara Park. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection.
ふふ 奈良
Beside Nara Park, near the old Daijo-in garden. A low building that Kengo Kuma had a hand in designing, with a hot spring bath in every room. One of the few places of this kind in Nara.
SIMOSE ART GARDEN VILLA
A museum and villas in one, on the coast at Otake, Hiroshima, about ten minutes by car from JR Kuba Station, with a transfer by reservation. The villas, designed by the architect Shigeru Ban, line the Seto Inland Sea, each with a different design. Guests can use the museum. Miyajima is reached by car and ferry. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection.
Azumi Setoda
An inn at Setoda on Ikuchijima, on the Shimanami Kaido, in the converted Horiuchi residence of a wealthy merchant, built about 140 years ago. It is two minutes on foot from Setoda Port and about 60 minutes by car from Hiroshima Airport. Kosanji and the Hirayama Ikuo Museum of Art are within walking distance, and it makes a base for cycling. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, runs a public bathhouse across the street, and boats to the islands of the Inland Sea leave from the port.
Ryokan 尾道西山
An inn at Sannami-cho in Onomichi, about ten minutes by car from JR Onomichi Station and about five minutes from Higashi-Onomichi Station. Onomichi is a port town of slopes and lanes, a base for Senko-ji and the Shimanami Kaido. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, keeps its room count small and looks out over the sea and islands of the Seto Inland Sea. Onomichi is also known as a setting for films and anime.
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別邸 音信
A ryokan at Nagato-Yumoto Onsen, with a free transfer (by reservation) from JR Nagato-Yumoto Station. It stands on the Otozure River and combines the feel of an old bathing inn with modern facilities. Nagato-Yumoto is said to be the oldest hot-spring town in Yamaguchi, and the inn holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. It has several baths, and the riverside promenade is easy to walk.
直島旅館ろ霞
A ryokan in the Honmura district of Naoshima, reached by bus from Miyanoura port, with the Art House Project and ANDO MUSEUM within walking distance. Naoshima is one of the venues of the Setouchi Triennale, and the Chichu Art Museum and Benesse House Museum are reached by bus. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection and keeps its room count small. Getting around the island is mainly by bus and bicycle.
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せとうちリトリート 青凪
An auberge of seven rooms, converted from a museum Tadao Ando designed. The architecture — concrete and reflecting pools — is the subject of the stay.
旅亭 半水盧
An inn of separate villas at Unzen Onsen, with 14 sukiya-style villas on about 5,000 tsubo, each with its own garden. It is about 90 minutes by bus or 55 minutes by taxi from JR Isahaya Station. Unzen was the first area in Japan to be designated a national park and is known for its steaming jigoku. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection and has a hot-spring bath; Unzen’s walking trails are a short walk away.
五島リトリート ray by 温故知新
An inn at Kamisakiyama-machi on Fukue Island in the Goto Islands, about ten minutes by car from Fukue (Goto Tsubaki) Airport. Goto’s churches are part of a World Cultural Heritage site, and the islands are a landscape of coastline and hills. Run by Onko Chishin, it holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, keeps its room count small and serves food made with Goto ingredients. Getting around is mainly by car, and ferries run from Fukue to the other islands.
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TAYUTA
An inn at Aitsu in Matsushima-machi, Kami-Amakusa, reached from Misumi across the Five Bridges of Amakusa, a chain of islands joined by bridges. It lies between the Ariake and Yatsushiro seas, and the area is known as a base for dolphin watching. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, keeps its room count small and stands on grounds facing the sea. Amakusa’s churches are known as part of Japan’s hidden Christian heritage.
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ANAインターコンチネンタル別府リゾート&スパ
A resort at Kannawa in Beppu, about 20 minutes by car from Beppu Station and about 50 minutes from Oita Airport, with a transfer by reservation. It has a hot spring and a spa, in Kannawa, the steaming district of Beppu’s jigoku. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, has several restaurants and looks out over Beppu Bay.
由布院 玉の湯
A ryokan standing in about 10,000 square metres of coppice woodland in the Kawakami area of Yufuin. It began in 1953 as a retreat for a Zen temple and became an inn while keeping those buildings. There are 16 rooms, each with its own garden and a cypress indoor bath fed by the same spring as the public bath. The water is a simple hot spring, weakly alkaline at pH 8.2 and clear. The public bath has both an indoor and an open-air bath on the men’s and the women’s side, and Mount Yufu is in view from the open-air one. About three minutes by car from JR Yufuin Station, and within walking distance of Lake Kinrin and the Yunotsubo shopping street. One Key in the 2026 Michelin selection.
sankara hotel & spa 屋久島
An auberge in the Mugio district of Yakushima, about 40 minutes by car from Yakushima Airport and 25 minutes from Anbo Port. It is on the southeast of the island and makes a base for the cedar forests and Yakusugi Land. Part of Yakushima is a World Natural Heritage site. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection and has a restaurant and a spa; Shiratani Unsuikyo and Ohko Falls are reachable by car.
妙見石原荘
A hot-spring ryokan on the Amori River in Kirishima, with rooms spread over grounds of about 10,000 tsubo. It is about 15 minutes by car from Hayato Station on the Nippo Line and about 20 minutes from Kagoshima Airport. It faces a river flowing down from the Kirishima mountains and has an open-air bath on the riverbank. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection.
THE HIRAMATSU 宜野座
A resort built around its food, on high ground at Ginoza on the east coast of Okinawa's main island — the opposite side from where the resorts cluster on the west coast, with little built up around it. Every room has a pool.
ワンスイート ザ・グランド
An inn on Kouri Island where every room has an ocean view, about 100 minutes by car from Naha Airport and connected to the main island by the Kouri Bridge. The island’s beaches are about ten minutes by car. The stay is built around its cuisine, and it holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection. It keeps its room count small. Kouri Island is known for the view of its bridge and the colour of its sea.
ザ・リッツ・カールトン沖縄
On a hillside at Kise in Nago, with the guest wings gathered around a body of water that recalls the moat of a castle. It is not on the beach; a shuttle takes you to the private one. A golf course sits next door.
星のや沖縄
On the coast at Yomitan, ringed by a wall built in the manner of the gusuku stonework that enclosed Okinawan villages. Every room faces the sea and holds a doma — a floored space that sits half outdoors.
百名伽藍
An inn facing Hyakuna Beach at Tamagusuku in Nanjo, in the south of Okinawa's main island. The building follows the rocky shoreline, so each room looks out on a different view. Most rooms are the 14 Executive Suites with balconies (68 to 85 sqm); there are also the special rooms Hakuin on the fourth floor and Tansui and Sengai on the first floor, and the Garan Annex on its own grounds. Guests must be ten or older.
ジバナ宮古島
An inn in the Ikemasoe district of Irabu Island, connected to Miyakojima by the Irabu Bridge and reachable by car from Miyako Airport. It faces the East China Sea, with Shimoji Island’s 17END and Toguchi Beach an easy drive away. It holds one Michelin Key in the 2026 selection, keeps its room count small and looks out over the sea.
星のや竹富島
Built to the rules of the village on Taketomi Island: single-storey rooms behind gukku stone walls, along lanes of white sand, with the rooflines held down to match the island. There is no traffic light on Taketomi, and no convenience store.
15 more 1-Key properties are listed on the Japanese version of this page.