I first met Manpei Tsurubayashi, owner, designer, and craftsman of the omnidirectional speaker brand Listude, back in 2018 when I interviewed him for a Wallpaper* Trip story on the city of Nara. He and his wife, Anna Hasegawa, had converted a large sushi restaurant on the outskirts of the city with a listening and event space on the upper floors and a workshop on the ground floor, where Tsurubayashi was building his speakers.

The brand, founded in 2007, was originally called Sonihouse, but changed to Listude (a portmanteau of listen and attitude) in 2021. In 2025, after three years of planning and building, the company moved to a private enclave nestled among tall red pines in Yamanashi. The purpose-built concert-hall-workshop-listening studio and living areas were designed by the couple’s longtime friend Yoshiaki Nagasaka of Hitotomori Architects.

‘I had been delivering speakers to musicians, such as Yuni Mori and Gen Tanabe, and local cafés and restaurants in the area for some time, and really felt there was a good community of musicians, artists and people making great food and wine,’ Tsurubayashi explains as his reason for deciding to move shop from Nara to the small city of Hokuto in Yamanashi. His speakers seem to connect like-minded people, be it musical artists like Mori, or Eishi Okamoto from Beau Paysage winery.

When a local real estate agent showed him the roughly 1,000 sq m plot in 2022, Tsurubayashi decided on the spot that this would be the new home, not just of Listude, but also for his family of four. ‘The site slopes gently, and I had this early vision of using this natural slope to make an outdoor stage for concerts,’ he reminisces. Tsurubayashi also knew he wanted the project to include a large concert hall, outdoor stage and listening room, as well as a production area for his product.

Nagasaka managed to fit all of this into a simple rectangular volume. Two levels are split in the middle by an opening that leads to an outdoor stage with simple bench seating in the adjacent woods. The front part of the building houses the production workshop and offices on the ground floor. A spiral staircase outside leads up to the listening room with its large picture window looking out onto the nearby forest. At the back are the family’s private living quarters.

The entire rear of the building forms a double-height concert hall, open to the forest on two sides. Six Scenery speakers by Listude hang from the ceiling, with wall-mounted sound panels made by Tsurubayashi himself using thick curtain fabric and wooden frames. ‘It’s very hard to find good sound panels in the exact sizes I wanted. And as I studied art, I am pretty good at building canvases,’ he says.

Tsurubayashi hired acoustic specialist Hiroshi Suzuki to reduce electro-magnetic noise in both the sound system in the concert hall and the listening room using two separate circuits; one for machinery, office and living use and the other for the audio equipment in the listening room and concert hall.

Listude has already tested the system with concerts, both inside and outside. The sound, as expected, is crisp and clear like the forest that surrounds the new home of this innovative Japanese speaker brand.

listude.jp

hitotomori.net

Listude’s Scenery series of speakers

A simple, minimalist enclosure surrounds this Osaka house, carefully concealing the richness that unfolds within the new-build home, designed by Apollo Architects & Associates. The project, a family residence set in a sleepy neighbourhood of the Honshu port city, is titled Moment – and explores moments of everyday spatial drama subtly, as befits the Japanese architecture tradition.

Tour this contemporary Osaka house

The clean, blind wall that surrounds the residence allows one of its key architectural features – its timber-lined, 1.8m-deep eaves – to be seen from the outside, hinting that there's more than meets the eye to this seemingly modest Osaka house. Stepping through the garden gates from the street, visitors cross a generous terrace and garden to approach the main home's glazed volume, topped by the slender feature roof.

The architects worked on the home's volume as if it were a gallery – crafting the entrance and the arrangement of lacquerware, woodwork, bonsai, and decorative artworks in a way that nods to an exhibition space. The living areas' double-height interiors also afford a luxurious generosity of space, underlining the same approach.

A central staircase, placed within sight of the main entrance, punctuates the home's more social areas and leads upstairs to a mezzanine library and study area. Beyond it, children's rooms and a guest room are tucked away towards the opposite end of the plan. The primary bedroom is placed on the ground floor, right underneath.

The home was designed to feel just as impressive at night as it is during the day, the architects say: 'At night, carefully arranged lighting accentuates the walnut ceiling boards on the underside of the roof eaves, further articulating the home’s nuanced richness.'

They add: 'A dry garden planted with vintage olive trees and other greenery lines the perimeter of the residence, integrating harmoniously with the modern architecture. Over time, as additional plantings, outdoor furniture, and artwork are gradually introduced, the residence is intended to age gracefully and continue evolving with its inhabitants and their lifestyles.'

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Marc Newson, Philippe Starck, Tom Dixon. These are designers whose names have appeared on furniture brands and countless design media. However, it is no exaggeration to say that Japanese design entrepreneur Teruo Kurosaki, who passed away on 23 March 2026, was the one who gave them a springboard to success on the world stage. He was the founder of the Tokyo-based furniture company Idée. His passing was accompanied by deep sadness among the many designers who’d worked with him. Here, we pay homage to the man who became the custodian of aspiring designers.

Teruo Kurosaki and Idée

Idée was founded in 1982 as a company to create original furniture working with designers from Japan and abroad, aiming to offer a lifestyle rooted in aesthetic sensibility. Over time, the company expanded beyond furniture making to become a lifestyle brand offering a wide range of products – from textiles and plants to music and food – with a mission to encourage adventures into personal interests.

Founder Kurosaki was born in 1949. In the early 1980s, while visiting his younger brother who was studying in London, he encountered antiques. As he looked at Western antiques, he became intrigued by the ideas behind objects that humans had created, wondering, 'Who made these, and with what intentions? What situation were they used in?'

This led him to begin importing Western antiques into Japan, to celebrate the intrinsic value of objects that had been passed down for generations. Kurosaki had an acute eye for aesthetics; he was probably one of the first to introduce midcentury French designer Jean Prouvé’s work to Japan in the 1980s (Prouvé specialist Galerie Patrick Seguin only opened in 1989). Jasper Morrison recalls, ‘I went to Tokyo and I remember meeting [Kurosaki] there for the first time and being impressed that he was showing products of Jean Prouvé and Serge Mouille.’

Idée was founded not only to deal in vintage items, but also with the aspiration to create living environments that would inspire Japanese people to aspire to such a lifestyle, leading to the launch of Idée’s original furniture production. For this reason, Idée had its own workshop from the start, handling production from woodworking and metalwork to electrical work. Its staff formed a community much like the guild craftsmen of the Middle Ages. Its initial furniture was based on European furniture – Thonet’s bentwood chairs or Eileen Gray’s art deco screens.

Marc Newsom and Idée

A decisive moment for Idée, and probably for the design scene in Japan, came in the mid-1980s, when Australian designer Marc Newson, fresh out of art school in Sydney came across Kurosaki. ‘I first met Teruo Kurosaki quite serendipitously. It was the result of an extraordinary (quite literal) crossing of paths in Tokyo in the 1980s when I was in my early twenties. Kurosaki fast became a wonderfully generous mentor, and my very first patron (my only, in truth). A critical part of this support came from how he set me up at Idée. Despite sharing the space with Idée’s employees, I was encouraged to work on and develop my own designs,’ Newson tells Wallpaper*.

At the time, there were many builders’ stores in Tokyo that dealt with lamp fittings, which excited Newson, who gathered components from these suppliers and assembled lighting fixtures to create the ‘Super Guppy’ lamp in Idée’s workshop.

Probably the most recognised of Newson’s designs made at Idée is the ‘Embryo’ chair. Kurosaki asked for the help of a surfing wetsuit manufacturer in Zushi, Kanagawa, using neoprene to realise the distinctive form of Newson’s design.

‘Kurosaki also helped me organise my living accommodation, at times at apartments he owned. His support was sincere and all-encompassing – that of a true friend – affording me the time and space to progress in the field. With him, Tokyo was a city where the future somehow felt present and vital. He was a man who took great pleasure in championing other designers and loved forging connections between those he admired. For me, Kurosaki simply embodied Japan,’ continues Newson.

Making Aoyama, Tokyo, the epicentre of design

‘I started a furniture business without any furniture background. So I didn’t know the rules or the business model in making furniture,’ Kurosaki once said. Maybe because of this, he was willing to risk producing adventurous designs, while other furniture company owners with history might think harder about the practicality and viability of the design.

When Idée opened a four-storey shop in Aoyama in 1995, the neighborhood began to transform into a 'Design Block'. Cassina also opened a showroom in the district in 1997, and other international furniture brands followed suit, both in Aoyama and Omotesando.

After seeing London Designers Block, Kurosaki envisioned Tokyo becoming a city of design. In 1999, he organised Tokyo Designers Block, a series of simultaneous design exhibitions held at local shops. Involving embassies from various countries, this event – which continued until 2005 – introduced to the city the work of designers from around the world, including Sweden, the UK, and France, and was likely the first initiative to proclaim to the world that Tokyo was an epicentre of design.

Kurosaki himself later exited Idée, which is now under the umbrella of Ryohinkeikaku, the firm behind Muji. However, rather than limiting itself to furniture, the Idée shop – which, as early as 1997, featured curated books, music, a florist, and even a coffee stand – significantly broadened the definition of design, and it was precisely this that allowed it to touch the lives of so many people. It could be said to have pioneered the trend, now commonplace at Milan Design Week, of technology and hospitality companies exhibiting alongside furniture brands.

Kyoto is not short of beautiful hotels, but Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto has one thing most of them do not: an 800-year-old pond garden at its centre. At the foot of Higashiyama Mountain in the ancient capital’s temple district, the hotel feels like an idyllic paradise arranged around Shakusui-en: a heritage garden believed to date back to the late Heian period. With 180 rooms, including 13 suites and 57 residential suites, two restaurants, two lounges, a spa and wellness centre and a leather-clad Hermès rickshaw in its lobby, this is a property that makes staying in feel as compelling as going out.

Wallpaper* checks in at Four Seasons Kyoto

What’s on your doorstep?

Higashiyama might be Kyoto at its most atmospheric: narrow alleyways, traditional machiya houses, temples, shrines, small artisanal shops. Kyoto Station is about ten minutes away, making arrivals easy, while the surrounding district places guests close to some of the city’s most rewarding cultural sites, such as the Kyoto National Museum or Kiomizu-dera temple. That said, the hotel has a habit of slowing plans down. Between its garden, tea house, terrace overlooking the koi pond, and weekly maiko (traditional apprentice geisha) live performances in its lobby, leaving requires a surprising amount of discipline.

Who is behind the design?

Kyoto’s Four Seasons Hotel is an exercise in understated luxury, steeped in tradition yet thoroughly modern. The architectural blueprint was developed by Japanese studio Kume Sekkei, while global interior design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) led the interiors for the guest rooms, spa and public spaces.

The sense of arrival is particularly strong: the porte-cochère, designed by Jun Mitsui & Associates, takes its cue from traditional Japanese umbrellas, with washi paper and glass used to soften the threshold between city and hotel. Indoors, HBA overlooked nothing, with grandeur in spades: quadruple-height ceilings in the dining room; a leather-clad Hermès rickshaw in a hallway corner; and cushions woven by Hosoo, a Kyoto atelier that dates from 1688.

Among the hotel’s expansive art collection, highlights include Seven Stones by Tokyo-born sculptor Todo, made using rocks collected from the hotel’s pond garden, and Zen by Ofune Makoto, a large blue work inspired by the temple district, shifting seasons and Kyoto’s meditative calm.

The room to book

Rooms and suites are designed around the Japanese idea of kutsurogi, or relaxation, and the best of them look directly onto either the city or the garden. Even the more contemporary spaces feel rooted in Kyoto through their use of washi-paper lighting, soft screens, warm wood and calm, restrained palettes. The garden-facing rooms are the ones to book, if possible: waking up to Shakusui-en is an experience in itself. The residential suites are a particular hot commodity for longer stays or families, offering the scale and privacy of an apartment with the service of a hotel.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Designed by Yamamoto Atelier, the teahouse in the garden, also known as Fuju Lounge, is used for meditative tea ceremonies by day, but come twilight, it turns into a swanky bar serving fine sakes – including one produced exclusively for Four Seasons – and premium Champagne. The perfect pre-prandial stopover before heading to Sushi Ginza Onodera Sushi, the 10-seater restaurant that serves Edo- (Tokyo-) style sushi from chef Takuya Kubo, or Kyoto Grill, the brasserie-style restaurant serving breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner, with charcoal-grilled meats, dry-aged cuts and seafood among its signatures

Where to switch off

The spa is one of the largest wellness areas in Kyoto, where facilities include a 20-metre indoor pool, Japanese ofuro baths, sauna, steam room, whirlpool, relaxation lounge and 24-hour fitness centre, alongside seven treatment rooms. Treatments draw on Kyoto traditions and seasonal ingredients. The Heian Tradition ceremony uses matcha, bamboo charcoal salt, camellia oil, rice milk, honey compresses, a sake bath and hot stones, while the Zen Ceremony focuses on full-body massage, ginger-infused hot towels and, in the longer version, another sake bath. There are also Sodashi treatments for jet lag and detox, alongside facials using Kotoshina, Biologique Recherche and Tatcha.

The verdict

Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto works because it understands that the garden is not a backdrop, but the point. The rooms are elegant, the food is strong, the spa is genuinely worth setting time aside for, and the location places guests inside one of Kyoto’s most atmospheric districts. But it is Shakusui-en that gives the hotel its character: koi in the pond, seasonal blossom, a glass bridge over ancient stonework, a tea house looking back towards the 12th century. Kyoto's beauty and history is unusually easy to take all at once.

Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto is located at 445-3 Myohoin Maekawacho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0932, Japan

Fans of the eco-conscious 1 Hotel chain will now have yet another reason for visiting Japan, with the latest addition to the brand’s portfolio in Tokyo’s Akasaka neighbourhood. Featuring 211 rooms, including 24 suites and three penthouse suites, a gorgeous pool and hammam, a dedicated gin bar and delicious Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, guests might find it hard to actually leave and go explore the city, though.

Wallpaper* checks in at 1 Hotel Tokyo, Japan

What's on your doorstep?

Located right in the heart of the city, 1 Hotel is within walking distance of fun-loving Roppongi, shopping in Azabudai Hills and a 20min stroll to the Imperial Palace Gardens, but with the pool, Hamman, excellent coffee at the Neighbors coffee shop adjacent to the reception, you might find it hard to leave the hotel altogether.

Who is behind the design?

Housed on the upper floors of the Akasaka Trust Tower, the interior design has been put in the very capable hands of Jun Aizaki of Crème. A stunning stone wall at the entrance on the ground floor sets the tone of the natural and eclectic palette of materials used throughout the space; distinctly Japanese Oya stone, reclaimed wood, handblown glass and hemp cord lamps. With a carefully selected variety of lamps and bespoke furniture, the design never gets repetitive, and there is a clear reference to the local setting (moss, bonsai, earthen walls) without the design being overly Japanese.

The room to book

Even the standard rooms feel spacious and inviting with ample use of subdued colours, wooden furniture and carefully selected lighting fixtures. The rawness of, for instance, the rough edges of the bathroom vanity, marble counters, reclaimed wood furniture and wood panelling adds an honesty to the sophisticated design that renders the rooms very cosy.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The hotel’s main dining room, NiNi (a name meaning ‘two-two’ in Japanese), takes its inspiration from Mediterranean cuisine, while making abundant use of local Japanese ingredients, and is headed by Nikko Policarpio. Dinner offers fresh seafood dishes such as botan shrimp carpaccio, hamaguri clams (served with cucumber mignonette, yuzu kosho and olive oil Caviar), roasted scallops, homemade pasta (the zucchini ravioli being our favourite), simple charcoal grilled meat dishes (including chicken confit from Iwate Prefecture, pork chop from Yamagata and Tajima Wagyu) and a selection of vegetable side dishes.

Breakfast is the perfect blend of made-to-order mains (perfectly cooked omelettes, mushroom tartines, waffles, French toast, etc) and a carefully selected, but not overly complicated buffet.

Where to switch off

Guests can indulge in various treatments and massages (including hard-to-find in Tokyo couples massages) at The Bamford Wellness Spa, and are also given free use of the small but gorgeous pool and adjacent Hamman steam rooms.

The verdict

We love the stylish, honest and natural design throughout the hotel. Dining at NiNi is a treat, and with a well-selected wine and impressive non-alcoholic selection too, a new favourite addition to Tokyo’s vibrant dining scene. The rooms come with a well-stocked minibar and the pool and Hammam onsite, and delicious coffee at the hotel’s own coffee bar Neighbors, makes it hard to actually leave the hotel.

Book 1 Hotel Tokyo, 2 Chome-17-22 Akasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan. Rates from $550

Lest you forget, Toyota’s origins lie in industrial weaving and textile manufacture. The company was built around Sakichi Toyoda’s automatic loom, invented in 1924, and it wasn’t until 1933 that the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works set up an automobile division. Toyota is now the largest auto maker in the world, a position it has held since 2008, innovating in both automotive and production technology.

In recent years, despite its early dominance of the hybrid car market (Toyota had sold over 15 million hybrids by the turn of this decade), the company has been a little lacklustre when it comes to committing to EVs.

Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped turning out conceptual mobility visions, with urban areas a special consideration. From the tiny Toyota Land Hopper revealed at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show to the playful Kids Mobi concept shown two years later, Toyota seems committed to re-shaping the world of personal transport.

So where better to explore the interaction between next-generation mobility and people than in your own test laboratory? Woven City is a purpose-designed community in Japan’s Shizuoka prefecture, located close to Mount Fuji.

Described by the company as ‘a real-world test course for mobility innovation’, the ultimate aim is for this modest complex to serve as a place where Toyota’s experiments in mobility, autonomy, robotics and AI can be tried out in a full scale ‘live’ environment.

Comprising of clusters of offices and apartments on a triangular plot, Woven City is now in its initial phase. The idea for the complex stems from Toyota’s planned transition from a conventional car maker into an all-encompassing mobility company, a move it announced back in 2018.

The Woven City complex was unveiled at CES Las Vegas in 2020. The site was once home to the Toyota Motor East Japan Higashi-Fuji plant, once home to production of the first Toyota Century, the company’s enduring flagship (soon to become a more standalone entity). Today, it is overseen by a dedicated sub-company, Woven by Toyota.

Residents will be known as Weavers, while workers from Toyota and partner companies, startups and entrepreneurs will live and work alongside each other, part of a process known as kakezan, or multiplication, here meaning ‘the successful collaboration of diverse industries and individuals.’

Phase one began last Autumn, with 50 households currently occupied out of a total of around 300. Next up is the Inventor Garage, a hub/incubator space that Toyota hopes will be a cradle for next generation products, services and collaborations.

Right now, you can ride on the e-Palette autonomous micro bus,or see the diminutive Guide Mobi shifting goods. This ‘medium-sized, mid-speed autonomous transport robot’ is the modern equivalent of a mule, with the idea that autonomous systems will eventually co-exist with conventional road traffic and pedestrians.

Of course, the name Woven City is also closely linked to Toyota’s heritage - the company maintains working looms in the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology.

As the population of Woven City increases, Toyota hopes to catalyse innovation across four key areas - People, Goods, Information and Energy – with formal and informal partnerships taking technology into new and innovative directions.

Ultimately, Woven City will be the contemporary equivalent of a massive loom, knitting together various strands of today’s technological innovations into a cohesive whole.

Woven.Toyota

Late Japanese film director Yasujirō Ozu was a master at bringing the heart of Japanese life to the screen. His films – Late Spring (1949), Tokyo Story (1953), An Autumn Afternoon (1962) – were often reflections of his own life and daily surroundings. Now, visitors can step into his cinematic universe by staying in the filmmaker’s former home.

A stay at the house that inspired a master of Japanese cinema

Located north of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture – one of Japan’s most popular tourist destinations – the house sits in Kita-Kamakura, along the road leading to Jōchi-ji Temple. A tunnel carved into the mountainside, just wide enough for a person to pass through, leads to the other side of the hill. Following the road uphill, visitors arrive at the 100-year-old house where Ozu lived with his mother from 1952 until his death in 1963.

After Ozu’s passing, the Ogura family – the landowners who lived at the foot of the hill and had been neighbours of the director – inherited the property. Wanting to allow the public to experience Ozu’s world, the family preserved many of the original fittings and renovated the house while retaining as much of its atmosphere as possible. In June, they registered the property on Airbnb as a guesthouse where visitors can stay overnight.

Set on a sloping plot of approximately 900 square metres, the property comprises a 120-square-metre main house built from hinoki cypress and cedar, topped by a curved tiled roof, alongside an 80-square-metre annex. Both structures are elevated on stone footings and constructed using traditional Japanese carpentry techniques. The renovation was carried out by a carpenter specialising in the restoration of temples and shrines in the neighbouring Kamakura area.

Upon opening the sliding entrance door, guests are immediately greeted by a tatami-mat tea room – an arrangement rarely found in traditional Japanese houses. Typically, an entrance opens into a foyer, leading towards the living room where the family spends most of its time, while the tea room is usually located in the deepest part of the house.

‘It seems that Ozu, as a film director, enjoyed welcoming many colleagues and guests to this house, first offering them tea as a gesture of hospitality,’ says Yoshiki Ogura of Hinomoto Japan, the company responsible for managing the Ozu Residence. The tea room functioned almost like an antechamber.

Beyond it, a cedar-clad wooden walkway runs like a cloister around the living room. This was the space where Ozu spent most of his time. Typical of traditional Japanese houses, the structure relies on a framework of columns and beams rather than solid exterior walls and is enclosed by sliding glass doors. With its generous openings, the living room enjoys sweeping views of the surrounding mountain ridges.

‘Ozu used to work on his films here while gazing at the scenery outside,’ says Ogura. It is said that he often opened the glass doors and spent time relaxing with his mother on the veranda, enjoying the view.

The plastered walls and many other finishes remain from the original period. While the tatami mats and shoji screens had deteriorated significantly and required replacement by craftsmen from Kamakura, much of the house retains its original character. The sofa and zelkova wood table in the living room are contemporary pieces crafted by Hinomoto Japan.

A wooden-floored corridor winds around the living room, revealing thoughtful details such as a small window in the partition wall that offers glimpses into the central space. The main house is organised around the living room, with two bedrooms – renovated to suit modern standards of comfort while retaining their original functions – alongside a kitchen, bathroom and toilet. This arrangement allows guests to experience the house much as Ozu once did.

The kitchen has been fitted with modern cooking equipment and updated to accommodate a wide range of culinary needs. Guests can either prepare meals themselves using local ingredients or arrange for a private chef to cook on the premises.

Traces of traditional Japanese architectural design remain throughout, including shitajii-mado – slatted windows commonly found in tea rooms that allow soft light to enter – and lantern-like pendant lights suspended beneath the eaves. Ozu was known for insisting on authenticity in his films, from the tableware and furniture to the paintings on the walls. Even the tonkatsu featured in his films was reportedly sourced from his favourite restaurant in Tokyo. As a result, his home reflected his personal tastes. He occasionally used vases and tableware from the house as props, and some of these objects still remain today.

Meanwhile, a new open-air rotenburo bath made entirely of cypress has been built on a slight rise a short distance from the main house, accessible via a series of stepping stones. Opening the sliding doors reveals panoramic mountain views. Surrounded by forest, with only the Ogura family living below, guests can leave the doors open at night and gaze at the moon while soaking in the bath.

With squirrels and other wildlife as neighbours, the property offers a rare sense of immersion in nature. It is a special place where visitors can feel as though they have stepped back in time to the era when Ozu himself lived here.

airbnb.co.uk

Light filters softly into the stone entrance of an old Kyoto townhouse where Michael Anastassiades stands in front of his new creation: five thin glass tubes rise from a narrow wood base, their illuminated filaments forming a circle – just like the sun above the horizon.

'Light is the base of everything,' says Anastassiades, the Cypriot-born, London-based designer. 'Everything starts from a glow. It’s the first thing I think about before I make or design. It's always the starting point.'

This philosophy shapes 'From Warm Yellow to Saturated Red', Anastassiades’ exhibition at Taka Ishii Gallery Kyoto, where his new works – lighting, sculptural objects, seating – are harmonised with the stillness of a 150-year-old machiya, or townhouse.

Sunset – the fleeting intensity of its scattered light, the precision of its deepening shades – is the creative inspiration behind his first solo exhibition in Kyoto. Anastassiades’ objects glow quietly in a play of light and shadows inside the traditional interior – among tatami-lined spaces, paper screens, textured soil walls, high timber rafters, an old storehouse and courtyard gardens framing patches of sky.

Elemental, light and pared-back in form, his works balance precision with poetry, through a mix of cultural influences – Japanese bamboo, Greek island stones, Icelandic fishing knots, Egyptian stools, Cypriot textiles.

A key protagonist in the exhibition is his series of ‘Sunset’ lamps. The first, with a fully lit ‘sun’, is positioned in the stone entrance – and as the exhibition deepens inside the machiya, the 'sun' in each work is positioned a little lower, mirroring its descent into the horizon.

Dynamic vertical lights are also crafted from Japanese bamboo, knotted with linen thread used by Icelandic fishermen; alongside two triangular wood stools with clean curves and pointed edges; and hand-patinated bronze objects, from thorns to stones, laid on handwoven textiles by Cypriot artist Joanna Louca.

The exhibition marks something of a new creative chapter for Anastassiades, opening shortly after he announced plans to close his eponymous lighting brand after nearly 20 years, to focus more deeply on creative projects.

Here, Anastassiades shares his thoughts on sunsets and stones, fishermen’s knots and filters, while taking Wallpaper* on a private tour of his new exhibition.

Michael Anastassiades in Kyoto: interview

W*: Tell me about the sun.

MA: This exhibition is about a very specific time of day, when the sun is setting. Interesting, intense moments. I’ve made a series of sunset light pieces. This one at the entrance is a whole circle of lights – and as you progress through the gallery spaces, the light goes down to the middle of the horizon, like the sun setting. The lights are super-thin – maybe 4mm with a very, very fine LED. These are one-off pieces. To me, these objects are sketches. Drawings. Improvisations.

W*: Standing inside the machiya entrance, I can see a row of stones in a tatami space. Tell me about these.

MA: I’ve always been fascinated with natural stones. These are 25 bronze casts from my collection of stones, which I’ve collected since I was a teenager. I have a huge collection of stones. These are from the Greek island of Kefalonia. I collected them when I was 20 or 21, from a cove in a special bay. I revisited that bay 30 years later – I asked a fisherman to take me to this cove. There were probably 30 different coves, but we got there – and found more stones.

W*: Why stones – and why casts?

MA: These are not the found objects: it’s the whole idea of creating something. I’m fascinated with the role of nature as a designer. They look almost perfectly spherical, like eggs. They were found that way. It’s the idea that nature is able to create this perfect shape.

W*: What about this ‘Bamboo’ light upstairs?

MA: I used Japanese bamboo and black linen thread with a knotting technique used by Icelandic fishermen, holding the metal brackets. The bulbs are the only technological bit. For my brand, I have a lamp called ‘Take’, made of bamboo. It’s interesting to see the evolution here: the other one is very much an industrial product – but this has a handmade feel. The cables on the floor are part of the piece.

W*: What inspires the verticality in your work?

MA: It is part of the language that I’ve used for a very long time. I have been completely fascinated with linear sources of light, ever since the first pieces I made commercially – the ‘Tube’ chandelier. That was very much based on the incandescent bulb. Of course, many people used this in the past, especially the famous Eileen Gray [for her] floor lamp – I was fascinated with these bulbs for a long time. And then, as soon as I started using them, they stopped making them. About 15 years down the line, I decided to make my own bulbs – so I had these made specifically.

W*: There’s such a softness in the light.

MA: The temperature, the colour – everything about it is so carefully chosen. It is not a random piece. It is very much a warm light. The glow is so fundamental, as part of the design of the fixture. It can completely transform how something is perceived.

W*: Why lights – what’s the seed of your desire to express light?

MA: I think we’re all drawn to light in some way or another. I’ve been attracted to light for a very long time. It’s part of the human instinct. From very early civilisations, people worshipped glowing things – the sun, the moon, meteorites, fire. Why did I decide to focus on light? Because I decided I needed to focus on something when I started my brand. I found myself making more and more lights and then eventually working with companies, especially Flos.

W*: In this space, the lights feel almost sacred.

MA: They are meditative objects for sure. If you put things in a certain brightness, you have to be really sensitive with how you want things to be seen. In this context, the house, it had to be this way, it could not be different. Even the choice of materials and selections – it’s all designed around these intimate spaces.

W*: Tell me about the stools.

MA: They’re made from Oregon pine – it’s the first time I’ve used this material. I made three stools before with the same scale, using basalt, so they had a very different energy. I thought wood would be more suitable for this house.

W*: Such clean curves and points. Why this shape?

MA: I’m very much inspired by Egyptian stools, where the corners are elevated, although they’re normally square. This is triangular because I wanted to make a dialogue with the two bronze ‘Thorn’ pieces, on the walls. The stools are quite welcoming, even though they have a presence that says don’t sit.

W*: And another ‘Sunset’ lamp in an alcove?

MA: Here, the sun is almost disappearing – the time between the bottom of the sun touching the horizon and the sun disappearing. All these sunsets are familiar in a sense. We have all watched so many sunsets. Somehow, you can relate to them.

W*: Tell me about the bamboo light screen in the kura storehouse.

MA: To me, it is about filter. The sensation of when something catches your eye without necessarily looking at it directly – from the tip of your eye, you catch a movement. This is what these screens are for me. They are filtering this idea, this play of light, this linear thing that we pass through. This light is part of a series of two screens, designed for this space. It just fitted.

W*: Do you see the sun as a metaphor?

MA: To me, it’s not really a metaphor: it is something that no matter how many times you see it or experience it, every time is unique. Plus it is responsible for how we experience life, the way we experience light.

W*: Was the exhibition inspired by a particular sunset moment?

MA: Not one particular sunset. You know, when you work so much, it is so rare when you can catch the light, catch the sunset. In recent years, I’ve been going to a small Greek island between Rhodes and Cyprus. Now I’m building a house to spend more time there. It’s a place where I can pause. Every evening, we go on hikes up on the rocks on the mountain, not very high – there is one spot which is an incredible place to watch the sunset.

W*: And how about your relationship with Japan?

MA: The first time I came here was 1991. I was a student at the Royal College [of Art]. I didn’t want to come as a tourist so I applied for an internship and came here in the summer, to Tokyo, to work for Toshiba. I spent three months here – it was fascinating, a very different Japan. I next came back 25 years later, with Flos.

W*: Has Japan left an imprint in you creatively?

MA: As a creative, as an artist, when you commit to something, it completely changes the result in your approach to your creative process. That level of commitment – I don’t think you can experience it in any other country.

W*: How do you feel about the light in Japan? Particularly Kyoto, where light is often filtered by paper and nature.

MA: I’m shocked at how soft the light is here at the moment. The humidity makes the light softer at this time of year. The light in the summer in Cyprus flattens everything out. In the Greek islands, it’s the same. In London too, the sun is very different. Coming here suddenly – the way you experience the sun, the light, is different.

W*: And how do you feel about your show opening now in Kyoto?

MA: This is the longest time I’ve spent in Japan. This is an important time for me. I wouldn’t have chosen a different moment. In this context especially, this is perfect.

'From Warm Yellow to Saturated Red' by Michael Anastassiades, at Taka Ishii Gallery Kyoto, until 4 July 2026

'I have a strong desire to escape from the forces of gravitation, to free myself from gravity and float free': these words shine a light on the essence of Shiro Kuramata. Playful and poetic, radical and innovative, Kuramata was a pivotal figure in 20th-century Japanese design – and continues to leave an imprint, with lingering traces of his furniture, objects and interior spaces exploring notions of materiality, lightness and perception.

Shiro Kuramata's unique vision

From iconic chairs, lighting, vases and perfume bottles to legendary bar spaces, restaurants and retail interiors, Kuramata’s singular vision shaped decades of creative output in Japan’s seminal post-war period, blending traditional Japanese aesthetic concepts with modernist expression.

Typically defined by a sense of impermanence, a playful experimentation and a dematerialisation of form – expressed in curves, geometry, colour – his work captured a precise moment in time that was never meant to last (today, 35 years after his death, very few of his interiors still exist – as he anticipated).

Acrylic resin, glass, steel mesh, aluminium: industrial material experimentation was a key thread, with Kuramata’s surreal and sculptural objects often defying spatial physicality, instead embodying a visual sense of lightness and emptiness, in his pursuit of freedom.

Or, in his own words: 'I continue to hold onto the naïve hope that only when we are freed from conventions, established concepts and ideals, and all kinds of constructs that have long been attached to this earth, will we be able to gain freedom in the true sense of the word.'

Shiro Kuramata: life in design

Born in Tokyo in 1934 as the youngest of six siblings, Kuramata’s earliest visual landscape was shaped by an upbringing in company housing at RIKEN (the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research), where his father worked.

As the Second World War unfolded, Kuramata moved between stints in bomb-blitzed Tokyo, Yokohama and rural Shizuoka Prefecture, while also discovering an early love of carpentry (his father reportedly gifted him children’s carpentry tools on his eighth birthday).

After high school, Kuramata joined the design department of a furniture factory before studying for a year at the Living Design Department of the newly created Kuwasawa Design School. A new building under construction at an intersection in Ginza then caught his eye – leading to his involvement creating interior elements for San-ai Dream Center, a progressive urban retail and leisure complex by architect Shoji Hayashi, completed in 1963.

Two years later, Kuramata, then aged 31, established his own design practice Kuramata Design Office in Tokyo – a move that catalysed the freedom for him to explore decades of radical experimentation, through furniture, objects and spaces.

Within a few years, Kuramata unveiled his Furniture with Drawers series – a layered structural composition balancing functional precision with a surrealist touch. The project, self-initiated without a client commission, was featured in a Danish magazine, marking his overseas debut. 'I am interested in furniture that is not intended to be used, but simply happens to manifest as furniture,' he said.

Key projects

Imbued with the energy of Japan's fast-paced post-war recovery, Kuramata went on to design his first architectural project in 1967: the HQ of fashion company Edward’s in Tokyo, where floor-to-ceiling light pillars consolidated the increasingly elemental role of light in his spatial vision. His iconic 1972 K-series Oba-Q Lamps followed, created using heated acrylic, draped like fabric, resulting in luminous, hovering white ghost-like forms.

It’s perhaps little surprise that Kuramata shared a deep creative synergy with fellow visionary Issey Miyake. A decades-long partnership unfolded when Kuramata designed his first retail space for Miyake inside the innovative From 1st complex in Minami-Aoyama in 1976.

A clean minimalist backdrop with playful pops of luminous fluorescent lighting, the new store not only radically disrupted conventional notions of formulaic shop interiors, it was a spatial expression of the spirit of the clothing itself, fusing purity and lightness with a timeless touch of futurism.

As Kuramata continued to design countless restaurants, bars and retail spaces, his experimentations in materials such as acrylic metal mesh deepened – reflecting his growing interest in material expressions of transparency and light, perceptions and illusions.

Shiro Kuramata chairs

It was in 1976 that Kuramata conceived The Glass Chair – with six structural plates of glass created without screws, using a newly developed UV-curing photopolymer adhesive – resulting in a chair imbued with an ethereal sense of immateriality.

One celebrated creation is How High the Moon, a chair designed in 1986 which appears to be comprised mainly of air – its clean-lined form outlined in near-invisible industrial mesh, evoking a poetic sense of weightlessness, transparency and illusion.

The Miss Blanche chair – unveiled in 1988, just three years before his death – is another masterful expression of lightness, perception and impermanence, with its clear acrylic resin form peppered with a frozen scattering of artificial red roses.

Shiro Kuramata and Memphis

Another key force for Kuramata was his creative synergy with Italian designer Ettore Sottsass. Aligned in their postmodern expressions of bold colour and geometric form, Kuramata became a founding member of Sottsass’ seminal Memphis project in 1981 – consolidating his visibility and reputation in the international design world.

Kuramata’s death in February 1991 at the age of 56 due to heart failure was as sudden as it was premature. Since then, just as he anticipated, his immaterial creative output has almost completely vanished.

Legacy

Among the few interiors by Kuramata still intact today is Comblé, a 1988 cocktail bar in Shizuoka city. Here, hidden in the first floor of an otherwise nondescript building is a time capsule of Kuramata’s designs: geometric lines, a vivid red aluminium wall panel, a curved counter in yellow fibre reinforced polymer and terrazzo flooring with light-emitting diodes.

Kuramata lovers can also make a pilgrimage to Hong Kong, where Kiyotomo Sushi Bar, completed in Tokyo in 1988, lives on at M+ Museum – after the entire structure was dismantled, shipped and reconstructed in its new home.

Meanwhile, select furniture and lighting designs continue with a limited number of manufacturers, including Cappellini, whose output includes his 1970 rotating storage unit Revolving Cabinet and the iconic Miss Blanche chair; and Vitra, which produces How High the Moon chair.

For Kuramata, his diminished material presence in the world today would most likely come as little surprise, with his creative output rooted in the fleeting, immaterial and impermanent – yet his radical imprint on the design world is here to stay.

Utsuroi. This Japanese word evokes the subtle passing of time – the changing of seasons, a shift in emotions, a transition from one state to another.

It also captures the spirit of 'Utsuroi Hymn', an exhibition shaped by an innovative collaboration between Ryosokuin, a 14th-century Zen temple in Kyoto, and Mae Engelgeer, a Dutch textile artist and designer known for her nuanced colours and poetry of form.

This is the latest in a string of Japan-based projects for Engelgeer, who relocated from Amsterdam to Kyoto in 2023 and works with makers ranging from longtime collaborator Hosoo, the kimono textile company, to furniture maker Karimoku.

For 'Utsuroi Hymn', Toryo Ito, Ryosokuin’s progressive deputy head priest, gave Engelgeer unusual freedom to access the temple’s centuries-old textile archive (filled with monk robes, materials for Buddhist rituals, gifted treasures) – and reinterpret them into contemporary artworks.

The end result is a series of objects – intuitive, subtle, nuanced – currently exhibited across the temple’s tatami spaces, alcoves and teahouse. Faded edges, inner linings, layered fragments, paper wrappings: Engelgeer focuses on the beauty of lesser-seen elements. Three hanging works – echoing traditional kakejiku scrolls – subtly layer time-etched tones into a soft geometry, lightly framed in cedar.

Capturing light on tatami are also two folding byobu screens, with collage-like layers and traces of patterns in silk and hemp, plus minimal yellow lines on a blush pink textile – an example of Engelgeer’s quiet yet connective interventions. Textiles were also cut into threads, before being woven into rug-like shapes mirroring the paper wrappings that contain the archive’s textiles.

'Traditionally, when temple textiles became damaged, they were resized and transformed into smaller utilitarian objects,' Ito tells Wallpaper*. 'In this project, however, we approached the archive artistically, allowing both preservation and new life to coexist through a series of works.'

He adds: 'A quiet sense of luxury emerges through the layering of subtle and almost imperceptible elements. There are still countless treasures sleeping quietly in Kyoto, throughout Japan, and across the world. I hope this project becomes a small stone that awakens them.'

Utsuroi Hymn is on view until 12 July 2026, Ryosokuin Zen Temple, Kyoto

Mae Engelgeer on working in Japan

For Engelgeer, Japan is a source of rich inspiration, with her work appearing in a growing number of projects – from the Dutch Pavilion at last year’s Osaka Expo to the noren entrance curtains at newly opened Capella Kyoto.

Here, Engelgeer talks to Wallpaper* about her creative journey from Amsterdam to Kyoto, the beauty of imperfection and the 'soft power' of textiles.

Wallpaper*: Why did you move to Kyoto?

Mae Engelgeer: I decided to move to Amsterdam after cycling around on a borrowed bike. The freedom, excitement and opportunity I felt made it clear I needed to be there. Then, after half my life in Amsterdam, I had the same feeling in Japan. There’s so much to discover artistically here, in terms of techniques, textiles and materials. It’s also about living at a calmer pace. I had built up a network over 10 years, travelling between Amsterdam and Kyoto, so knew this was the next step and a life-changing adventure for my family. For me, as an artist and designer, I just get this sparkling feeling here. I’m inspired and curious.

W*: Can you sum up Kyoto?

ME: Treasures – often hidden. Green – from nature to food. Time – coffee, patience, Zen.

W*: What was the seed of Utsuroi Hymn?

ME: I was first invited to Ryosokuin a few years ago. I immediately noticed its special atmosphere. Ito-san told me the temple holds a textile archive. Until then, I’d never realised that textiles were historically offered to temples because of their value and significance. What moved us both was the idea that these textiles, although incredibly beautiful, were no longer used. They were slowly ageing, almost disappearing into storage, while still carrying so much history. From there, the idea emerged to create artworks that could allow these textiles to find their way back into the temple space in a contemporary form.

W*: What was it like working with such historic textiles?

ME: When I first viewed the archive, I was beyond excited. The textiles were carefully wrapped in layers of paper, marked with handwritten Japanese text. I took time with each piece – slowly opening the packages, unfolding the fabrics, looking at both the front and back, really absorbing every detail. The richness of the patterns, the colours, the craftsmanship – everything felt incredibly refined and thoughtful.

W*: What stood out most?

ME: Their traces of time: the transparency of certain fabrics, the vibrancy of the colours, the handwritten text on the reverse sides and areas almost falling apart from years of folding or use. For me, those marks of time are incredibly beautiful. Rather than hiding them, I wanted to highlight them.

W*: What did the creative process look like?

ME: My projects rarely begin with a fixed plan – they evolve slowly through spending time with the materials. So the starting point developed very intuitively. I spent hours inside the archive, surrounded by the fabrics, observing them closely. I started by dividing and grouping the different textiles I encountered, paying attention to their textures, colours, transparency, wear and structure.

W*: And how did the works take shape?

ME: I was drawn to forms that are deeply connected to Japanese history and daily life, such as byobu folding screens and kakejiku hanging scrolls. Because weaving, tapestry and rugs are such an important part of my practice, I also wanted to create new woven works inspired by sakiori, a traditional Japanese weaving technique using strips of old fabric to create something new. I was very moved by the idea of transformation, reuse and continuation through material.

W*: What message are you hoping to convey with these creations?

ME: I was very conscious that these were not just for today, but for future generations. Through the structures, the fading of colours, the rhythm and order of the fabrics and the traces of time, I hope the works create subtle gestures that resonate with people and stay with them emotionally. And I hope this archive can continue into the future through these artworks.

W*: It’s been three years now: how is living in Kyoto shaping you creatively?

ME: Living here has gradually deepened my creative practice in a very natural way. While I continue to work internationally and remain connected to other places, being here has introduced a completely new layer to my work and opened a different direction within it.

W*: In what way?

ME: Often, new works begin from materials or details I encounter in my immediate surroundings – and that instinct has not changed. What has changed in Japan is the depth of history connected to those materials and processes. Here, I often work with century-old archives, traditional techniques or stories and philosophies that carry a very long cultural memory. I think my role is often to gently transform, twist or highlight an existing element and help shape it towards the future while still respecting its origin.

W*: How does Japan's textile culture compare to other places?

ME: It feels very unique because of the deep respect for material, process and the time embedded within it. Europe also has an incredible textile history and craftsmanship – but in Japan I feel a strong sensitivity towards preservation and continuity: the idea that textiles are not simply functional or decorative objects, but carriers of memory, ritual and care.

W*: And how about the craftsmanship world?

ME: For me, the process of testing possibilities and pushing materials or techniques into new territory is an essential part of developing new work. For these temple works, I had the opportunity to collaborate with two craftsmen who were very open to experimentation and exploring less conventional requests. What I appreciated in these collaborations was the openness and curiosity on both sides – finding ways to translate historical materials and traditional craftsmanship into something contemporary together.

W*: And concepts of beauty?

ME: In Japan, imperfections, ageing, fading or repair can become part of the beauty of a textile rather than something to hide. What I enjoy most is being able to exist between those worlds – bringing my own European perspective and experimental approach into dialogue with Japanese craftsmanship and philosophy. That exchange is very inspiring for me creatively.

W*: What are you seeking in your creative work?

ME: I am always searching for a certain softness – even though my compositions are often quite graphic and structured, I want the lines and materials within them to remain organic and natural. I’m not interested in forcing materials into something too controlled.

W*: What’s coming next?

ME: 'Tsudoi / Gathering', an exhibition presented in Karimoku Commons Kyoto earlier this year will move to Tokyo in July. I’m also preparing a joint exhibition, 'Echoes of Wa', at Spazio Nobile in Brussels with ceramics master Hosai Matsubayashi in September. For this, I’m also experimenting with chochin lantern-making and bamboo. I’m also deepening my collaboration with textile house Hosoo, gently challenging their machines and traditional weaving, exploring how far we can push the technique while still respecting its precision and heritage.

W*: And your longterm hope?

ME: What connects everything for me is the soft power of textiles – their ability to carry memory, emotion and history in a subtle but profound way. Many works I’m making at the moment feel like starting points. My hope is to continue building on these – and continue exploring how the soft power of textiles can shape how we experience spaces.

It’s both ancient – and modern. The shoji screen, handcrafted using a millennia-old Japanese papermaking technique, is not flat: it gently undulates like a waterfall, the softened geometry of its crafted wooden frame illuminated like shifting daytime skies by hidden LEDs.

This harmony of paper, wood and light is 'Grid Unwoven', the alchemical result of a creative collaboration between Lanzavecchia + Wai, a design studio in Italy and Singapore, and Takanori Senda, a Japanese artisan specialising in ancient Mino Washi papermaking in Gifu Prefecture.

It’s one of six new creations launched in the latest edition of Craft x Tech, an innovative initiative that fuses Japan’s traditional crafts heritage with progressive technology and contemporary design to create new pathways for endangered artisan traditions to thrive in modern times.

The project matches six contemporary international creators with traditional makers in Japan. The inaugural edition two years ago specialised in the northeastern Tohoku region, while the latest collection focuses on the craftsmanship of the central Tokai area.

From tiled chairs and modular tables to rainbow-bright tie-dyed lighting systems, six creations were brought to life by a collection of designers, including David Caon, Philippe Malouin, Bethan Laura Wood, Atang Tshikare, Eugene Studio and Lanzavecchia + Wai.

The idea of evolution rather than preservation lies at the heart of Craft x Tech, which is helmed by Hideki Yoshimoto, founder of Tangent design studio and a project associate professor at the University of Tokyo, with curatorial direction by Maria Cristina Didero.

‘Craft x Tech has always been about exploring how Japanese craftsmanship can engage with contemporary culture and design – not simply as preservation, but as an evolving creative practice,’ Yoshimoto tells Wallpaper*.

‘For this Tokai Edition, we were particularly interested in a region where craft and industrial production have historically developed side by side. At the same time, bringing together a wider range of international creatives made for really rich dialogues across different materials, cultures and approaches to making.’

London designer Bethan Laura Wood was immersed in the colourful cosmos of Arimatsu Narumi Shibori, an ancient tie-dyeing craft in Aichi Prefecture, celebrated for its original textures, intricate shading and complex patterns.

The result of Wood’s partnership with Hiroyuki Murase of Suzusan, a fifth-generation artisan family, is a textile-wrapped lighting system called ‘Kataginu’ – cascading suspensions of bloom-like textiles, meticulously crafted and organically steeped in exotic bursts of colour patterns.

‘I was struck by all the different ways in which the tying and binding can create complex patterns,’ she says. ‘I knew I wanted to work with a vibrant mix of two colours in conversation and to highlight this bleach-like blur that comes from the reaction between the two dyes, which cannot be overly controlled. This captures the “living” quality of the dye – being active, moving and reacting to the physical placement and folding of the fabric.’

For David Caon, a Sydney-based designer known for his aircraft innovations, the idea of ‘letting go of control’ shaped 'Fushi' – an elegant console and lighting system made from clean-lined modular ceramic components fired in Oribe glaze, creating deep, textured shades of bamboo green.

The components were crafted by Yohei Ito, the third-generation head of Fudogama kiln, specialising in Mino Yaki, a regional ceramics tradition in Gifu Prefecture dating back to the fifth century.

‘With Mino Yaki objects, part of the beauty of the craft is that every piece becomes quite unique after firing,’ explains Caon. ‘As a designer, there is not the same level of control over the final appearance of the objects that I have with other processes.’

Meanwhile, the industrialist minimalism of British-Canadian designer Philippe Malouin encountered the vividly decorative world of Owari Shippo, a type of enamelware from Aichi Prefecture, resulting in a highlight: the pared-back elegance of ‘Kasane’, stackable boxes with randomly speckled surfaces, their geometry inspired by sculpted conical sand mounds found in Kyoto’s Ginkaku-ji gardens.

Ceramics and chairs are not often juxtaposed, yet Eugene Kangawa of Tokyo-based Eugene Studio innovatively layered the deep indigo beauty of Seto Sometsuke Yaki ceramics with traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery to create a series of chairs, with matching tea vessels.

Clean-lined angles are wrapped sharply in white porcelain tiles hand-painted in indigo pigment, created in collaboration with Mayuki Kato, the fourth-generation head of Shingama kiln in Aichi Prefecture.

Another highlight was Atang Tshikare’s sculptural dialogue with Iga Kumihimo, braided silk threads in vivid shades, a traditional craft rooted in the natural beauty of Mie Prefecture.

‘Yamollo’ is a lighting work that takes the shape of a layered cascade of Iga cords in earthy tones, shifting from light at the top to dark at the base, hinting at the dynamism of a volcano – brought to life with artisan Tomoyuki Matsuda, fourth-generation CEO of Itogo.

Meanwhile, Lanzavecchia + Wai developed the flowing screen ‘Grid Unwoven’ with Mino Washi master Senda of Warabi Paper Company – pushing the traditional scale to its limits by creating a 2m by 2m screen that flows and curves, with a backlighting system evoking a sense of sky.

And threaded connectively through each of the projects? A sense of possibilities for traditional craft forms that continuously adapt, evolve and explore the boundaries of their potential.

As founder Yoshimoto explains: ‘In the long term, I hope Craft x Tech can become a platform where traditional knowledge and contemporary creativity intersect to generate new possibilities for craft. I see craft not as something static or nostalgic, but as a living body of knowledge that can continue shaping the future of design and culture.’

Craft x Tech Tokai Project 2026 Tokyo Exhibition runs at Kudan House in Tokyo from 30 May to 2 June

The deep-rooted connection between design cultures in Denmark and Japan is well documented. So much so that, in the last decade, it has given rise to the slightly wince-inducing catch-all term ‘Japandi’, a word invented to make a particular aesthetic of minimalism and honest materials more marketable. However, to reduce the connection between the two design cultures to moodboard-level aesthetics alone, Wallpaper’s Japan editor Jens H Jensen argues, is to miss the point entirely.

'When people think about Japanese design, they often only think about the simplicity of the design. I see it more as an honest and very pragmatic approach that resonates well with the Danish design tradition, where form always follows function,' he tells Wallpaper*. 'Japanese [and Danish] design isn’t simple to try to be minimalist. It’s simple because it’s often the most pragmatic way of making a certain product, resulting in honest, no-frills objects that require an extremely high level of craftsmanship to execute well.'

For Jensen, it is the close relationship between designers and manufacturers that distinguishes Japanese design objects from products that simply trade on a Japanese-inspired aesthetic.

'You might be able to get some nice photos for Instagram, but if you look at many of these Japanese-inspired products up close, the level of craftsmanship simply isn't there.'

‘Japanmade Vol.I’ at 3 Days of Design 2026

In ‘Japanmade Vol.1’, an exhibition being held next week (10-12 June) during 3 Days of Design 2026 in Copenhagen, Jensen – who has lived in Japan for more than 20 years – has teamed up with fellow Danes at OEO Studio – which has a project office in central Tokyo – to explore this connection. ‘My aim with “Japanmade” is to highlight contemporary design made by real craftspeople, objects that are built to last a lifetime. The quality of the materials and finishing touches is on a completely different level.’

Located in the same building as the city's harbourside exhibition space Pakhus 11, ‘Japanmade Vol.1’ occupies three connecting rooms accessed by a different entrance. Within these intimate spaces, visitors are presented with an edited selection of Japanese design as seen through Jensen's and OEO's Danish lens. The selection includes work from five brands working exclusively within Japan and across a broad range of materials – from washi (Japanese paper), solid brass, hinoki wood, soy wax and even plastic. Works are presented on staging made from cardboard pallets – a low-carbon solution that OEO and Jensen hope will make the experience feel more like visiting a gallery than a traditional interior design exhibition.

Thomas Lykke, who founded OEO Studio with Anne-Marie Buemann in 2003 and has maintained a presence in Japan for nearly 20 years, describes the exhibition as ‘a distilled and edited selection viewed through a holistic lens and approach’. While Japanese and Scandinavian design are often grouped together through shared qualities such as simplicity, craftsmanship and material honesty, he believes the relationship is more complex. ‘There are certainly links and shared values between Japanese and Scandinavian design,’ he says. ‘That said, the bond goes deeper than that.’

Jensen shares that view. ‘I think that Japanese design is highly respected and appreciated throughout much of the global design community for its simplicity and extraordinary attention to detail. However, there is a tendency to focus on very traditional crafts. I hope Japanmade can help to show the variety of materials and production methods.’

For example, Sekisaka, a 300-year-old Japanese manufacturer from the Kawada district of Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture, will present contemporary objects informed by traditional Urushi lacquerware, but realised in durable resin and ABS plastic that make them suitable for daily use in schools, hospitals and airlines.

MAS, a sub-brand of Karimoku Furniture, will showcase furniture rooted in Japanese woodworking expertise, including pieces made from hinoki – Japanese cypress – a durable, lightweight softwood more commonly associated with traditional architecture and construction than furniture making. Meanwhile, 300-year-old handmade paper workshop Naowashi by Gen Taniguchi, in Nao, Saga Prefecture, will show products made entirely from locally grown kajinoki paper mulberry rather than the more typical kozo variety. Kajinoki fibres are longer and intertwine more easily, producing paper that is both thin and strong.

Artisanal soybean candlemakers Sheep will display candles handmade at its workshop in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, using high-quality soy wax, pure essential oils and cotton wicks, while New Light Pottery, a lighting studio based in Nara, the ancient former capital of Japan, will present lamps that celebrate the beauty of local materials such as Japanese washi paper, glass, ceramics, lacquer-finished brass and marble

'The strong bond, mutual respect and physical proximity between designer and manufacturer play a big role in the final product. This is something I believe is quite unique to Japan and is something to celebrate,' reflects Jensen. 'In Denmark, for instance, many of the famous furniture makers now produce outside of Denmark. I truly believe something essential gets lost when the distance between design and production increases.'

The exhibition's 'Vol.1' title suggests that ‘Japanmade’ may be the first in a series. 'Only the future can tell,' Lykke says. 'Having said that, we naturally hope “Japanmade” will evolve over time. We'll take it step by step and see where the journey leads.'

‘Japanmade Vol.1’ will open during 3 Days of Design from 10-12 June at Dampfærgevej 2, Nordhavn, Copenhagen

Capella Kyoto is many things: the long-awaited Japan debut of the Singapore luxury hospitality brand, Kengo Kuma’s reimagining of a former elementary school as a contemporary machiya, and now the home of SingleThread’s first international outpost. It’s a fitting homecoming for owners Kyle and Katina Connaughton, who spent years living and working in Japan before opening their acclaimed three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Healdsburg, California.

Wallpaper* dines at SoNoMa by SingleThread, Kyoto

The mood: foliage and flowers

Like the hotel itself, SoNoMa by SingleThread was designed by Hong Kong and Singapore-based Brewin Design Office. Here, the journey begins long before the first course arrives. Beyond a white noren curtain lies a residential-style lounge furnished with antiques and objects sourced from Kyoto’s auction houses and vintage shops, where a seasonal welcome drink and amuse-bouche ease diners into the evening before a sliding screen reveals the chef’s counter beyond.

The 12-seat dining room overlooks the hotel’s tsuboniwa courtyard garden through a floor-to-ceiling wall of glass. Cherry blossom, camellias, stone and still water form a living backdrop that shifts subtly as daylight fades, reinforcing the restaurant’s connection to seasonality. Custom tables and seating by Brewin Design Office are paired with table mats crafted by Tajiri-san of Lether Kyoto, while floral arrangements by Katina Connaughton and Capella’s flower team bring seasonal softness to the room. Timber, plaster and stone create a space that feels warm, tactile and distinctly Kyotoite.

Pay attention to the tabletop too. Handcrafted vessels by Hasu Yoshitaka, Nagatani, Kojima Kenji and Kojima Yosuke transform each course into a study of materiality, while cutlery by Yuichi Takemata, Kyo Amahare and Marunao sits alongside glassware from Sus Gallery, Kimura Glass and Austrian crystal specialist Zalto.

The food: ‘The story of the day’

Head chef Keita Tominaga grew up in Sonoma County, the region from which the restaurant takes its name. The title is also a play on the Japanese characters for imagination (so), possession (no) and space (ma). The resulting omakase reflects both worlds, weaving Kyoto’s seasonal produce together with ingredients from SingleThread Farm.

Spring announces itself through white asparagus with sweet shrimp and young burdock, before a sequence of beautifully judged small plates arrives: fava beans with Hokkaido sea urchin, spring sea bream sushi over matcha vinegar rice, and firefly squid sharpened with chrysanthemum chimichurri and aonori.

A standout dish of bamboo shoots, harvested each morning from a private grove outside Kyoto, captures the season’s fleeting nature, paired with tofu, lemon, and a finishing drizzle of SingleThread’s estate olive oil. Seafood is a particular strength. Kinmedai and sakura buri are dressed simply with shiranui ponzu and kohlrabi, while smoked silver cherry salmon balances delicate richness with plum and flower pepper. A silky clam chawanmushi, meanwhile, demonstrates the kitchen’s inventive twists.

The meal deepens with Nanatani duck, one of Kyoto’s most prized heritage breeds, slow-grilled over coals and served alongside spring cabbage, kumquat and seasonal Honda Miso. It is followed by one of the evening’s highlights: hairy crab rice enriched with herb butter and dashi. Desserts are equally assured, from satsuma mandarin scented with California bay leaf to Hokkaido milk and local honey.

The 440-bottle cellar leans heavily towards California but leaves room for discovery, including a thoughtful selection of Japanese wines, such as Pinot Noir from Hokkaido, and a sake programme that highlights Kyoto’s distinctive brewing culture.

SoNoMa by SingleThread is located at Capella Kyoto, 130 Komatsucho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0811, Japan

Italian fashion house Miu Miu has never limited itself to the field of fashion – of simply adorning women in pretty clothes. Through schemes like Women’s Tales (a platform for commissioning female-led short films) and various artistic collaborations, it has championed women’s empowerment and supported those expressing themselves in other fields.

And, while the house recently organised the Miu Miu Literary Club during Milan Design Week – encouraging attendees to read books and discover more about female authors – on 13 May 2026, the house arrived in Tokyo, and turned to music, to mark the reopening of its store in the city’s Ginza neighbourhood with a one-night-only jazz club.

Inside the Miu Miu Jazz Club, Tokyo

Indeed, Miu Miu has always embraced the diverse cultures of the various countries where it has a retail base. When its London store reopened in late 2025, the brand celebrated the occasion at Koko, the iconic music club in Camden that recently marked its 125th anniversary. In honouring the reopening of the Ginza store, Miu Miu paid tribute to Japan’s distinctive jazz culture.

Originating in the United States, jazz was brought to Japan as early as the 1920s by Japanese people who had travelled to America via the Pacific, and has been a part of the country's culture ever since. With the opening of Japan’s first dance halls during the same period, jazz took root in Japanese society, alongside ballroom dancing. It also spawned a distinctive local listening culture, what is known as the ‘jazz kissa’ – a café to listen to jazz.

Following the unveiling of the renewed Ginza store, which houses Miu Miu’s first VIP salon in the country – aligned with the brand's philosophy to be tailored to Japanese customers who appreciate intimate hospitality – the venue for the one-night-only jazz club was the Dance Hall Shinseiki, which opened in 1948, shortly after the Second World War. Located near Ueno, a cultural district in Tokyo where Japan’s first public art museum (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum) and art university (Tokyo University of the Arts) are still based. It is now the only remaining dance hall in Japan.

It was an apt location for the jazz club, with the evening unfolding against the backdrop of a nostalgic dance hall, where the original interior from some 80 years ago remains intact – complete with velvet stage curtains and Victoriana-style damask wall coverings. Performances included young Japanese trumpeter Reiya Terakubo and jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara, the latter acclaimed worldwide. A Grammy Award winner, Uehara is a fearless artist who, at the age of 17, was invited by the late jazz pianist and composer (and legend in his field) Chick Corea to join him on stage.

Immersed in the rich and versatile melodies, it felt as if Uehara was playing in a quartet rather than solo. Incorporating elements of Latin, rock and classical music, she nonetheless encapsulated the unique character of Japanese jazz. Her performance also saw her use her body as if dancing, the smoky stage lighting only adding to the atmosphere. A revelation, the pianist transfixed even Miu Miu’s younger fans, who might not usually be drawn to jazz.

miumiu.com

There’s a moment – fleeting, almost imperceptible – when you step into a truly great bar or restaurant and feel the world outside dissolve. It’s not just the lighting, or the music, or even the promise of what’s to come in the glass. It’s something deeper, something quieter. A sense that you are being looked after in a way that feels both effortless and profound. In the West, we’ve grown accustomed to calling this ‘service’. In Japan, they call it something else entirely.

They call it hospitality, though even that word feels like a blunt instrument when set against the precision of the Japanese concept of omotenashi: a philosophy that elevates the act of caring for a guest into an art form. To understand it properly, you must recalibrate your expectations. Because what Japan offers, whether in a tiny Ginza cocktail den or a centuries-old Kyoto ryokan, is not hospitality as performance, but hospitality as devotion.

The ritual of care

Walk into a high-end cocktail bar in Tokyo and you’ll notice something immediately: silence, or at least a reverent hush. Not the awkward quiet of an empty room, but the composed stillness of a place where every movement has intention. The bartender doesn’t greet you with exuberance or forced familiarity. Instead, there’s a nod, measured, respectful. You are acknowledged, not overwhelmed. The experience begins not with noise, but with observation.

And this is where Western hospitality often falters. We’ve grown used to equating warmth with volume, friendliness with informality. In doing so, we’ve lost sight of the idea that true hospitality might be less about expression and more about attention.

In Japan, the bartender watches. They notice how you sit, how you hold the menu, whether you glance more often at the whisky selection or the citrus garnishes. Recommendations are not delivered; they are arrived at.

It’s a subtle dance, and one that requires not just skill, but discipline.

The craft beneath the surface

This discipline is rooted in a broader cultural framework, one that finds expression in everything from cuisine to craftsmanship. Two concepts are particularly instructive here: monozukuri and kaizen.

Monozukuri speaks to the spirit of making, of pursuing perfection through dedication to process. It’s the reason a sushi chef might spend a decade mastering rice before touching fish, or why a bartender will practice the same stirring motion thousands of times until it becomes second nature. Kaizen, meanwhile, is the philosophy of continuous improvement. Not grand reinvention, but incremental refinement. A slightly clearer ice cube. A marginally smoother pour. A garnish placed half a centimetre more precisely.

Witness this first-hand in Ginza's fabulously compact Apollo bar or, at the opposite end of the scale, the positively cavernous Little Smith, complete with its high vaulted ceilings, and it all makes complete sense.

Together, these ideas form the artistic backbone of Japanese hospitality. They ensure that what appears effortless is, in fact, the result of relentless pursuit.

The quiet majesty of artistic blending

It's these hallowed principles that also underpin the foundations of Hibiki – the Japanese blended whisky launched by Suntory back in 1989. Today, Hibiki, with its distinctive 24-sided bottle (representing the 24 different Japanese seasons), has become a global phenomenon, largely thanks to its distinct yet subtle house style: fresh, vibrant and citrus-led, with a delicate wisp of smokiness sitting alongside a richer, more complex sherry-cask driven maltiness. It is as effortlessly drinkable over a hand-carved ice block as it is mixed into a tall, refreshing highball – arguably the serve, which best demonstrates why Hibiki has been one of the foundations of Japanese bar hospitality for four decades.

To understand why Japanese whisky has evolved into the cherished and revered spirit it is today requires a speedy excursion on the Shinkansen, outside of the bustling hum of Tokyo, to the altogether more serene landscape of the Kansai Plains, home to the Yamazaki distillery.

There’s something ethereal about the light here: a clarity and brilliance – a literal luminescence, if you like – that doesn’t seem to exist anywhere else. It’s most noticeable as you pass by the densely wooded areas, interspersed by a tapestry of sprawling green and crops of tiny houses, as you blast towards Kyoto. It's something that Ian Fleming also noticed when writing his Bond classic, You Only Live Twice, back in the early 1960s, reflecting on how remarkable Japanese whisky was – years ahead of any other commentators: ‘Apparently, you only make good whisky where you can take good photographs... something to do with the effect of the clear light on the alcohol...’

Today, as the same sunlight streams into the stillhouse at Yamazaki, it bounces off an odd copper menagerie of varying shapes and sizes. Each still vital in creating the different, distinct styles of spirit that go into the Hibiki blend, which is then gently coaxed into becoming a whisky after years spent ageing in a variety of different American and European oak cask types: ex-sherry butts, bourbon barrels, French wine barriques, capacious 500-litre puncheons and – perhaps the most important of all – rare casks made from mizunara oak, an unique Asian strain, which brings a distinctive incense-like aroma to the resulting whisky.

The blending of Hibiki is not just whisky creation. Seeing it first-hand feels like a philosophy in liquid form. It embodies the Japanese approach to harmony: balance over bravado, subtlety over spectacle. Where Scotch whisky often celebrates the individuality of a single malt, Hibiki leans into the art of blending. It is about creating something greater than the sum of its parts, a seamless integration of flavours that unfold gently, revealing layers over time.

Artistry is something that runs deep within the dynasty of Suntory. Family member and former master blender Keizo Saji was a patron of Japanese arts and founded the Suntory Hall in Tokyo exactly 40 years ago. Suntory has also been instrumental in helping to preserve the ancient art of handmade washi paper, working with acclaimed artist Eriko Horiki and her creative studio since the Hibiki brand was founded, to provide the beautifully textured labels adorning its bottles.

However, Suntory's latest artistic collaboration might just be its most ambitious step yet into Japan's rich and deeply cultural artistic history.

The Chiso kimono house can trace its roots back to 1555 and has been meticulously crafting silk kimonos for high-profile clients throughout its 470 years. Today, is it arguably one of Japan's most respected family-run artisan companies, still operating from the same base in Kyoto. The house has historically designed and created pieces for the Japanese royal family and was one of the first companies to promote its craft internationally as Japan’s Renaissance developed globally in the late 1880s. Around this time, the hierarchy of designs, once limited by royal status, became less significant and consumers of all stature could afford beautiful handmade creations.

Chiso has over 20,000 pieces in its archives, including textiles and designs from the Shogun period, which are now considered national treasures. It was a handful of these historic designs that provided the inspiration to create a one-off, bespoke, hand-painted kimono for Hibiki, which has taken a year to complete. Bespoke kimono design involves 20 separate processes, each one requiring a specific master of their craft. Chiso produces only a dozen bespoke designs a year (each one starting at around three million yen – £14,000) and has over 300 specialised silk painters, embroiderers and illustrators to call upon. Translating the outline designs onto silk requires a specific natural blue flower ink, which disappears once the piece is completed, requiring a month of solid work, by hand.

The finished kimono for Hibiki will be worn by the whisky brand’s global ambassador, Japanese actress Anna Sawai, but first, it will be displayed at JFK airport, as part of an installation to celebrate the opening of the airport's new terminal in June 2026.

Culinary Echoes

The parallels between such ornate craftsmanship and Japanese cuisine are impossible to ignore. Consider the intricate patterns of the kimono, where every thread, every dye, is chosen with intention. These are not merely aesthetic pursuits. They are artistic expressions that place value on precision, patience, and respect for materials.

In the culinary realm, this manifests itself in dishes that appear deceptively simple. A visit to Kyoto's multi-award-winning restaurant Tempura Matsu or the deeply traditional Hanasaki Manjiro perfectly articulates how a piece of sashimi, an ornately cut tofu cake, or a perfectly grilled skewer of yakitori is the result of years, sometimes decades, of refinement.

So where does this leave us, as Western diners and drinkers?

It would be easy – and perhaps comforting – to frame Japanese hospitality as an exotic ideal, something to admire from afar but not necessarily replicate. But that would be a mistake.

Because the truth is, we haven’t lost the capacity for genuine hospitality. We’ve simply allowed it to be overshadowed by speed, efficiency, and the relentless pursuit of scale.

In many Western establishments, the focus has shifted from how something is done to how quickly it can be done. Service becomes transactional. Interactions become scripted. The guest becomes a client, rather than an individual to be cared for.

Japan offers a different perspective.

It reminds us that hospitality is not a checklist, but a mindset. That excellence is not achieved through shortcuts, but through sustained effort. And that the smallest details – an ice cube, a gesture, a moment of silence – can have the greatest impact.

Neil Ridley stayed at the Okura Hotel in Tokyo (okura.com) and the Mitsui Hotel in Kyoto (marriott.com)

Launched in 1984 as an upscale addition to the multifaceted Marriott hotel group, the JW Marriott brand delivers a relevant kind of luxury for each country it’s operating in (currently 130 hotels across more than 40 countries and regions). In Japan, the brand’s tally stands at two – the first opened in Nara in 2020, while its Tokyo incarnation opened in October 2025 – and the relevant kind of luxury here is that soothingly quiet minimalism that the Japanese so excel at.

In the quaint and compact city of Nara – the capital of Nara Prefecture and about an hour from Kyoto – the star attraction is the 1,000-odd docile deer that roam freely around a park in the city’s east. It’s hard to resist a deer that bows at you for a cracker, so, understandably, the tourists flock here and this part of the city can feel pretty congested at times.

The JW Marriott Nara, the first international luxury hotel to open in the city, is a low-rise six-storey building located west of the main train station and feels like a calm oasis from the hullabaloo, peppered as it is with subtle Japanese elements and deer motifs. The ground floor, open-plan reception, lobby and piano bar feel welcoming and spacious, as do the 158 guest rooms, with their noiseless views across the city. A particular highlight is the hotel restaurant, Azekura, which offers a refined Japanese experience through three different styles of Japanese cuisine – teppanyaki, sushi and kaiseki. A series of beautifully presented, carefully composed little plates of food with a strong focus on seasonal, local ingredients introduced such delights as firefly squid and the wagyu sakura leaf sushi.

Also opened in 2020, nearly 300 miles away in Tokyo, the Takanawa Gateway station is the main transport hub of a spankingly shiny, mixed-use, ‘smart city’ redevelopment project. Featuring a mix of high-rise office towers, shopping malls, dining options, residential spaces and cultural hubs (including the Kengo Kuma-designed Museum of Narratives, which opened in March 2026), this futuristic new district is not unlike a traffic-free Canary Wharf, but with robots that do everything from cleaning to delivering drinks and transporting pedestrians around the site.

The station is incredibly well connected, with Tokyo station, Shibuya and Shinjuku a few stops away, while the nearby Shingawa station is the future terminus for the next-generation magnetic bullet trains that will eventually connect Tokyo with Osaka in around an hour.

A hop and a skip from the station is the brand new JW Marriott, which occupies the uppermost floors of a 30-storey high-rise. Designed by Yabu Pushelberg, with a creative narrative driven by Zen philosophy and classical Japanese minimalism, it’s a tranquil space that cocoons you the moment you emerge from the lifts. Moody, low-lit public spaces with wood panelling, muted fabrics and warm copper finishes create a cosiness, while a flickering fireplace, the seductive, ever-present scent by Flamingo Estate, and Lasvit’s luminous glass centrepiece add to the serenity.

Guest rooms are spacious, well-accessorised and peaceful, soundproofed from the traffic and trains zipping around many floors below, while those looking for an extra hit of Zen can book a room in the Mindful wing (located on the same floor as the spa and fitness centre, it allows guests to bypass the reception check-in/check-out procedure).

The biggest draw, however, is the view. Jaw-dropping panoramic vistas catch the eye on every floor, at every angle. And it doesn’t really matter which side your room is on, the views are equally far-reaching and time-absorbing. From one side, you can see Tokyo Tower and as far as Mount Fuji (on a clearish day), while from another, there are sweeping views across the railyards and train tracks to Tokyo Bay and the Rainbow Bridge. And no matter what you are doing – taking a bath, tucking into the voluminous breakfast buffet or doing laps in the Instagrammable pool – it’s hard not to keep staring at it.

marriott.com

During Japan’s Edo Period, hundreds of feudal lords, samurai, priests, and tradesfolk traversed the Tokaido Road between Japan’s old and new capitals: Kyoto and Tokyo. Many inns welcomed travellers along the way, but there were none so rewarding as the ryokans of Hakone, where an abundance of natural hot springs soothed knotty muscles and weary feet. These days, standing out in the crush of Hakone’s modern-day ryokans isn’t easy, but a targeted renovation at KAI Hakone attempts to reinstate – and elevate – the restorative onsen stays of yesteryear.

Wallpaper* checks in at Kai Hakone

What’s on your doorstep?

KAI Hakone is located in Hakone Yumoto Onsen, Kanagawa Prefecture. An eight-minute drive from Hakone-Yumoto railway station, the ryokan is tucked into a wooded slope below a quiet, somewhat isolated stretch of the Old Tokaido Road. Transportation options are thin, but nature is plentiful. The property’s entrance is not grand, marked only by a squint-or-you’ll-miss-it sign leading to an unassuming parking lot next to the reception entrance. But once through the doors, serenity seeps in as the lamp-lit lounge and glass-walled forest and river views beckon.

Who is behind the design?

A 1987 inn was first reinvented by its new owners, the Hoshino Resorts Group, and Sakakura Associates Architects and Engineers in 2012. Now, a new chapter unfolds courtesy of the same architectural firm, along with Yuki Ito Architectural Design and head lead designer Hirofumi Inoue of Nomura Co., Ltd.

The renovation drew design cues from a condensed version of historic travellers’ many-week-long stays at spa retreats along the Tokaido Road. The addition of an outdoor tea house, Sawa Chaya, and a marquetry workshop invites convivial gatherings. Two sumptuous suites, housed above the workshop, offer private open-air onsens and intimate proximity to the complimentary coffee station, lounge and restaurant. Attention to detail is evident in several new art and design features, from a wood-scraps sculpture representing the elevation changes of the post towns along the old highway to bed throws depicting Edo-period tools that would have been unloaded at the foot of the futon.

The room to book

The ryokan offers just 34 rooms, all with expansive views and tatami flooring. Thirty-two are signature guest rooms with abstract artwork of essential Edo-period travel items, such as sandogasa – woven straw hats – or chochin – collapsible washi paper lanterns. Outdoor pathways of bamboo and stone connect the guestrooms ‘to represent material used to make the road in the Edo period,’ says manager Moeka Tsuyuki.

The two new 110 sq m Hakone Gokochi Suites steal the show with long, birch-hued corridors that lead past shoji-screened bedrooms to sunken, glass-walled living rooms. The open-air onsens off the shower room offer views of the Sugomo river that somehow feel both intimate and expansive. The connecting passage between living and bathing spaces is perhaps the most striking: A dark, spare ishi-no-ma (rock room) relaxation space with black walls, two simple wooden chairs, and cool, dark stone underfoot offers a small window to a terrace rock garden or a floor-to-ceiling window to the changing leaves outside.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Standard lodging plans include kaiseki course dinner and breakfast. The subterranean restaurant consists of semi-private dining spaces screened in wood and washi paper. A dearth of décor encourages focus on the cuisine, which begins with a soup made from chilled amazake, a fermented rice drink once consumed to restore energy after climbing the Hakone Pass. The procession of subsequent dishes follows the motif, with sashimi and other seasonal selections served in wooden boxes designed to look like old carrying cases. For breakfast, a wooden tray of jewel-like bites alongside a bubbling single-serve hot pot is served in one main course.

Staff at the lantern-lit tea house outside proffer complimentary herbal tea in the afternoons and a small variety of Japanese alcoholic drinks in the evenings.

Where to switch off

It’s all about the hot springs. Follow ‘The Immersion Path,’ a mural designed by Mitsuko Ogura that sports parading feudal lords alongside modern-day relay racers and skiers, down the lower corridor toward the two sex-segregated public onsens — 40-41°C baths powered by geothermal waters from sodium chloride springs. The baths are enclosed on three sides to protect against the elements, with one wall open to frame the Japanese maples and mountain stream like a painting. Each bath area also contains a dry sauna and a cold plunge pool.

The verdict

Kai Hakone remains a tranquil retreat in the heart of hot springs country. From Sawa Chaya, the simple outdoor tea room, to the gently cocooning rooms with framed views of forest and stream, it’s built for contemplation. The out-of-the-way location can be difficult for travellers without a car, but the point is to soak in the space, not use it as a base for exploration. For guests willing to spend a day or two sitting and savouring, the revived Kai Hakone is well worth the time.

Kai Hakone is located at 230 Yumotochaya, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa 250-0312, Japan

Kamakura sits on the Sagami Bay coastline, barely 50 kilometres southwest of Tokyo. It’s close enough for a day trip, yet Lulla House seems to exist in a different world altogether. The three-storey building sits directly on the beachfront, its sand-coloured plaster facade and rope-strung balustrades facing the bay, with Mount Fuji a whispery silhouette on the horizon on clear days. Recently completed, it is the work of Tokyo studio I IN, and unlike anything else in their portfolio.

Tour this minimalist Kamakura house by I IN

Founded in 2018 by partners Yohei Terui and Hiromu Yuyama – both alumni of the influential Tokyo studio Curiosity, where they worked under Gwenael Nicolas (who recently spoke to us about the future of retail architecture) – I IN has built its reputation on high-spec commercial interiors: the Japanese headquarters of Cartier, Tiffany's Tokyo office, Blue Bottle café, a Pokémon Centre. Lulla House represents a different kind of commission: a private residence for fashion and lifestyle designer Azusa Yamato, whose brand Lulla – which sells the furniture designed for this house alongside homeware and objects for daily life – uses the space as both home and showroom.

Yamato approached I IN after seeing their previous projects. What followed was a design process rooted in character rather than typology. 'They asked for something relaxed and personal, but also expressive and memorable. Like stepping into a world with its own character,’ says Yuyama who led the project. ‘Our first conversations focused more on lifestyle than architecture, how the family wanted to live, work, host people. The spatial concept developed naturally from there.’

The building is organised across three floors, each with a distinct identity. The ground floor, a palimpsest from the building's previous incarnation as a windsurfing school, still houses boards. The second floor opens dramatically to the bay: an uninterrupted living and dining space connected to a terrace via a sliding titanium volume that functions as both wall and entrance. When closed, it punctuates the rhythm of the sea-facing elevation; open, it dissolves the boundary between inside and out entirely.

Kitchen and closet doors are rattan – light, woven, and breathable, and chosen because I IN approached materials here the way a fashion designer approaches textiles. 'We treated the relationship between tiles and grout in the bathroom like fabric and thread,' says Yuyama. Those tiles – custom-made from sand sourced in Japan, in a dusty pink that is Yamato's signature colour, grouted in acid yellow – are the house's most exuberantly fashionable gesture: simultaneously playful and precise.

A newly installed spiral staircase in white plaster set against warm brushed timber anchors all three floors at the building's centre, drawing the eye upward through the full height of the house. The third floor closes around it intimately: an open wardrobe at the building's core, a bathroom occupying nearly half the floor plan, a bathtub oriented directly to Sagami Bay and Mount Fuji.

The exterior plaster was chosen to echo the colour of beach sand, so that the house, Yuyama says, feels as though it had simply risen from the sand. Yamato agrees. Her favourite spot is the living room, where the ocean fills the full width of the west-facing windows and light moves across the water in a way that makes time feel slower. 'Simply being here brings me back into balance,' she says, adding that Lulla House is ‘a place where I can quietly feel my core values of gentleness, grace, and inner strength’.

Which, it turns out, is also a fairly precise description of the house itself.

i-in.jp

Out of all architects to emerge from Japan in the last century, architect Toyo Ito is one of the most influential of his generation. Ito's architecture is defined by the presence of free-flowing floorplans and a sense of openness, as epitomised in well-known buildings like Sendai Mediatheque or the National Taichung Theater in Taiwan. But Ito’s portfolio cannot be appreciated simply by looking at photographs, no matter how eye-catching the buildings might seem from afar; His work needs to be directly experienced to be fully appreciated, as it is conceived to draw the visitor deeper and deeper into its carefully composed environment. ‘Human activity cannot, by its very nature, be reduced to mere function,' Ito says. 'Human daily life is an interplay of far more complex factors. It is by allowing function to remain ambiguous that we can feel joy in architecture.'

It's these intangible qualities that earned Ito a Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2013, and has made him one of the most recognisable names in the profession today. Here's everything you need to know about the pioneering Japanese architect.

Discover Toyo Ito, the award-winning Japanese architect

Who is Toyo Ito?

Toyo Ito was born in 1941 in Keijō, Korea (now, Seoul), which was then under Japanese rule. Upon their return to Japan, when Ito was two years old, his family settled in the countryside of Shimosuwa in the Nagano Prefecture. Growing up surrounded by meadows and mountains, running barefoot through the fields left a lasting memory for Ito as a child. ‘The fact that I often use curvaceous surfaces in my designs is influenced by my childhood,' Ito says. 'There aren’t straight lines in nature. Surrounded by curvaceous walls makes people – just like any other animals – feel comfortable.’

The origins of an architect

Even so, in his student days, Ito had never considered becoming an architect. When he decided to enter the University of Tokyo in 1961, one of Japan's most prominent academic institutions, he didn’t aspire to be an architect; he was busier playing baseball. It was only after coming across the works of architect Kiyonori Kikutake, who played a key role in the Japanese Metabolism movement that Ito grew interested in architecture.

Kikutake created numerous iconic buildings throughout the latter half of the 20th century, and Ito, then still a student, became determined to work under the Metabolist.

Toyo Ito's career development

Through his time with Kikutake, Ito learned that many architectural ideas 'lose their strength in time after a nights sleep,' he explains, 'Such ideas are pointless. Just as things learned through physical experience stick with you, I believe that designs conceived through physical engagement are the ones that truly hold their own.'

After working at Kikutake’s office from 1965 to 1969, Ito founded his own practice in Tokyo, Urban Robot, in 1971. He renamed his studio Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects in 1979, as it is still known to this day.

Under his own banner, Ito designed a number of instantly-recognisable buildings – notably, the Sendai Mediatheque in Sendai City, Japan (2001). The building made a significant impact on the architectural world, for its free-flowing interior that enabled visitors to wander through the space however they pleased. ‘For the first time, I truly realised I was pleased to have become an architect. Architecture can serve society,’ Ito says of his work on the project.

Recognition and legacy

Ito’s work continued to underscore that non-hierarchical is what truly keeps people engaged with a building. In the decades since establishing his practice, Ito has been widely recognised for his output and thinking. He is considered one of the most important 20th and 21st-century architects and received the acclaimed Pritzker prize in 2013. Ito's innovation, the Pritzker jury noted in its citation at the time, 'is only possible through Ito’s process of carefully and objectively analysing each situation before proposing a solution. Ito has said that he strives for architecture that is fluid and not confined by what he considers to be the limitations of modern architecture.'

Ito's international accolades also include the RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2006, the 2010 Praemium Imperiale, a Golden Lion at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale and an Honorary Royal Academician (HonRA) title awarded in 2023.

Key projects

White U

Where: Tokyo, Japan
When: 1976 (demolished in 1997)

White-U House, one of Ito’s earliest works, was a house he designed in 1976 for his sister, who had lost her husband to cancer, and her two daughters. The house, defined by a concrete wall, features a U-shaped floorplan, somewhat secluded from the surrounding residential neighbourhood. Almost like a monastery, it encloses an inner garden. The house was designed to be a spiritual place for meditation for the family who lost an important member.

Silver Hut

Where: Tokyo, Japan
When: 1984

Ito’s own house, ‘Silver Hut’, was built adjacent to his sister’s White-U House, and was the polar opposite - open and airy. As Ito stated, ‘When it rains, the sound of the rain beats down, and I am exposed to the harsh nature. It isn’t so comfortable, but there is a feeling that you are living with nature.'

This sense of openness is underscored by the fact that there are no individually separated rooms inside the house. Ito’s daughter, Maki Hashida, recalls that, without her own private room, she could not keep secrets; she ended up sneaking around to hide instead.

Sendai Mediatheque

Where: Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
When: 2001

Ito's self-described ‘turning point work’ is Sendai Mediatheque, a multi-purpose cultural facility winning the competition organised by Sendai City in the Miyagi prefecture. Having attracted attention for his earlier residential and other projects, Ito was known for his innovative ideas, but not necessarily accepted by the wider public yet. The Sendai Mediatheque was the project that led him to pursue architecture that engages with society. The building, which serves as a library and a community space for citizens, features a framework in which 13 column-like tubes pierce through seven plates. Although eye-catching, these tubes are actually practical, supporting the structure as well as being conduits, passing through the floors to allow for services, natural light and airflow. Although some locals were initially reluctant to accept the unconventional design, the citizens of Sendai City were delighted because the floorplan, largely open and partition-free, allowed visitors to use it as they wished.

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion

Where: London, UK
When: 2002

Located within London's Kensington Gardens, the temporary summer Serpentine Gallery Pavilion by Ito blurs the boundaries between architecture and nature, structural elements and art. Designed in collaboration with engineer Cecil Balmond, the pavilion is made of a mesh of seemingly randomly intersecting steel bars. The openings between the bars can function as windows or doors, or become opaque to form sections of walls or the ceiling.

TOD’S Omotesando Building (currently Kering Building)

Where: Tokyo, Japan
When: 2004

TOD’S Omotesando Building is situated on Tokyo's bustling Omotesando district, centred on a street lined with luxury brand shops. It is currently the Kering Japan headquarters. Since its completion, the building's irregular openings, which echo the zelkova tree branches lining the surrounding street, have become one of the symbols of the area. Unlike most commercial buildings which rely on a traditional curtain wall, TOD’s Omotesando Building incorporates an external concrete structure with glazed openings, whose pattern now defines its presence.

MIKIMOTO Ginza 2

Where: Tokyo, Japan
When: 2005

Located in Ginza, a district lined with flagship stores of luxury brands, the MIKIMOTO shop features a design that evokes falling petals, the bubbles emerging from the shells that nurture pearls, and the anticipation one feels when peering into a jewellery box. Constructed using a ‘steel-sheet concrete structure’ - in which concrete is poured between two metal plates - the building is supported by surprisingly thin walls, creating an open, column-free interior. MIKIMOTO Ginza 2 was the first building in the world, outside the realm of infrastructure engineering, to utilise this particular construction method.

Tama Art University Library (Hachioji Campus)

Where: Hachioji City, Tokyo, Japan
When: 2007

This art university library features a series of arched openings reminiscent of the aqueducts of Rome. Its concrete walls, formed by arches of varying spans curve not only on the façade but also extend internally, creating vaulted walls that spread out at various angles throughout the library. As a result, the interior resembles branches extending from a large tree trunk. ‘My intention was to give the feeling of reading a book amongst the trees,’ says Ito. The forest feel is heightened by the ground floor, which slopes gently to follow the building's inclined site.

Minna no Mori Gifu Media Cosmos

Where: Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan
When: 2015

Located in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture, Minna no Mori – meaning ‘forest for everyone’ – Gifu Media Cosmos is a public multi-purpose institution centred on a library. Although the design appears unconventional, it is a very pragmatic, functional design devised to work in harmony with its natural environment. The building utilises groundwater from a nearby river for heating and cooling. Energy consumption has been reduced by more than 50 per cent compared to conventional buildings of a similar scale.

National Taichung Theater

Where: Taichung, Taiwan
When: 2016

‘The National Taichung Theater is not just a building that houses a grand theatre for staging an opera. The engine of the architecture is the opera,’ Ito says of National Taichung Theater, arguably his most internationally-acclaimed work. Indeed, the building unfolds almost like a performance: Comprising a thin three-dimensional curved reinforced concrete shell, with no distinct boundaries between floor, wall, column and ceiling, the National Taichung Theater took approximately 11 years to complete and has been described as one of the most challenging buildings in the world to construct.

The building includes three theatres, restaurants and shops, whose interior curves spill outward to form an outdoor garden, creating seamless continuity between interior and exterior. Ito believed that a cave-like setting was the perfect environment for theatre – a fundamental form of human expression.

‘Quiet and deep.’ This is how architect Kengo Kuma describes Miyagawa-cho, a Kyoto neighbourhood famed for its community ties, traditional wooden architecture and rich geisha culture. The same words reflect the essence of its newest arrival: Capella Kyoto.

The long-awaited Japan debut for the luxury Singapore brand, the new hotel recently opened in the heart of the district. Rebuilt on the site of a former elementary school, it’s one of a trio of new Kuma-designed structures – including a historic geisha theatre and community centre – together creating a connective hub between past and present, tradition and innovation.

Wallpaper* checks in at Capella Kyoto

What’s on your doorstep?

Capella Kyoto is very close to tourist-packed Gion, also famed for its time-etched streets and layered geiko (Kyoto geisha) culture. However, the hotel is in fact in nearby Miyagawa-cho, which is a little quieter and has a more local atmosphere. Capella Kyoto sits directly opposite a low-key side entrance to Kenninji, the city’s oldest Zen temple complex, a soul-soothing sanctuary of stone walkways and historic structures. Along the same street are generations-old family stores, from wooden bucket artisans to sandal makers.

Softly mirroring its surroundings, the hotel rises from the site of a former elementary school (whose vintage lighting and trodden floorboards are reborn in restaurant Yoi). Intimate and low-rise, the four-storey building has layers of roofs, dark wood frames, gently curved roof brackets and lattices of bamboo – a modern riff on the low curved inuyarai fencing that lines local houses, marking a boundary between home and street. The crafted beauty of noren curtains in dusty sakura pinks, by Kyoto-based textile artist Mae Engelgeer, marks the entrances (these will change with the seasons).

‘We applied the wisdom of the machiya to the hotel design,’ explains Kuma. ‘I wanted to evoke the image of smallness, local materials, tiered roofs, hidden inner gardens, layered internal spaces – just like a Japanese home.’

Who is behind the design?

Inspired by the intimacy of the traditional machiya townhouses on surrounding streets, the 89-room hotel is rooted in a pared-back serenity and crafted Kyoto touches, with architecture by Kengo Kuma & Associates and interiors by Brewin Design Office. Picture a deepening journey through sliding screens, an inner garden mirroring the micro-seasons, contemporary artworks and an elemental material palette (wood, stone, bamboo, paper) – harmonised with the effortless sense of modern luxury that goes hand in hand with the Capella brand.

‘This area is very connected to traditional house design,’ says Kuma, taking Wallpaper* on an exclusive tour of the hotel ahead of opening. ‘The uniqueness of a machiya lies in its layering, creating small spaces with multiple atmospheres. I wanted to show the quiet depth of this neighbourhood in the design of the hotel.’

When arriving, it’s all about transitioning: from street to home, outside world to inner sanctum. Rather than entering directly, sloped pathways of natural stone gently guide visitors inside. Along the way is a curved installation of earthy straw by artist Momoko Fuji, leading into the stillness of an intimate inner space. Here, floral arrangements in ceramic vases rest on sculptural wood tables, while timeless gold panels and calligraphic artworks hang in earthen-walled alcoves.

The journey continues along a light-flooded corridor, an internal tsuboniwa courtyard garden on the left – a serene composition of cherry blossoms, camellias, rocks, stones and cloud-reflecting pond; while on the right, paper screens filter the sound of flowing water from a basement fountain composed of large rocks from Gifu (‘to bring inside the sounds of nature,’ says Kuma). A sense of intimacy arises in the unwrapping of the hotel’s layers: ‘We used many sliding shoji screens to control privacy and soften natural light. These screens are the most important architectural vocabulary for a machiya.’

The light-shifting walkways lead into the Living Room – a screen-wrapped sanctuary. Here, staff in contemporary outfits fastened with Kyoto obi sashes sit at desks. Sunlight flickers on a paper screen behind a delicately gnarled bonsai. Historical books sit among flower arrangements and artworks, which range from the rhythmic paper folds of a hanging work crafted from geisha books to monochromatic Kyoto photography. It is here, every day before dinner, that a geiko or trainee maiko performs – a moment balancing intimacy with connection (guests are encouraged to chat at the end).

The room to book

Serene, spacious and soft in palette, the 89 rooms are elegant showcases of craftsmanship. Light filters through screens, alongside carpets marked with tatami mat lines, gently curved oak furniture, minimalist artworks by Kyoto creatives, including paper artist Kamisoe, textured tubular lighting and deep black bathtubs in granite bathrooms (or hinoki cypresswood tubs in suites). A highlight is curved sweeps of calligraphy on woven panels above the bed – a collaboration between avant-garde Okinawan calligraphy artist Daichiro Shinjo and Kyoto’s 17th-century kimono textile innovators Hosoo.

Views are firmly rooted in the surroundings – be it temples, old streets, or distant mountains. Six onsen suites are intimately fitted with private hot spring bathing and Zen gardens. ‘Our approach was to create spaces that felt grounded in the city’s architectural traditions while interpreting them in a contemporary way,’ Robert Cheng, founder of Brewin Design Office, tells Wallpaper*. ‘Rather than referencing history directly, we looked at underlying qualities such as proportion, materiality and atmosphere. We drew inspiration from the warm timber tones of a traditional Kyoto machiya to create spaces that feel more enveloping.’

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Behind a white noren curtain is scene-stealing SoNoMa restaurant by SingleThread. Created by Kyle and Katina Connaughton of wildly acclaimed SingleThread in California, the new outpost is the sensory culmination of decades spent exploring Japan’s culinary heritage, farming practices and earthy Iga ceramics. ‘It’s about the story of the day,’ says Kyle, highlighting its microseasonality. Inspired by an ochaya teahouse, the 12-seat counter restaurant – helmed by chef Keita Tominaga – serves up an omakase journey that is surprising and sensory, modern and creative, balancing Japan’s crafted flavours with a touch of California – from a forest-wrapped medley of early spring treats (fava beans, Hokkaido sea urchin, lily bulbs with sakura) to Kyoto duck sprinkled with fennel pollen from their Sonoma farm. ‘We use mainly Japanese ingredients but like to include an expression of California, even if it’s hidden,’ explains the chef.

Shaping the hotel’s daily rhythm is Lanterne – a light-flooded all-day restaurant with elegant sweeps of marble, herringbone floors and garden views. French cuisine with Japanese imprints is on the menu (a favourite is King Crab pain perdu with zesty kinkan kumquat and bisque); plus a fresh, buzzy breakfast (opt for an outdoor table when it’s warm). At the threshold is The Patisserie, serving SingleThread Entremets – otherworldly sweet treats displayed among foliage and flowers.

Yoi is a refreshingly laid-back spot for modern Japanese cuisine. Sit at the counter and enjoy a relaxed mix of treats – from sashimi platters served in a cloud of mist to chrysanthemum, spinach and young bamboo shoots in sesame dressing – alongside crafted cocktails such as Japanese Loafer (midori, bergamot, Kyoto craft gin and yuzu citrus).

Where to switch off

The basement is a temple to wellness. Start the day with gentle stretches and singing bowls by the fountain. The Ofuro Suites offer private onsen soaks overlooking a Zen-style garden. Auriga Spa has a menu inspired by the moon cycles, unfolding in four treatment rooms – where massages are perfectly executed in an aromatic cloud of curated oils and herbs – plus saunas and steam rooms in changing areas.

In addition, the hotel shines particularly brightly with its Capella Curates programmes. Inventive experiences tap into Kyoto’s layered culture – with a playful twist. I lost track of time with charismatic Seiji Naito, who helms Gion Naito, a century-old family-run wooden sandal company, a few minutes from the hotel, talking about the meaning of life, nature and the universe, while playing book games (yes, really) and trying on shoes. Other experiences include visiting a surf-loving lacquerware artisan and kintsugi workshops. The friendly staff are also accomplished at bespoke experiences.

The verdict

A smooth mesh of Kyoto culture and contemporary warmth, intimacy and connection, nature and city, tradition and innovation – all threaded together with a luxurious dose of Capella’s signature hospitality.

Capella Kyoto is located at 130 Komatsucho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0811, Japan

Two hours and 20 minutes by Shinkansen from Tokyo to Morioka, then 25 minutes by road. That's how close Azuma Farm Koiwai sits to the Japanese capital, and yet how far it feels from the Japan most luxury travellers know.

The man who identified that gap is Fumitomo Hayase, a career hotelier who spent 12 years overseeing the development of Aman Tokyo and Amanemu before founding his Kyoto-based hospitality company, Naru, in 2017. His first project with Naru was Azumi Setoda, launched in 2021 in collaboration with Adrian Zecha – the legendary hotelier who founded Aman – and built around the ryokan tradition, channelling Japan through the sea and the pan-Asian cultural exchange that shaped it.

Azuma Farm, the new brand Naru has developed in partnership with East Japan Railway Company, turns its back on the coast entirely. Azuma means ‘the East’, a pointed nod toward Tohoku, a region that sits largely outside the established luxury travel routes around Japan. Where most high-end itineraries cluster around Kyoto, the Hakone onsen belt, Nikko and the Seto Inland Sea, Tohoku draws its identity from Jōmon-period (14,000 BCE to 300 BCE) communities that predate the westward migrations across the archipelago, and an agrarian, mountain-rooted way of life never shaped by the tea ceremony or the classical ryokan aesthetic. It is a Japan that’s less mediated, less packaged and until now, largely underserved by serious hospitality.

Zecha’s influence on Azuma Farm has been indirect but foundational: a philosophy absorbed by Hayase through years of close collaboration, distilled into a single guiding principle – that the site, not the designer’s ego, determines what a place should become.

Tour Azuma Farm Koiwai

The first property, Azuma Farm Koiwai, opens on 23 April within historic Koiwai Farm in Iwate Prefecture. Begun 130 years ago as a reclamation project on barren volcanic terrain, today, the grounds span 3,000 hectares of diverse forest and pasture, shaped by generations of careful stewardship.

Hayase’s new project occupies eight hectares of that landscape, and designer Shiro Miura of Kyoto firm Rokkakuya understood from the outset that the architecture had to take second billing. He and the Koiwai Farm team walked the forest together, selecting and felling each tree individually before a plan was drawn.

The layout takes its cue from Jōmon-period settlements found throughout this region: villas arranged around a generous central clearing, with distinct zones for sleeping, gathering, eating and bathing. Twenty-two Forest Villas at 65.7 sq m and two larger Garden Villas at 87.4 sq m sit quietly within the tree line, opening to splendid views of Mount Iwate.

The hero material is century-old red pine, grown in Koiwai’s own managed forest. Ordinarily prone to warping, here, the timber is straight-grained and structural enough to form the trusses of the main building and clad every exterior surface. Ceilings are swathed in Koiwai cedar; columns in the guest rooms and dining hall use Iwate chestnut; furniture takes ash and oak, both broadleaf species native to this part of Tohoku. Even the earthen walls carry a local imprint: Koiwai pasture grass substitutes for conventional straw.

Beyond the villas is a fire-centred gathering space where evenings are warmed by glowing embers, whilst an onsen facility is due to open this November. Meanwhile, dining draws on Koiwai’s own produce and the wider Tohoku region, with seafood from the Sanriku coast paired with mountain ingredients from the interior.

As for guest diversions, the offerings mine Iwate’s cultural bounty. Horseback rides through the Ainosawa pastures connect guests to a horse-breeding tradition several centuries old. A Nanbu ironware tour takes visitors to the workshop of Koizumi Nizaemon, an 11th-generation master kettle-smith operating since 1659, where guests commission their own iron kettle – the ultimate turn-down gift that takes two to three months to complete. Seasonal hiking programmes thread through the volcanic plateau of Hachimantai. Excursions into Joboji Urushi lacquerware, the Tono wasabi fields, and the sake traditions of Ninohe extend the radius further, positioning the property as a base for serious regional exploration.

Azuma Farm Koiwai is located at 68-77 Maruyachi, Shizukuishi, Iwate District, Iwate 020-0507, Japan

Retail architecture is a shape-shifting realm, according to Japan-based French designer Gwenael Nicolas. The creative director, president and founder of studio Curiosity, Nicolas, has been at the forefront of this fast-paced field since he established his practice in 1998. With recent completions such as Rolex Ginza, Coach Ginza, Maison m-i-d and Refa's home in Tokyo under his belt, the creative is a deft hand at crafting mesmerising and personal experiences.

We caught up with Nicolas to find out more about where the world of retail architecture is heading; its present and future, challenges and opportunities.

Wallpaper*: You have been working in luxury fashion and lifestyle interiors for a big part of your career. How do you feel the landscape has changed over that time?

Gwenael Nicolas: It is a fascinating time, as all interior typologies are undergoing a shift - a constant spinning and redefinition. The retail world is seeking a more intimate relationship with the customer, taking inspiration from hospitality: stores become cafés, lounges, and social spaces. In parallel, hotels are seeking more inspiring, emotion-driven environments like fashion boutiques.

This crossover explains why I was asked to design the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Mayfair, London, following our work on several stores in the area, including Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, and Tod’s. It is an interesting evolution, but driven less by creatives and more by marketing communication. This is why I am particularly interested in creative approaches that redefine typologies - that experiment without directly referencing existing models and instead introduce surprising and unexpected ideas.

The retail landscape in Asia — particularly in Japan, South Korea, and China — is especially inspiring: deeply rooted in cultural references, yet continuously producing strong, memorable, and experimental spaces. So, the next move will be a hotel brand or a fashion brand that creates its own world — not just through a typology shift, but through a true paradigm shift. In a way, it takes a more cinematographic approach, where customers become the actors of a play, orchestrated by the designer.

W*: Can you give me an example of a recent project where you applied something different – perhaps a new approach, material or way of thinking?

GN: I created a space for a Japanese fashion brand called 'm-i-d.' It is a concept store inside a department store in Osaka. I was inspired by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, who guides the team for each collection with a keyword that is implemented through the entire project. The keyword was 'lighthouse,' serving as a source of inspiration and guidance for the project.

Currently, local brands are not supported by the department store, as the priority is given to international brands. I wanted to create a strong impact, so I created a lighthouse – an interior entirely created with shades of yellow. We developed 20 new materials for floors, walls, and ceilings to create a really immersive, almost surreal environment.

In Japan, yellow is considered the colour of insanity, thanks to Van Gogh. It was very provocative, but it created a shockwave for the brand.

W*: How do you develop your response to a brief?

GN: Curiosity is an atelier more than a design consultant. Every new project begins with a conversation – an exchange of mutual intentions and ideas. The 'brief' does not really exist, per se, between myself and the client. Instead, what emerges is a mapping of possibilities, developed through interaction and the sharing of ideas.

This approach requires that I study the client’s dynamics in advance: their brand identity, communication, digital output, media messages and overall positioning prior to any discussion. The point is that research should happen before the conversation—first, as a form of respect for the client’s work, and second, to ensure the discussion is about what comes next, and engage the discussion with existing ideas and intentions that the client will react to, saving a lot of time.

W*: Tell us more about your most recent Rolex project.

GN: When Rolex wanted to develop the Ginza store, Japan was looking to explore the brand’s customer experience and reinforce its recognition. The brief was defined by a very precise and specific program, more than a brief, along with the freedom to explore Rolex codes into new territories. This approach led to the creation of a series of sequences and a strong narrative.

Ginza is a highly international context, so the facade itself becomes an experiment in connecting with passers-by. To create this connection, I designed an angled facade that allows viewers to see inside without reflection, presenting the products clearly—like a series of framed sequences.

The sense of locality is expressed through the detailing and tactility of the interior features, and through the re-interpretation of Rolex codes in collaboration with Japanese craft artists such as Hosoo and Design Tochi from Kyoto. We challenged traditional metal mesh finishes, usually used for kimono obi, by incorporating them into the façade glass.

We pushed the brand’s icons and elements into a minimalist and dynamic space: an all-green bar and VIP room, multi-layered semi-transparent interiors, and a digital theatre with a 360-degree film, where visitors can walk within the images that surround them.

W*: Can you elaborate a bit on the brief and design solution for your most recent Coach space?

GN: The Coach new store concept process was a rich conversation with Stuart Vevers, the creative director of Coach, who has a very strong and clear vision of what the brand should be. His sensitivity to materials, clarity of communication, and creativity were deeply inspiring.

Coach is a brand that is highly active in the digital world, successfully connecting with the Gen Z generation. The dynamism and speed of its visuals, as well as the relevance of timing in relation to product offerings, are remarkable. The challenge was to conceive a store as a relevant, timeless canvas where products are constantly presented and renewed.

I wanted to shift the focus from a pure store concept to an exercise in branding. I proposed the creation of a new icon that would synthesise all the values of Coach through a large-scale sculpture. This approach removes almost all logos and visual noise from the facade, replacing them with a large metallic cladding that evokes liquid leather, framing a floating 'c' sculpture made of fibre and paper. This icon has also been implemented in new stores in Dubai, Macao, and Kyoto.

W*: What is the retail interiors world's most pressing challenge right now? Why, and what are your thoughts in terms of overcoming it?

GN: Covid profoundly shifted the way we communicate and explain space and design logic through different media – models, live meetings and digital platforms – as digital communication has become the new norm. The image has become more important than the actual experience – more pleasing, more immediate, more satisfying.

Yet the translation of a vision into a multi-sensorial experience, whether complex or minimalist, involves a multiplicity of layers that are almost impossible to convey through images alone. The most inspiring and relevant spaces are often nearly impossible to visualise, and sometimes even to photograph.

This creates an interesting situation where there is often confusion between the dynamics of image-making and the reality of creating space. The notion of time becomes critical: is the project a pop-up for a few days or weeks, or a long-term intervention? This lack of clarity can lead to confusion - and to an overconsumption of materials, energy and effort for ephemeral effects. The acceleration of image production influences other creative fields, blurring the boundaries between what should be permanent and what should remain ephemeral.

The long-term vision is, to me, far more compelling. As Yohji Yamamoto once said: 'How can something be new enough and timeless forever?'

W*: What excites you about the future in the realm? What comes next?

GN: I am excited to witness the shift in the designer’s role in the process and development of projects. It is clear that the world is seeking new ideas—not just evolution, but true re-evolution. The designer becomes more of an initiator.

Clients now come to Curiosity to understand what is happening in the world and what is possible. This requires us to be curious about everything – from technology to craft, graphic design, space, and construction – maintaining a strong local network while also connecting beyond borders. The world is vast but easily accessible; it demands constant effort, research, and experimentation.

Tree stumps. Public benches. Swaying treetops. A worker and his bandsaw. Heavy machinery. And five animal spirits preserving the soul of a forest – from a jumping deer to a curious fox.

'A Tree' is a new project in Japan that journeys through a raft of creative perspectives – from the technical and the functional to the otherworldly magical – bringing to life a new series of objects crafted in cedarwood from ancient forests.

Six designers – Siin Siin from Japan, South Korean studio Kuo Duo, Fabien Cappello, working from Mexico, plus London-based creatives Rio Kobayashi, Max Lamb and Faye Toogood – travelled to the deep forests of Yoshino in Nara Prefecture, to explore its centuries-old forestry history and communities, cultivation technology and making practices.

Six designers working with Yoshino Cedarwood

Each creative was given a tree to transform. The end results, from chairs to benches, are now displayed at Ginza Six retail complex in Tokyo, scattered in public spaces to enhance interaction between visitors and objects, forest and city.

Helming the project, architect Keisuke Nakamura of Daikei Mills tells Wallpaper*: 'Following a project I undertook in the Yoshino area three years ago, I became acquainted with the local forestry industry. Whilst I came to appreciate the depth of Yoshino cedar and its significance as a material unique to Japan, I also became aware of the challenges facing the forestry sector –and felt a sense of responsibility as a creator to become more deeply involved.'

Highlighting the connective thread between the designers, he adds: 'They are all creators who, in their craft, demonstrate a passion for exploring materials, place great importance on the creative process and show respect for everyone involved in a project.'

Over the past 500 years, cedarwood from Yoshino, known as Yoshino sugi, has become a near-sacred byword for quality wood manufacturing in Japan, shaping countless spaces and objects, from temples, shrines and residences to sake barrels and bathtubs.

Meticulously cultivated using an ancient plantation technique, Yoshino sugi is used widely among architects, designers and artisans, due to its straight grain, minimal knots, lightweight strength and distinct forest-fresh aroma.

A growing furniture collection

The project collaborated with two timber specialists Houei Forestry and Ohtani Wood in Yoshino, while the works were produced by E&Y. Creations by Lamb and Toogood recently joined the collection, as the second phase of the series.

For Lamb, witnessing the meticulous technical mastery of 'one man and his machine' during his visit into the heart of the forest inspired his sculptural series Cedar is a Soft Wood. As he explains: 'It begins and ends with a tree. In the middle there is Ohtani-san and his bandsaw. Nothing else. What can Ohtani-san do with his bandsaw?'

Toogood tapped into the spiritual depth of the forest and Japan’s innate respect for the natural world – expressed through the magical realism-inflected storytelling of five animal 'spirits'. Timeless and playful, the forest was reimagined in watercolour paintings, poems and eventually five seating sculptures crafted from a single 25m high tree.

Shaped by a primitive simplicity, 'Five Spirits, One Sugi' includes the flowing lightness of The Deer, the rhythmic form of The Woodpecker, the earthy curves of The Toad, the diagonal edges of The Fox and the warm solidity of The Bear.

'My pieces started with a very spiritual response to the forest,' she explains. 'I came back and in my journal, I wrote a poem and did some watercolours of the animals that I'd seen. It was not just my experience in the forest that I wanted to represent – but also the fact that this forest is a habitat for all these beautiful animals.

'Having that context with nature is so important to my work and something I want to bring into a commercial environment. I think that feeling of nature is not only coming through from the material, but also the way you view the shapes. I brought the animals into the furniture – the big bear, the jumping deer – they are all there. For me, it was about trying to let those animals live through the wood and the furniture.'

The full A Tree collection, currently on display at Ginza Six, also includes creations completed last autumn for phase one of the project. Fabien Cappello designed a bench that transforms the act of seating into a shared and public experience, inspired by common typologies found in airports, bus stations and waiting areas. As he explains: 'It explores the questions: can a single tree be transformed to comfortably seat many people, and how to foster comfort and invitation in public seating.'

Ideas of inversion, movement and cultural reinterpretation are written into 'Edisni tuo', a furniture series by Japanese-Austrian designer Rio Kobayashi. One of his first projects to take shape in Japan, having spent more than half his life overseas, the pieces mark a reframing of his perspective of home; 'like inside-out sushi, a Western twist on a Japanese dish'. Added to the mix is an unexpected 'wobble' – inspired by the movement of treetops in the wind.

'The pieces invert what is expected,' he says. 'Bark is kept, cut surfaces are exposed and what’s usually discarded becomes essential.'

For Siin Siin, the starting point was creating a dialogue between material and technique – with traces of splitting wood by axe combined with stainless steel joints inspired by heavy machinery. Meanwhile, Kuo Duo dreamt up Kiri Kabu, a reinterpretation of tree stumps, balancing the material contrast of pale heartwood and rich sapwood. The tree was dissected into a puzzle of nine sections: four corner pieces reassembled to create a cylindrical base, before being turned on a lathe to form a conical form, while the remaining parts were used for structural elements such as seats and backrests.

And just like the life of a forest, the project will continue to evolve. The collections are displayed at Ginza Six until autumn, with a final, as yet undisclosed, phase due to unfold over the coming year.

If there’s one thing that Wallpaper* does well, it’s houses – spotlighting architecturally arresting gems from around the globe and spanning the spectrum of modern design. Our inboxes are overflowing with news of the world’s most boundary-pushing architectural projects, and we strive to bring you the very best.

To ensure you don’t miss a thing – and to showcase the scope of residential architecture today – we’ve launched a monthly series: The Architecture Edit. Each instalment will highlight our favourite houses of the month: buildings that demonstrate creative planning, innovative methods and, of course, aesthetic excellence. Here are the best new houses of March 2026.

A house between mountains

Set between Brazil’s Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira mountains, Valley House is architect Beatriz Meyer’s family home. Built on a rural plateau, the single-storey, horizontal structure is designed to blend into its landscape rather than dominate it. It’s divided into three volumes using glass, stone and carbonised timber, balancing transparency and solidity, while open-plan interiors emphasise light, airflow and connection to nature with pergolas and apertures framing views. The house embodies Meyer’s vision of calm, sustainable living, rooted in place.

Read about it here.

A Gujarat behemoth

Amaltash, a 12,000 sq ft home in Navsari, India, combines technical precision with cultural meaning. Designed by Veeram Shah, it embodies Le Corbusier’s idea of the home as both a ‘machine for living’ and a space rich in symbolic meaning. Climate-responsive design drives its form, with solar strategies shaping layout, patios cooling interiors, and large windows – the house operates as a micro-ecosystem, with rainwater harvesting and greenery replacing lawns. At the same time, it draws on Gujarati traditions. Crafted with local materials and artisan collaborations, Amaltash merges sustainability and heritage.

Read about it here.

A Canadian forest retreat

Nestled in British Columbia’s Coast Mountains, the Passive House Forest Retreat is a highly sustainable home designed to rigorous environmental standards. Its treehouse-like structure sits lightly on a forested slope, featuring a cantilevered volume that frames expansive views while creating a sheltered space below. Dark cladding and natural materials allow it to blend with its surroundings, while precise construction ensures top-tier energy performance. Interiors, meanwhile, complement the architecture with refined detailing and sculptural lighting.

Read about it here.

An unusual floorplan

Trim House in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a striking triangular residence shaped by unexpected planning restrictions. Originally designed larger, the project was reduced by 40 per cent after new regulations limited building size. Rather than compromise, architect Robert Konieczny reimagined the design into a compact, angular form centred around a courtyard. A spiral staircase leads to upper-level bedrooms and a terrace, while expanded outdoor space improves daylight and connection to the surroundings. The enforced ‘trimming' ultimately enhanced the project, proving constraints can inspire innovative architectural solutions.

Read about it here.

A modernist landmark

Designed in 1946 by Rudolph Schindler, the Kallis-Sharlin Residence is a modernist hillside home in Los Angeles. Built into a slope overlooking the San Fernando Valley, its layered volumes, terraces and glass walls blur indoor and outdoor boundaries, and distinctive features include a butterfly roof, clerestory lighting and rich materials like mahogany and Douglas fir. Recently restored and listed for sale at $6.35 million, this cultural monument stands as a lasting example of a modernist architecture that harmonises innovation, landscape and human experience.

Read about it here.

A bright red villa

Villa Jevany in the Czech Republic boldly contrasts its forest setting with a vivid red façade. Designed by Architektura, the house intentionally stands out rather than blending in, creating a dialogue between man-made form and nature. Built into a sloping site, it appears single-storey from the road but reveals additional levels below. Inside, a central staircase leads to a spacious living area with forest views, while irregular windows reference abstract art. Divided into active and quiet zones, the home balances striking visual identity with functional, family-oriented design.

Read about it here.

A timber house

Orchard House in Cheshire exemplifies thoughtful rural architecture. Designed by Studio Bark under strict UK planning rules, the home demonstrates exceptional design quality while remaining modest and energy-efficient. Its S-shaped plan spans two levels, with living spaces elevated for views across a restored orchard. Timber construction, passive design strategies and local materials reduce environmental impact, including parquet flooring made from a tree on-site. Over time, the house has blended into its landscape, aided by weathered cladding and revived planting, now representing a balance between contemporary, sustainable living and deep connection to place.

Read about it here.

A traditional Kyoto residence

House in Narutaki is a sensitive renovation of a traditional Sukiya-style home in Kyoto by kooo architects. Respecting strict preservation norms, the design maintains the building’s historic character while adapting it for modern living. Original tatami spaces were reconfigured into three flowing zones, including a garden room and connecting passage, while natural materials, sliding doors and handcrafted details preserve cultural authenticity. The result is a calm, minimalist home that honours Japanese tradition while providing a refined, contemporary living experience.

Read about it here.

A Jacques Couëlle-designed home

This organic modernist home near Cannes, originally designed by Jacques Couëlle in the 1960s, has been carefully refreshed by Miriam Frowein Interiors. Distinctive for its sculptural, fluid forms, the house exemplifies Couëlle’s ‘architecture-sculpture’. The renovation respects his vision, using organic shapes, earthy tones and handcrafted elements throughout, as well as mid-century-inspired furnishings to complement rather than compete with the architecture. The design approach allows the building’s expressive form to remain central while enhancing comfort and livability for contemporary use.

Read about it here.

A hidden island escape

Euthea, a house on the Greek island of Meganisi, is designed to disappear into its landscape. Created by Ateno Architecture Studio, it is partially buried and covered by earth, making it nearly invisible from above. As the first structure on its peninsula, the project prioritises minimal environmental impact – built with local stone and earthy tones, it blends seamlessly with its surroundings. Interiors are arranged to frame sea views, enhancing the sense of isolation and immersion in nature. Even functional elements, like a brass drainage pipe, are treated poetically, reinforcing the home’s quiet, thoughtful integration.

Read about it here.

Craft elevates an object. It’s no longer uncommon to find extreme examples of marquetry, embroidery, or lacquer work embedded within a high-end car interior (with prices to match for the additional legwork), and the audio world is also in on the act, via tailored programmes like Bang & Olufsen’s Atelier series and unique editions such as the marquetry-topped R810 MiE Radiogram from Ruark Audio.

This is the Casio S100X-JC1-U, the ‘Japanese Lacquer Edition’ that elevates what the Japanese electronics giant already calls its ‘Premium Luxury calculator’, the standard S100X. But while a standard example of this hefty desktop tabulator will set you back $350, this is one level above.

Casio has sold over a billion calculators since the 1950s, when they were objects the size of desks. The first desktop device didn’t come until 1965 with the 001 and LCD displays were introduced a decade later in the Casio Pocket-LC. The calculator you see here is a form factor that’s been essentially unchanged since the JS-20 model was introduced in 1983.

What sets the S100X Japanese Lacquer Edition apart is the use of traditional Japanese craft. Casio has enlisted master artisans from Yamakyu Japanware in Sabae, Fukui Prefecture, to create new cases for the calculators using layers lacquer.

The process involves tapping and filtering sap from Toxicodendron vernicifluum, the lacquer tree, which is then built up into solid form through the application of layer upon layer of the urishiol-rich sap, which hardens (polymerises) as it dries. Yamakyu has more than 95 years of working with the material, but this was the first time it’s been applied to an industrial product, with black lacquer finished off with red edging.

These high levels of precision pair with Casio’s attention to detail, from the machined aluminium fascia to the mix of subtly convex and concave-faced buttons depending on their function. The hardware itself is made at Yamagata Casio, the facility dedicated to Casio’s most premium products. Other details include laser-engraved serial numbers and a premium foil-stamped presentation box.

Craft is a way of transforming the expected into something fantastic, whether it’s a Smythson Laptop sleeve or an Hermès strap for your Apple Watch Series 11. With the Casio S100X-JC1-U, an executive staple just became a new status symbol.

S100X-JC1-U Japanese Lacquer Edition, Casio.com. The limited edition is sold out and, no surprise, already surfacing on Ebay.

Tina Koyama grew up acutely aware of mortality. Not in a morbid way, she is careful to say, but in the way that makes you ask what actually endures. It is a question she has been sitting with since childhood, and it is, in the most direct sense, why POJ Studio – of Pieces of Japan – exists.

Tina Koyama's life with Japanese craft

Koyama was raised in Switzerland, the daughter of a Swiss architect and a Japanese mother who worked as a craft buyer. She remembers her mother as a woman who, because the family didn't live in Japan, made a conscious effort to bring its influence into daily life. Food was part of it. Language was part of it: Japanese was spoken at home, a decision that would prove professionally decisive later on.

Periodically, there were visits to Japan, which meant visits to workshops. One of those visits – to a bamboo weaver and his wife – never quite left Koyama. The craftsman mentioned, quietly, that he had no successor. She was young and didn't fully register the weight of it. She recently learned he had closed his workshop and died. 'Looking back,' she says, 'it was a glimpse into a world that was already beginning to disappear.'

Koyama went on to study visual communication at the Zurich University of the Arts – historically the place to study design in Switzerland, with roots going back to the Bauhaus – before heading to Tokyo, then eventually to Silicon Valley, where she spent six years at Twitter, leading UX and international design strategy. It was an unlikely detour.

It was also, it turns out, the making of her. 'I don't think I would have had the courage to start POJ Studio if I hadn't lived there,' she says. The scale of ambition she absorbed in the Bay Area, combined with a creeping unease at watching billions of dollars flow into apps while centuries-old craft traditions quietly collapsed for want of a sustainable income model – a contrast that eventually became impossible to ignore.

Pieces of Japan: a fortunate beginning

POJ Studio launched in April 2020 out of a Kyoto machiya, with a single product: a kintsugi kit made with real urushi lacquer, at a time when authentic versions were almost impossible to find. The timing was fortunate as people in lockdown suddenly had the hours required for a slow, demanding repair process. Of course, the thinking behind it was anything but accidental. Koyama had gone looking for the kit after her mother took up kintsugi, and found almost nothing made to proper traditional standards. She cold-called Takuya Tsutsumi, a fourth-generation urushi lacquer refiner. He is now, she says, like family.

That is broadly how POJ works: deep, long-term relationships with artisan families whose practices span generations, developed through trust, word of mouth, and Koyama's own fluency – cultural as much as linguistic – in a world that does not open easily to outsiders.

Preserving craft traditions

The studio now works with more than 20 craft traditions across Japan, from the Tahara family's sashimono woodworking (nail-free joinery, practised since 1877, now producing a modular storage system with POJ) to Masao Kiyoe, a former steel construction worker who retrained after a workplace accident and has spent 47 years natural-dyeing indigo textiles from a workshop on the path up to Kiyomizu Temple. His son Junichi now works alongside him.

Then there is the Ainu noren (or divider, featuring designs of the indigenous Ainu community), hand-stitched in Hokkaido by members of the Kayano family – POJ’s most politically charged collaboration, and deliberately so. 'It feels important,' Koyama says, 'to highlight a culture that predates modern Japanese identity.'

Given the nature of the craft, products are never seasonal and besides, rotating collections would undermine the stable income stream that is the whole point of POJ. Everything ships to over 160 countries, with the US the largest market.

For Koyama, these are busy times. She talks about building 'craft villages’ – ecosystems, not just shops – where younger people can actually envision a life, a family, a future. To that end, a woodworking school has opened in Keihoku; and a pottery residency is planned for Shigaraki in early 2027. A foundation is also in the works.

Clearly, Koyama is playing a very long game. 'The idea of sustainability, for me, isn't only environmental or economic,' she says. 'It's about continuity across generations.' That, ultimately, is her answer to mortality: build something that outlasts you.

For architect Tomoyuki Sakakida of New Material Research Laboratory, the idea of transcending time was elemental in shaping the design of the new Imperial Hotel, Kyoto.

‘Time. This word sums up everything. Over 1,000 years ago, people in Kyoto would watch the moon rise above the mountains from here. We want guests to see the same moon and mountains and feel a sense of continuity. The hotel is a vehicle for going beyond time.’

The 55-room hotel is a dialogue between old and new, reimagining a historic theatre where Kyoto’s geisha, or geiko, once performed, layered with the luxury Japanese hospitality that has defined the Imperial Hotel brand for more than a century.

Wallpaper* checks in at Imperial Hotel, Kyoto

What’s on your doorstep?

The hotel blends into the Gion Kobo Kaburenjo theatre complex – the heart of local geiko culture – and just beyond lies Gion itself: a time-etched townscape of narrow stone lanes, wooden machiya townhouses, tiled rooftops and Higashiyama mountains beyond.

Who is behind the design?

‘Old is new’ is the philosophy of New Material Research Laboratory, an architectural practice founded by Sakakida and artist Hiroshi Sugimoto in Tokyo in 2008 – an idea that deeply aligns with the spirit of Imperial Hotel, Kyoto.

Preservation and innovation are softly harmonised. The restored southwest facade of 90-year-old Yasaka Kaikan remains in place, beneath reconstructed copper-tiled roofing. Countless original elements are woven into the new hotel – from stone pillars and window frames to intricate terracotta reliefs and 16,387 exterior tiles (about a tenth of the total).

Time imprints material surfaces, old and new. At the ancient end of the spectrum, there is the 1,000-year-old zelkova wood signboard at the entrance and a catalogue of primitive Japanese stones and woods destined to age with natural beauty. Hints of Frank Lloyd Wright are also found in geometric motifs and Art Deco lines.

And on the modern side? Interiors are anchored by connective sweeps of a warm matte surface with a softly metallic edge, from elevators to walls. A signature material of the architects, it’s stainless steel with a corroded patina in a new shade called kobishoku – ‘antique colour beauty’ – inspired by a Ming Dynasty plating technique used to make the handles of screens.

Meanwhile, artwork Tobanjan by Sugimoto consists of a dynamic slash of ceramic made by swinging onto its surface the Gibeon meteorite, one of the world’s oldest known materials, dating back over 4 billion years.

Where is the heart of the hotel?

The Executive Lounge, where guests are greeted, resembles an elegant contemporary take on a traditional Japanese home. Beneath a tilted wooden ceiling, a long wall of glass frames horizontal lines of pebbles, jewel-green moss, Tamba rock slabs, cedar bark fencing, bound bamboo, a 16th-century stone wellhead and a small shrine (where staff pray daily) – while momiji maples of a neighbouring geisha residence peek over the back wall.

Inside, polygons – a recurring Art Deco motif – shape the crafted wood furniture and carpet designs, alongside decorative Lloyd Wright-inspired metal columns. The lounge is framed by two time-rooted creations by Sugimoto. Gold and green pine trees on fusuma-e screens on one side; and on the other, a Seascape – a signature monochrome abstraction of seas and skies, shot in 2025 to mark the hotel’s completed construction.

The room to book

Zelkova doors echoing shrine gates mark the thresholds of the Main Building’s modern rooms – enclaves of organic silk walls, cedarwood panels, geometric wood bathroom mirrors, framed textiles by Shinichiro Yoshida of Kyoto gallery Shinmyoan and carpets inspired by Shugakuin Imperial Villa. Views capture a puzzle of Gion rooftops and mountains (thanks to Kyoto officials permitting Yasaka Kaikan’s original 100ft height, in contrast with Gion’s 40ft restriction).

Heritage rooms span the south and west sides of the restored Yasaka Kaikan. Atmospheric spaces are shaped by moss green carpets, original framed windows and bespoke furniture – including lights with dynamic angular forms of patinated stainless steel and washi paper. The Imperial Suite also has a meditative rooftop gazebo – in one corner, a five elements artwork by Shiro Tsujimura sits on an antique smoke-blackened former ceiling panel from Kinkakuji Temple.

A different tempo unfolds in the North Wing, a low-level black timber extension, with eight tatami mat rooms (the first in the Imperial’s history). Immersed in the Gion townscape, shoes are slipped off in cherry wood entrances, leading into crafted tatami, chiselled naguri chestnut and lantern-like lighting alongside low-level beds. ‘The lighting is very important, particularly in the evening,’ explains Sakakida. ‘I wanted to create gentle, subtle, quiet lighting so the hotel and Gion share the same atmosphere.’

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Yasaka – with its mirrored banana leaf artwork from the original Yasaka Kaikan – serves all-day dining, plus deliciously layered Japanese breakfasts in collaboration with Gion restaurant Kawakami. A counter seat at elegant Ren is the place to enjoy a creative dialogue with the seasons, with French cuisine and Japanese precision expressed through quality ingredients, from Awaji seabream to grated caviar.

After dark, head to the Old Imperial Bar, anchored by an ancient jindai keiyaki wood counter, and sip a Mount Hiei, a sweet blend of matcha, yuzu and a hint of nostalgia – a Kyoto nod to the century-old Mount Fuji cocktail at Imperial Hotel, Tokyo.

Where to switch off

Recover from temple fatigue in the cave-like serenity of the basement, swimming laps in the clean-lined blue pool waters, flanked by the raw beauty of vast Kitagi stone boulders (originally used in the façade), alongside fitness facilities. A spa will soon open.

In addition, local experiences range from geiko teahouse visits to doll-painting workshops. As GM Reiko Sakata clearly understands, Gion is a driving force, particularly the estimated 80 okami san women running generations-old teahouses.

The verdict

This is the fourth property in Japan’s Imperial Hotel collection (after Tokyo, Kamikochi and Osaka) and its first opening in around 30 years. It joins the monumental Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, founded in 1890 as a state guesthouse during a seminal moment in Japan’s modernisation. It shaped the nation’s hotel industry and became a playground for experimental design, most famously with its 1923 incarnation by Frank Lloyd Wright.

In Kyoto, this history is written into the hotel’s DNA but expressed in a new way – through its material textures, conceptual artworks, Art Deco accents and deep ties with Gion.

Imperial Hotel Kyoto is located at 289 570 Gionmachi Minamigawa, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0074, Japan

This Kyoto home in the ancient capital of Japan might not shout about its contemporary credentials – and rightly so, as this is a historical city with strict preservation rules when it comes to architecture. At the same time, many architects are called to explore upgrading their urban fabric as needs evolve and residents call for the reimagining of their period properties. Such was the case of House in Narutaki, a private residential project recently completed by kooo architects in the city's namesake neighbourhood.

Explore this Kyoto home by kooo architects

The architects were commissioned for the renovation of a traditional Sukiya-style house in the district of Narutaki. The privileged plot meant leafy environs wrapped in historical surroundings, as well as long views of the scenic landscape of western Kyoto (Rakusei). At the same time, a rich, mature garden provides not only a pleasant closer vista, but also a spectacle of colours as the seasons change. It was this vibrant and layered environment that the architecture team was called upon to operate in.

Right from the start, the architects knew they had to respect the existing home's precious architectural character. Sukiya structures were associated with the culturally important Japanese tea ceremonies, and were typically timber constructions using large open spaces and natural materials. The architects sought to implement the same approach with their modern interpretation of the genre, nodding to the past, while refining details and function for the present and future.

The Kyoto home's original tatami rooms – which had, over the years, been tinkered with and altered beyond recognition – were transformed into three, flowing yet distinct spaces. One is an earthen-floored passage that connects the main structure's two wings, as well as links it to a smaller, detached annex. The second space is a generous reception room, and the third is a garden room, created with the sole purpose of allowing the residents to enjoy the serene outdoors.

Local craftspeople and designers worked on perfecting the overall feel through key built-in details throughout. There are fusuma sliding doors by Noda Hanga Studio separating different areas, exposed cherry wood beams, and traditional Juraku plaster on walls and ceilings.

The project's annex is new and contains the main residence, including three guest rooms. Hinoki baths and dappled light through translucent window screens are just some of the elements that make up an ethereal living experience in this property, ensuring it remains connected to the adjacent period building's origins.

ko-oo.jp

If the number of rooms is any indication of just how boutique a hotel is, Tayura, in the heart of Nara, is as boutique as hotels get, with only two rooms to choose from. Both rooms are spacious and come with generous twin queen-size beds. The location in the heart of the old town (Naramachi) could not be better and offers plenty of restaurants, cafés, shops, temples and more in the immediate vicinity to explore.

Wallpaper* checks in at Tayura たゆら, Nara

What’s on your doorstep?

Naramachi is the old town centre of Nara city and is a fun maze of narrow streets lined with beautiful old machiya houses to wander around. While the hotel does not have any on-site F&B (although the ground floor is currently vacant and the owners are looking for a suitable tenant), plenty of options are within walking distance. For your daily caffeine fix, consider Ongaku & Coffee – a stylish listening-style café – or Tabi Coffee Roaster, a tiny, local, takeaway. For a simple lunch, try the local speciality of sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves at Hiraso or amazing buckwheat noodles at Gen. Dinner at Awa, with local produce and local sake, is always amazing and, followed by drinks at Lamp Bar, will make your evening in Nara perfect.

Who’s behind the design?

The hotel is on the first floor of an old two-and-a-half-storey steel structure that had been sitting empty for almost a decade. Local Nara resident Yoshiaki Nagasaka of Hitotomori Architects was commissioned to do the renovation and came up with the simple floor plan, splitting the space into two large guest rooms. ‘I wanted to give the hotel a bit of a Sri Lankan feel, so went with a simple pink-putty finish for the walls, and furniture, doors and windows made of tropical Lauan wood,’ he explains. The high steel ceilings are left exposed, and a very cosy lighting scheme ties the elements together.

The room to book

Besides the comfortable, large queen beds, both rooms come with small kitchens and ensuite bathrooms. We especially love the semi-outdoor bathroom of the larger 66 sq m room. Although it’s a bit chilly in winter! Nagasaka’s clever use of rounded walls and ceiling panels (and of course, the cute pink-putty walls and pink floors) also helps to soften the rather hard shape of the building and create a dreamy atmosphere. Amenities are basic, but the bespoke room wear (made of Sri Lankan cotton) and the thick off-white Japanese hemp bedding add a splash of luxury to the experience.

The verdict

We love the raw and unapologetic interiors and the pink colour-scheme. The rooms are spacious, especially by Japanese standards, and the unusual bathrooms make your stay a fun experience. The location right in the centre of Naramachi is also hard to beat.

Tayura is located at 20 Minamicho, Nara, 630-8873, Japan. Rates: from 49,800JPY

You might expect Shigeru Ban to be a fascinating speaker – the Pritzker prize-winning Japanese architecture master has been working on his own, experimental designs straight out of university in the early 1980s, and is still going strong in the seventh decade of his life. Over the years, Ban perfected building with paper, while experimenting with bamboo and developing a rich portfolio of pro bono work for disaster relief architecture.

What you might, perhaps, not expect is that he is also funny. Speaking to a packed auditorium at the Royal Geographical Society in London earlier this week for the RIBA + LKE Ozolins Lecture 2026, Ban charmed the audience, taking them on a whistle-stop journey across his career, from his more 'conventional' projects, high-profile museum commissions and well-known designs, such as a series of private homes (including Paper House, the first building made of paper to be granted planning permission in Japan) to cultural destinations such as the Centre Pompidou-Metz.

He touched on moments of his career that proved turning points with humour and affection – he smiled remembering the client representative who requested a giraffe in the Nicolas G. Hayek Center, the headquarters of the Swatch Group, in the middle of Tokyo, after having seen the outline of one in Ban's development phase drawings (it was there to showcase the height of the ceiling). He ended up creating a timber giraffe sculpture to satisfy his client for the opening.

This was not the only time he experimented with different spatial formats or materials. Ban has famously spearheaded paper architecture – in particular, building using strong paper tubes, initially inspired by the organic modernism of Finnish architecture master Alvar Aalto and a strong desire to be mindful of the environment and avoid waste. This method has subsequently been used in both private commissions and his disaster relief efforts with consistent success. He has also worked with shipping containers (at a time when few others did–his Nomadic Museum in New York from 2005 is an example), timber, carbon fibre and bamboo.

Through his designs, Ban challenges ideas of temporary building, as many of these projects end up far outliving their predicted life expectancy. 'Even a building made of paper can be permanent if people love it,' he says. 'That is my definition of what is permanent or temporary.'

He probably only half-jokes that the local priest thought he was crazy when he proposed building a church out of paper in 1995 after the existing Kobe community building was destroyed by fire, following an earthquake. Even so, he did just that, and that paper church remained in use for a whole 10 years.

He proposed creating privacy screens to offer spatial separation between different families housed within a single space in emergency shelters after the East Japan earthquake of 2011 in Japan, because 'privacy is a human right,' he emphasises. His paper and fabric partitions proved hugely popular. He is now working on Ukraine's first hospital out of timber, after donating time, labour and equipment to support local communities during the ongoing war in the country. His first disaster shelter designs were used by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Rwanda during the region's 1995 genocide, and he has never stopped working in the field since, completing such projects from Turkey to Sri Lanka and beyond.

'I was always hoping to use my knowledge to help the wider public, not just the privileged,' he recalls of his early years in architecture, and it is a statement he still stands by.

Catching up with Shigeru Ban

We caught up with Shigeru Ban after his lecture to find out more about his current experimentations, what's on his plate and his plans for the future.

Wallpaper*: Your career has always included a lot of experimentation. What excites you today?

Shigeru Ban: I showed today [at the lecture] a project using carbon fibre, [which is a good example of what I am looking at]. So, I'm not only using natural materials in my work, but I'm also interested in this type of high-tech material because there are special characteristics to each material. Bamboo is another example. As you know, there are many architects in Colombia and Indonesia working with bamboo; also, Neil Thomas works with engineered bamboo. But buildings like these can be possible only in a country that doesn't have very strict regulations in terms of the use of the material, because bamboo is such a weak material. When bamboo is exposed to the sun, it cracks very easily, but also its diameter and wall thickness can be very different, so it's very difficult to apply planning regulations when it comes to safety.

W*: Do you feel like regulations might get in the way of experimenting in architecture?

SB: Well, I know that by testing, we can prove anything. The most difficult thing is [tackling] people's prejudices. But testing things can be your hope.

W*: Do you feel there is enough experimentation in architecture today?

SB: No, these days it's more about form-making.

W*: Is there something that you would like to see the architecture world addressing?

SB: Greenwashing is one thing. It is very popular now because people often say, this or that is sustainable, without really understanding what really is sustainable. They think that if they use natural materials, then a building is sustainable, but it's not.

W*: What is on your plate right now, what are you working on?

SB: There is the hospital in Ukraine [the first timber hospital in the country], and I am working on a project in Oman that I am really excited about. I am using mud; I am studying existing technologies of how to apply the material.

W*: You have led a long career that is still going strong. Did you start with a particular vision? What does success look like for you?

SB: Back then, I didn't have a specific goal [of what I wanted to achieve]. I want to develop my own structural system, and I always collaborate with very good structural engineers, including Frei Otto – who was also an architect, of course – and that has trained and educated me. Working with good engineers, even now, for all my timber structures, is important. Those kind collaborations and the training I receive through them is success for me.

Substance is the new monograph from the Japanese master architect Kengo Kuma. Featuring 35 pavilion projects from around the world, it is not only a chronicle of Kuma’s recent work but an exploration of his use of material, in particular wood, bamboo, metal, paper, textile, and stone.

In the pages of ‘Substance’ by Kengo Kuma

The watchword here is integration, and the ways in which Kengo Kuma’s approach brings together traditional Japanese design and construction methods with new technologies.

Since Kengo Kuma & Associates was established in 1990, the firm has overseen everything from the acclaimed V&A outpost in Dundee, with its geologic solidity, to the ephemeral Paper Clouds installation at Somerset House created for the 2025 London Design Biennale.

The book, from Images Publishing, includes projects like the reimagined forest of salvaged timber, Domino 3.0, created for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, the Wakuni Shoten tobacco store in Tokyo, temples, bridges, pavilions, tents and tea houses, as well as other installations, like the Krug x Kuma pavilion for the champagne brand.

To mark the publication of Substance, Wallpaper* asked Kuma about his experience with craft, technology and innovation in architecture.

An interview with Kengo Kuma

Wallpaper*: Have the technological innovations (CAD, 3D printing and modelling, AI) that have happened during your career changed your approach to design?

Kengo Kuma: Our design is greatly influenced by technology. Fabrication through technology has made architectural possibilities even more organic. Organic architectural design, cost management, and the way we draw plans have all become easier, while evolving our imagination.

W*: In your opinion, how has technology impacted our understanding and application of traditional craft processes?

KK: I believe technology has revealed a flexible attitude and respect for natural materials inherent in traditional human craftsmanship.

W*: Do you think that architecture’s relationship with nature has improved over the past few decades?

KK: I particularly feel that the relationship between architecture and nature has changed dramatically since 2000. The increase in natural disasters has revealed the limitations of modernist architecture represented by concrete and steel and has fostered the awareness that prioritises natural materials as a way for humans to survive.

It has further intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic and, I believe, has had a significant impact on architectural design.

W*: Are there any natural spaces or environments that influence your approach to creating architectural space?

KK: I consider myself an architect particularly sensitive to topography. Whether in urban areas or in nature, I walk around the site and think about what kind of terrain the place is situated on.

W*: Which is more important for architects, a relationship with space, with materials or with technology? Or are they increasingly related?

KK: Space, materials and technology are all indispensable to architecture and are interrelated, but if I must prioritise, it should be materials. By thoroughly studying materials, how the space and the technology should be designed emerges naturally.

Japanese technical-wear brand Goldwin has been making waves in the fashion world, following notable collaborations in 2025 with Comme des Garçons and Our Legacy (a tour of its futuristic Goldwin 0 factory, home to its experimental diffusion line, also hints at its ambition). This year, Goldwin’s ascent continues with the opening of three new stores in London, New York and Seoul. The London flagship, designed by Hiroshi Sugimoto and Tomoyuki Sakakida’s New Material Research Laboratory, is a statement of intent rendered in wood, light and air.

Located on Broadwick Street in Soho, the store’s design is rooted in traditional Japanese craftsmanship, yet acutely attuned to London’s position as a crucible of contemporary culture. The space is imagined as the ‘eye of the vortex’: a generative centre from which new creative currents spiral outward. Circularity underpins the entire concept: layers and rings radiate outward, echoing themes of cycle and flow.

As the team at New Material Research Laboratory explains, the central inspiration was ‘the natural formations of strata, created over an eternity of geological time’. The circle, a spokesperson for the brand adds, is ‘a form that physically anchors the space while symbolically embracing the five great elements of earth, water, fire, wind and void’.

At the heart of the interior stands a ring-shaped yashiro, or sanctuary. Described by New Material Research Laboratory as a ‘shrine-like structure’, it anchors the experience spatially and symbolically. Garments orbit its perimeter, transforming the yashiro into a stage or amphitheatre for Goldwin’s collections, while inviting visitors inward. ‘By positioning the central circular structure as the core of the space and arranging products around it, the entire store operates like a large show window that draws the eyes of passersby,’ says the brand.

Visible through the transparent facade, a digital canvas of 12 LED pillars encircles the yashiro, presenting flickering visuals that reflect seasonal transitions, natural imagery and the work of contemporary artists. ‘This allows the store to establish an identity not as a static environment, but as a living organism whose expression is constantly shifting,’ says New Material Research Laboratory. Within the ring, Akita cedar columns rise like a hushed forest, embodying traditional Japanese aesthetics and offering a serene counterpoint to the bustle of the street outside.

Even the fitting rooms reflect meticulous craftsmanship. Silk panels dyed using the traditional kakishibu method have been treated with persimmon tannin, producing a soft, luminous sakura-iro glow. ‘As a brand originating in Japan, we wanted to subtly infuse the space with a sense of Japanese character by using domestically sourced materials. While the exterior features LED elements, the interior side of the columns uses Akita cedar… [and] the fitting rooms [incorporate] silk crafted in Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture,’ the brand explains.

The result is a store that extends beyond retail. It becomes a ‘landscape’ – one that fuses tradition with innovation and art with technology. Instead of merely being a place to purchase garments, it provides ‘new inspiration and deeper awareness of coexistence’.

Goldwin, 35 Broadwick St, London W1F 0DH

Denizen Works, the UK-based practice known for its floating church in the East End of London, the Haddo Yard housing in Kent and spectacular private houses like Taigh Na Traigh and 100 Acre Wood in Scotland, has completed its first project in Japan.

Discover this new house in Japan by Denizen Works

The House in Onomichi is notably more restrained and modest in scale than much of the studio’s UK-based residential work, drawing on the region’s vernacular architecture and materials. The firm describes the project as a ‘low-impact, reduced material construction’, adding that ‘it’s an important element in our search for low emission designs for living’.

The clients chose the site for its clear distinctions from their previous life in London. They wished to be closer to nature, and the house has views across the Seto Inland Sea to the Setonai islands, surrounded by a simple garden that ties it into the surrounding vegetation.

The main house, or Omoya, is paired with an annexe, or Hanare (a word meaning a detached cottage). The latter houses a ceramics studio, with the space between the two designated as a covered transition zone akin to a traditional dirt-floored Doma. The structure sits on a slightly raised concrete plinth, with walls of Yakisugi burnt cedar cladding contrasting with the joinery details of the exposed rafters above.

On the ground floor of the main house is the entrance hallway and primary bedroom, along with utility area, WC and bathroom. A staircase leads up to the open plan kitchen, dining and living space, with large windows providing views to the Seto Sea and the surrounding landscape.

The room features a high ceiling that reaches up into the pitch of the roof, with the house’s orientation ensuring the two principal windows follow the path of the sun throughout the day (minimising the need for artificial lighting).

As Murray Kerr and Yuto Fujii of Denizen Works note, ‘[the] windows are placed to frame views from both a western seat height and from sitting on the floor... it helps give a slightly eccentric look to the otherwise extremely simple exterior'.

Hiroshima-based Take Architects collaborated with Denizen on the construction process, ensuring that materials and labour were locally sourced along with overseeing the earthquake-proofing elements of the design.

DenizenWorks.com

Also read: The Japanese house offers lessons in living for everyone

Japanese house design has been a fixation of the West since the early 20th century. From Charles Rennie Mackintosh to Frank Lloyd Wright and the Bauhaus and beyond, the country’s housing stock showed Western architects a radically different approach to spatial planning, construction methods, decoration and even pre-fabrication.

Explore Japanese house design and architecture in this new book

The subtitle of A House in Japan, a new monograph from Gestalten, is Lessons in Living, furthering the idea that the Japanese domestic experience can still offer a different path in a world conditioned by the OTT creature comforts and scale of McMansions and badly built tract houses.

Central to the book’s thesis is that radical acts can be understated and that ‘even the everyday can be transformed into something unexpected’.

What leaps from the page is the spatial innovation, the idea that vertical space is just as valid as traditional planning and the sense that small plots need not constrain architectural ideas.

Some of the featured houses are most experimental than others, perhaps buoyed by a culture of relative impermanence that sees housing stock regularly replenished and places the value on site, rather than structure.

Japan’s cities also offer lessons in density, both through the aforementioned use of verticality and connectivity between multiple levels, but also in the acknowledgement that space isn’t to be wasted. Excessive space is not luxurious but profligate and better planning always triumphs.

Featured studios include Keiji Ashizawa, Kooo Architects, SAI Architectural Design Office and Studio Cochi, with projects in Osaka, Tokyo, Koyoto and beyond. Here are some of our favourite houses from the book’s 40+ projects.

'A House in Japan: Lessons in Living,' Gestalten, £45, Gestalten.com

When Shigeru Ban, the Japanese architecture pioneer, completed Paper House in 1995 on the shores of Lake Yamanaka in Yamanashi Prefecture, it was a meticulous experimental composition, created from 110 recycled paper tubes. The house was minimalist, flexible, rhythmic, curved, strong, lightweight – and, yes, made of paper.

Shigeru Ban, a contemporary architecture master

Spanning just 10m by 10m, Paper House was defined by its pared-back sculptural form and unusual material make-up, with a soft S-shaped flow of paper tubes blurring inside and out; a sharp horizontal roof floating above glass doors; and a loo playfully contained in an oversized paper column.

Perhaps most noteworthy of all? Not only was it Ban’s first paper house – it was the first permanent building in Japan to receive approval by the government to use paper tubes as the primary structural material.

The house perfectly embodied the architect’s vision of creating a protective human sanctuary, rooted in material innovation, cost-efficient sustainability and positive social impact – and paved the way for decades of award-winning humanitarian architecture.

Who is Shigeru Ban?

Ban is among Japan’s most celebrated contemporary architects. Since opening his studio in Tokyo in 1985 – now also with bases in Paris and New York – his name has become synonymous with unique architectural systems and experimentations with paper.

His paper tube structures – flexible, functional, pared back – have been used as emergency housing across the globe from post-disaster Japan, Turkey, India, the Philippines and New Zealand, as well as refugee camps in Rwanda.

Beyond paper, Ban is no less renowned. The architect has brought to life countless projects underpinned by systems and material innovations (from shipping containers to laminated bamboo), including museums, cultural centres, private residences and hotels.

Threading all his projects together? An experimental vision of architecture as flexible systems rather than fixed structures, complemented by clean contemporary Japanese aesthetics, inventive materials and instinctive sustainability.

'When I started working this way, almost 30 years ago, nobody was talking about the environment,' said Ban, when he was awarded a Pritzker Prize in 2014. 'But this way of working came naturally to me. I was always interested in low-cost, local, reusable materials.'

The origins of an architect

The starting point can be traced to his childhood in Tokyo, where he was exposed to creativity and beauty through his fashion designer mother and his father, a classical music-loving businessman at Toyota.

At a young age, he decided to become a carpenter after witnessing traditional craftsmanship work being carried out at his family’s wooden home, before settling upon architecture after designing a model house for a ninth-grade school assignment.

A turning point was when he came across an article about John Hejduk, the 'paper architect' – and instantly inspired, he decided he wished to study with him (Hejduk was dean of Cooper Union’s School of Architecture in New York at the time).

Ban went on to spend a number of formative years studying architecture in both California and New York, where he was deeply influenced by his exposure to conceptual experimentation and structural innovation.

Back in Japan

Upon returning to Japan and setting up his own practice, he spent the first decade exploring experimental ideas of lightweight modular building systems and material testing through small-scale residences and exhibition design – culminating in the creation of Paper House in 1995.

The same year, Kobe city was hit by a devastating earthquake – prompting Ban to create Paper Log Houses as temporary housing for the displaced – a minimal, lightweight structure, with a foundation of sand-filled beer crates, walls of paper tubes plus a roof and ceiling of tent membranes.

It led Ban to create the Voluntary Architects Network, a non-profit organisation which develops temporary housing for victims of natural disasters and conflicts, using his Paper Partition System (PPS) – balancing privacy and human dignity with safety, sustainability and cost efficiency.

Paper architecture

Since then, his paper architecture has appeared in disaster zones around the world, from his epic Cardboard Cathedral in the aftermath of New Zealand’s 2011 earthquake, to countless paper tube innovations in places including Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, Ukraine and Morocco.

Ban's creative vision has simultaneously continued to unfold beyond humanitarian work, with a growing body of architecture exploring themes relating to nature and humans, sustainability, functionality and material experimentation.

Highlights include the 2010 Centre Pompidou Metz in France, with its bold organic roof curves, made from a light-filtering Teflon-coated fibreglass membrane and a hexagonal lattice of laminated wood.

Ban’s mastery of large-scale timber carpentry is also centre-stage in Mount Fuji World Heritage Center in Shizuoka Prefecture, with an inverted conical form mirroring the silhouette of Japan’s tallest peak reflected in water.

Further innovations are synergised at Shishi-Iwa House, an intimate nature-immersed retreat in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. Here, Ban designed two elegantly minimalist wooden structures, both inside and out, which seamlessly harmonise with the landscape.

For one of the buildings, Ban created a new structural system using PHP – paper honeycomb wedged between plywood – enabling its organically curved form to flow between the trees, without disturbing the forest.

'I wanted to “insert” the building between the trees,' he explains. 'As a result, the organic design of the building came from the existing tree layout.'

Lovers of Ban’s work would also do well to make a pilgrimage to Simose Art Garden Villa overlooking the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, where he designed every structure – including a playfully expansive art complex with umbrella-like cypress pillars, flower-strewn hillsides and moveable galleries in colourful containers hovering on water.

Best of all, it’s possible to stay overnight, not only in new Ban-designed guestrooms, but also in full-scale recreations of some of his most iconic residences. Among them? A serene and airy reimagining of Paper House at Lake Yamanaka – exactly where it all began.

Shigeru Ban's 8 key buildings

Paper Log House

Where: Japan
When: 1985

Configured as a traditional gabled-roofed home, the Paper Log House concept was born out of Ban’s desire to reduce waste. He began experimenting with the idea of using paper tubes – harnessed by locally sourced wood – in 1985.

House of Double Roof

Where: Japan
When: 1993

Conceived as a case study house for experimental living, House of Double Roof was designed for a region in Japan that suffers from heavy snowfall. Playing with roof design, Ban attempted to separate the home's flat roof from its ceiling.

Curtain Wall House

Where: Tokyo, Japan
When: 1995

Created for a forward-thinking client who was after a modern home in downtown Tokyo, Curtain Wall House uses fabric for its enclosure and was conceived as an experiment in urban living.

Paper House

Where: Japan
When: 1995

This was Ban's first permanent paper tube structure. It was minimalist in its layout and organised on a 10 x 10 metre plan, featuring 110 paper-tube columns. These were arranged in an S shape.

Centre Pompidou-Metz

Where: Metz, France
When: 2010

Bringing together art spaces and theatre as an annexe to Paris' famous Centre Pompidou, this project by Shigeru Ban Architects features organic curves and a glass shutter facade.

Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral

Where: Christchurch, New Zealand
When: 2013

Part of Ban's emergency architecture work, the Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral was a response to the New Zealand earthquake of 2011. The structure was, as its name suggests, composed predominantly of paper.

Aspen Art Museum

Where: Aspen, CO, USA
When: 2014

Encased in a woven wood facade, Shigeru Ban's new Aspen Art Museum in Colorado, USA, is set against the scenic backdrop of Ajax Mountain.

Simose Art Museum

Where: Hiroshima, Japan
When: 2023

A series of rebuilt Shigeru Ban houses became available to experience and rent at the Simose Art Museum in 2023. The institution was designed by the same architect in Hiroshima, Japan and features colourful galleries set within water.

shigerubanarchitects.com

Picture earthen walls in local soils, tree bark visible on wooden carpentry, intricately woven ceilings, aromatic tatami flooring, calligraphic abstractions on scrolls, and the sound of bamboo on ceramic as matcha is ceremoniously whisked by a kimono-clad tea master.

Timeless, traditional, contemporary – and deeply serene. All these words can be applied to Senkutsu, a new tea house sitting inside the scenic gardens of Aman Kyoto on the mountainous northwestern edges of the city.

Aman Kyoto unveils Tea House Senkutsu

A smooth balance of past and present, the tea house was brought to life by Norio Toyama, an architect from Kyoto-based Sen Art Studio, renowned for creating traditional sukiya-style tea room architecture for modern times.

Tapping into the craftsmanship eco-system that has long sustained Japan’s traditional architecture, Toyama worked with a constellation of around 30 artisans specialising in different fields – from tsuchikabe soil wall makers to bamboo experts, as well as Nakamura Sotoji Komuten, a deeply respected sukiya carpentry company.

As a result, Senkutsu ticks all the boxes of a textbook traditional tea house – the garden pathway, softly transitioning between outside world and inner sanctum; a pared-back elimination of excess and simplicity of form; a nature-based material palette (wood, soil, stone, paper, bamboo); and a deep-rooted harmony with the natural landscape that surrounds it.

Upon closer inspection, however, modern touches shift into focus – as reflected in one room in particular, which is dedicated to a more casual-style tea ceremony, with raised seats and tables (so no kneeling or shoe removal required), all expressed through quality traditional craftsmanship.

‘I designed the tea house as though it’s been here for a very long time,’ says Toyama, while taking Wallpaper* around the space. ‘The architectural method is very traditional, yet the aesthetics are a fusion. There are soil walls and a small mat room space, but there is also a more casual space with tables.’

Tea House Senkutsu is reached after walking down a wide moss-covered pathway that cuts through the lushly forested garden that sits at the heart of Aman Kyoto, which opened its doors in 2019 (and won a Wallpaper* Design Award in 2020).

Upon approaching the tea house, a tilted puzzle of tiled roofs can be seen among the trees, alongside a light bamboo fence and a boulder-strewn pathway leading to the entrance.

Guests can first step into the Ryu-rei area, where everything has been raised for comfort, creating a less formal tea ceremony experience. Chairs and tables sit alongside an elevated tokonoma – a soft-edged mirror-smooth laquer-based alcove where a calligraphic scroll reading setsu-getsu-ka (snow, moon, flower) sits alongside a small hanging vase with a camellia bud mirroring early winter.

A glance up reveals angled layers of intricately crafted bamboo and wood ceilings in three varying styles – from woven and layered to a stitched-style – each one gently demarcating a different spatial function directly beneath it: the host area, the guest area and the entrance area.

Solid timber structures, with bark surface knots intact, were crafted from Kitayama cedar while artisans created a traditional compacted earthen floor known as tataki, enabling guests to keep on their shoes while visiting.

Another key detail is the walls: traditional tsuchikabe walls are handcrafted from an unusually dark-toned blackish soil known as kurojuraku, sourced near Nijo Castle in Kyoto.

‘Black is a key theme,’ adds Toyama, whose company, Sen Art Studio, was established in 1953 by the third son of a famed 14th-century grand master in the Urasenke school of tea. ‘Aman’s signature colour is black, which is why I chose this soil.’

Just next door is a second tea room space: Koma. Steeped in more traditional aesthetics, guests slip off their shoes outside before stepping up on a boulder and entering via a small tea room doorway known as a nijiriguchi.

Inside, a stillness descends: sunlight is softened by a medley of washi paper windows with geometric bamboo frames cut into tsuchikabe walls crafted from soil sourced from the local Takagamine area near the hotel, resulting in a rough texture with a slightly reddish tinge.

Here, guests kneel on tatami flooring as a sliding arced door of washi paper slowly slides open as the tea master glides in, dressed in a kimono, and time slows as a traditional tea ceremony begins, with traditional seasonal wagashi and freshly whisked matcha presented with a gentle bow.

‘Traditional aesthetics and connection to nature are very important,’ says Toyama san. ‘Every material, detail and design has a meaning and a story. I hope it creates a sense of beauty and wonder.’

Akane Murakami, marketing and communications manager for Aman Kyoto, adds: ‘Aman always respects local culture. We wanted guests here to have a true and authentic experience of local culture. The feeling of tea – chanoyu – is like the art of everything that Japanese culture represents. So it has long been our dream to have a tea house here.’

Aman Kyoto is located at 1 Okitayama Washimine-cho, Kita Ward, Kyoto, 603-8458, Japan

As 2025 draws to a close, Wallpaper* begins to plan next year’s adventures. From landmark restorations and adaptive re-use projects to remote wilderness lodges and long-awaited brand debuts, these are the new hotel openings that have caught our eye: places designed to relax, retreat and explore, and destinations around which to plan your next travels. Spanning Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia, the year ahead signals a particularly rich chapter for global hospitality, where thoughtful design, cultural context and a renewed emphasis on experience sit at the heart of the world’s most compelling new stays.

The hotel openings to know for 2026

Amanvari (Baja Peninsula, Mexico)

Next year, Aman will bring its laid-back lifestyle to the East Cape of Baja California, Mexico, with the opening of Amanvari: an 18-key retreat and collection of branded residences. Elastic Architects has designed thoughtfully considered villas that blur the boundary between indoors and out, showcasing Aman’s signature tranquil aesthetic through sandy-hued interiors, layers of natural stone and tropical woods, and bespoke Mexican ceramics and artworks. The Aman Spa will continue the brand’s focus on longevity, while multiple dining venues will celebrate Italian, Japanese and local cuisine.

aman.com

Black Sand Hotel (Ölfus, Iceland)

Sitting on a peninsula in the Ölfus region, Black Sand Hotel will be the first and only beachfront boutique hotel in Iceland, offering uninterrupted ocean views and interiors shaped by the country’s raw, elemental landscape. The 70 minimalist guest rooms and nine suites feature a restrained palette and layers of natural materials, with large windows framing sweeping views of the black volcanic beach, nearby mountains, and the North Atlantic, alongside the Ölfusá River. An expansive spa will share the same outlook across the black sands, while signature restaurant ÓMUR will celebrate seasonal Nordic cuisine.

blacksandhotel.is

Capella Kyoto (Japan)

Capella has tapped Kengo Kuma and Associates alongside Singapore-based Brewin Design Office to transform a former elementary school site into its next opening, Capella Kyoto. Located in Kyoto’s historic Miyagawa-chō district, the 89-room hotel draws its design cues from the city’s traditional wooden townhouses, known as machiya, unfolding as a series of inner courtyards and pared-back spaces that weave together classical Japanese elements such as shoji screens and tokonoma alcoves, anchored by a dramatic karahafu roof in the central courtyard. Three restaurants follow the rhythm of the seasons, while the spa is rooted in Japanese bathing rituals.

capellahotels.com

Chesa Marchetta (Sils Maria, Switzerland)

Chesa Marchetta will mark one of the first openings of 2026, and the second address from Swiss gallerists Iwan and Manuela Wirth, following the opening of Scotland’s much-loved Fife Arms. Formerly a celebrated restaurant in the heart of the Swiss cultural enclave of Sils Maria, the 13-key hotel has been reimagined by Argentinian, Paris-based architect Luis Laplace, while remaining firmly rooted in gastronomy through its seasonal restaurant. Next door, a three-bedroom house will be available for those seeking a more exclusive stay.

chesamarchetta.ch

Delano Miami Beach (USA)

An icon will be reborn next year with the reopening of the Delano Miami Beach. The South Beach landmark will emerge from an extensive renovation that restores its Art Deco glamour, preserving historic features while introducing a fresh, contemporary sensibility across the 171 rooms and suites. The hotel’s famed Delano Pool remains, joined by a new wellness studio and four new restaurants and bars, including a revival of Miami’s Rose Bar: the former epicentre of Hollywood royalty and the city’s high society.

delanohotels.com

Eha (Hiiumaa Island, Estonia)

Set within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on the remote Estonian island of Hiiumaa, Eha is a boutique wellness retreat nestled between verdant pine forests and the Baltic Sea. Eight suites and three forest cabins are designed to blend seamlessly into the surrounding landscape, featuring minimalist interiors in soothing neutral tones. The wellness programme follows the island’s unique five-season calendar, with activities, treatments and ancient Estonian healing rituals guided by sustainable practices and the energy of each season.

eharetreat.com

Hoshinoya Nara Prison (Japan)

A former prison is an unlikely setting for a hotel, yet Nara Prison is regarded as an architectural masterpiece in Nara Prefecture and is officially recognised as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Next year will see it reborn as Hoshinoya Nara Prison, following a sensitive restoration that respectfully fuses its Meiji-era architecture with contemporary interiors. The hotel will also house a Japanese tea salon, restaurant and dining lounge, while the neighbouring Nara Prison Museum will preserve the site’s history, bridging past and present.

hoshinoresorts.com

Nihi Rote (Rote Island, Indonesia)

The founders of Nihi Sumba will deepen their commitment to sustainable, community-led development in Indonesia next year with the opening of Nihi Rote, the brand’s second hotel, located on Rote Island in Indonesia’s Nusa Tenggara Timur province. The retreat will feature 21 handcrafted villas that blend traditional Rotenese architecture with modern comforts, continuing Nihi’s Wild Wellness philosophy through outdoor adventure programmes, organic gardens and children’s initiatives that encourage learning through discovery. The hotel will open alongside the Namo Beach Club, as well as an academy dedicated to training the next generation of hospitality professionals.

nihi.com

Orient Express Venezia (Italy)

After breathing new life into the landmark Roman hotel La Minerva, Orient Express will open its second hotel in Venice within a 15th-century noble palace. Architect Aline Asmar d’Amman has overseen the eight-year restoration, reviving the mansion’s Neo-Gothic and Baroque grandeur while creating 47 guestrooms and suites luxuriously dressed in marble, Murano glass, rich velvets and Art Deco-inspired furnishings. The most spectacular suites elevate the experience further, featuring 19th-century frescoes of the goddess Minerva, gilded salons and sweeping canal views.

orient-express.com

Public West Hollywood (USA)

After launching his latest hotel brand, Public Hotels, in New York, legendary hotelier Ian Schrager will head to the West Coast to open his second address, Public West Hollywood. Set within a landmark building on the famed Sunset Strip, the 137-key hotel has been conceived by Schrager in collaboration with British architect John Pawson. Guest rooms make a deliberately understated statement, dressed in neutral tones, while furnishings in saturated hues inject a vivid counterpoint into the all-white lobby. Facilities will include three food, beverage and entertainment destinations, a pool, and a 16,000-square-foot open-air rooftop terrace with 360-degree views across Los Angeles.

publichotels.com

Singita Elela (Okavango Delta, Botswana)

Singita will embark on a new adventure next year with its first venture into the pristine wilderness of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Named Elela, from the Setswana word meaning ‘to flow’, the new safari retreat will comprise eight circular camps that open in all directions, blurring the boundary between indoors and out to form a respectful extension of the natural surroundings. Inside, organic materials and handcrafted furnishings celebrate local craftsmanship. Each camp will be supported by its own dedicated team – a guide, tracker and host – leading guests through the Delta and its extraordinary wildlife, including more than 400 species of birds.

singita.com

Six Senses London (UK)

Six Senses will make its UK debut next year within the former Art Deco department store The Whiteley, in the heart of London’s Bayswater. Interiors will draw on the building’s heritage, blending classical detailing and new age elements with a contemporary sensibility, including a curated collection of modern British artworks. The expansive Six Senses Spa will be a highlight, while the opening will also mark the launch of the brand’s new private members’ club, Six Senses Place.

sixsenses.com

The Standard, Lisbon (Portgual)

The Standard has tapped architect Samuel Torres de Carvalho to oversee the design of its next European address, set atop the historic College of St Francis Xavier, formerly home to the Portuguese Royal Navy Hospital for more than 200 years. The 170 guestrooms and 24 long-stay apartments are finished in a palette of calming, earthy tones, while the lobby lounge, bar and all-day dining restaurant are imbued with The Standard’s signature boldness through sculptural forms and saturated hues. Upstairs, a rooftop bar shaded by striped parasols will offer sweeping views across the terracotta rooftops of the surrounding Alfama neighbourhood.

standardhotels.com

Vestige Namibia

Vestige will venture beyond Spain for the first time next year with the launch of Xaudum, one of four planned lodges in northern Namibia. Perched atop a prehistoric sand dune within the untouched wilderness of Khaudum National Park, Xaudum’s minimalist architecture is set to make a striking impression, with daily safari drives offering sightings of elephants, antelopes and African wild dogs. Three additional lodges will follow in 2027, each conceived with an equally bold – at times futuristic – design inspired by its natural surroundings.

vestigecollection.com

Waldorf Astoria Admiralty Arch (London, UK)

Waldorf Astoria will make a grand entrance onto London’s hotel scene next year with the highly anticipated opening of Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch, housed within the historic landmark originally commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of Queen Victoria. Positioned at the end of The Mall, directly opposite Buckingham Palace, the storied property has been sensitively restored and will offer 100 guest rooms and suites, restaurants overseen by celebrated chefs Clare Smyth MBE and Daniel Boulud, a state-of-the-art spa, and a presidential suite with views across Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square.

hilton.com

Community and creativity are reshaping daily life in this edit of storied destinations, set to define the travel conversation for 2026. Each offers more than surface appeal – through architectural ambition, grassroots cultural energy, or a renewed sense of purpose – and rewards visitors willing to look a little deeper.

Where to travel in 2026

Hiroshima, Japan

Eighty years on, Hiroshima is no longer defined by a single moment in time, but by what emerged from it: a city rebuilt through architecture. From the ruins of wartime devastation came a bold modernist vision, shaped by figures such as Kenzo Tange and Togo Murano, later extended by contemporary masters including Tadao Ando, Shigeru Ban and Jun Aoki, among others. That legacy feels newly energised today. The launch of the three-yearly Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition this year positions the city as a centre for architectural discourse, uniting Pritzker Prize winners, experimental practices and emerging voices. When the festival is not on, highlights remain plentiful: from Shigeru Ban’s Simose Art Garden Villa to Kisho Kurokawa’s restored Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. Beyond the city, the wider prefecture unfolds as a constellation of design destinations in its own right.

Read our full feature on Hiroshima

Hong Kong

Few skylines are as instantly recognisable as Hong Kong’s, but to understand the city is to look beyond its serrated outline of glass towers and jade-green peaks. Long defined as a global financial hub and gateway between East and West, Hong Kong today reveals itself as something more layered: a place where heritage, nature and creativity reshape its identity. Icons such as I.M. Pei’s Bank of China Tower and Norman Foster’s HSBC Building anchor the skyline, while adaptive-reuse projects signal a shift in mindset. Tai Kwun, PMQ and The Mills transform former police quarters and factories into cultural engines. Beyond Central, districts such as Sham Shui Po pulse with everyday life and creative reinvention, where design studios, tofu shops and neon-lit markets coexist. Add to this more than 40 per cent protected green space, and Hong Kong emerges as a city of rare duality – resilient, evolving and deeply alive.

Read our full feature on Hong Kong

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Along the cobbled streets of San Miguel de Allende, colour seeps from every corner. Painted façades, marigold-framed doorways and sunlit courtyards set the rhythm of daily life, anchored by the city’s distinctive pink parish church rising above the rooftops. Long admired for its historic character, the highland town today is experiencing a renewed creative energy, drawing designers, artists and makers in search of light, pace and a deeper connection to craft. Once a magnet for 20th-century painters, writers and intellectuals, San Miguel is again evolving. Studios, galleries and small design-led businesses sit alongside long-established workshops specialising in textiles, ceramics and copper, encouraging close collaboration and a slower, more considered way of working.

Read our full feature on San Miguel de Allende

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Set midway between Europe and China, Tashkent rises from the Central Asian steppe as one of the Silk Road’s most layered cities. Shaped by Arab, Persian, Mongol and Russian rule, it became the capital of an independent Uzbekistan in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Few places reveal history so vividly. Ancient Islamic quarters sit beside Imperial Russian boulevards, Stalinist monuments and the boldly imaginative Soviet modernism of the 1960s and 70s. While parts of that legacy are being reshaped by new marble-clad developments, many landmarks endure: the Hotel Uzbekistan, the sculptural Chorsu Bazaar and a metro system whose chandeliers and marble halls feel closer to a palace than public transport. Emerging from decades of isolation, Tashkent remains refreshingly untouched by mass tourism, with leafy parks, open-air markets and a café culture that feels unhurried and genuine. It is a city rediscovering itself.

Read our full feature on Tashkent

Tbilisi, Georgia

The Georgian capital is defined by a fiercely independent cultural spirit forged over millennia and sharpened by adversity. While the country’s political climate is fraught, its creative life remains defiantly alive. Artists, designers, musicians and chefs continue to build, make and gather, sustaining a city where culture functions as both refuge and resistance. Today, Georgian wine, food and hospitality are legendary. New spaces reflect this momentum, including the recently opened Telegraph Hotel, which has quickly become a social anchor for the city’s creative community. From neighbourhood hotels, restaurants and nightclubs that double as communal living rooms, to studios where fashion, art and craft evolve hand-in-hand with tradition, Tbilisi is a city that has learned how to endure.

Read our full feature on Tbilisi

Originating as a summer villa for the imperial family in Hakone, Gora Kadan has defined the Japanese luxury ryokan experience since 1948. Now part of the Relais & Châteaux portfolio and awarded Three Michelin Keys for the second consecutive year in 2025, the legacy continues more than 70 years later with its second property, Gora Kadan Fuji. Designed to frame extraordinary views of Mount Fuji – Japan’s tallest peak and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – the hotel is a refined study in design rooted in nature.

From arrival, guests are immersed in the five natural elements: earth, water, fire, wind and void. Subtle incense, cedar and granite set a grounded tone, from the Jindai-sugi front desk – aged over 1,000 years and preserved underground for two millennia – to the Mount Fuji lava stone lounge counter. Between the lobby and lounge, a glass-lined viewing terrace extends six metres into the air, offering an early, elemental encounter with the mountain before guests even reach their rooms.

Wallpaper* checks in at Gora Kadan Fuji

What’s on your doorstep?

Gora Kadan Fuji is located in Subashiri, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is best known for the Subashiri Trail, one of Mount Fuji’s less-crowded hiking routes. After a 35-minute scenic drive from Mishima Station, guests pulling into the expansive property will find themselves ensconced in the mountain’s embrace. Even those with no plans to hike the iconic peak will feel its constant presence.

Who is behind the design?

Ogitsu Architects Studio oversaw the property’s design, with the goal of merging new and nostalgic elements while engaging guests in a vision of ‘enriched tranquillity’. ‘Our aim was to create a place where visitors can momentarily forget the passage of time – an almost chapel-like space of nature that aligns seamlessly with the forest extending from the western foothills of Mount Fuji, whose summit lies directly to the west,’ head of studio and architect Ikuo Ogitsu tells Wallpaper*.

Following Japan’s traditional spatial composition, in which a floating roof sits upon a base that connects interior and exterior, the practice arranged a series of west-facing spaces with gardens that appear to float above the forest platform. This allows guests to enjoy the ever-changing scenery reflected against the backdrop of Mount Fuji. ‘Through Japanese spatial sensibilities, materials and craftsmanship, we sought to create a calm and unpretentious environment – new yet nostalgic,’ Ogitsu adds. In contrast, the interior design was delivered by Tokyo-based Aoyama Nomura Design (A.N.D.).

The journey from the hotel entrance to the guestrooms is filled with engaging sensory experiences. Art on display ranges from antique ceremonial tea bowls used to serve Emperor Meiji, to a Jizaikagi (adjustable hook) crossbar with wave and carp wood carving from the Edo period, which coexist seamlessly alongside more contemporary works. Another unique feature of the property is the recently opened 36-hole golf course, complete with a luxurious clubhouse and restaurant.

The room to book

Ogitsu notes every room is designed with its own variation and character, though his personal favourite is the Rooftop Suite Kaze. ‘Though compact, it offers a king-size bed positioned so guests can gaze directly at Mount Fuji, a hinoki bath with mountain views, and even a workspace where one can work while looking out towards Mount Fuji.’

Nevertheless, with 39 suites and three villas – all offering Mount Fuji views and uniquely designed in-room baths – each accommodation is its own sanctuary. Before entering, guests are met by a kutsunugi-ishi: a flat, shoe-removing stone that symbolises the transition between the natural world outdoors and the sacred space inside. Once indoors, thick tatami floors, plush towels warmed on wall heaters, and a yukata (traditional Japanese robe) await. There is no need to pack a toiletry bag, as in-room amenities include Fukubisui’s matcha-infused body care products and decadent skincare from Japanese brand Sensai.

Room décor is meticulously considered with nature in mind. Fresh flowers are arranged according to ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arranging), while hanging scrolls by calligrapher Shinzan Kurihara – a Shizuoka-born artist whose work uses spring water from the nearby Higashiguchi Fuji Hongū Sengen Shrine – adorn the walls.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

There is no shortage of dining options at Gora Kadan Fuji. With a focus on seasonality and local ingredients, each of the four on-site restaurants specialises in a distinct Japanese cuisine: kaiseki, sushi, teppanyaki and kappo. Each morning, guests choose between a Japanese or Western breakfast served in the main kaiseki restaurant. The seasonal kaiseki dinner unfolds over nine courses, each presented with increasing intricacy on an array of ornate ceramic and lacquerware vessels.

Teppanyaki Fuji Kanda is a refined chef’s table experience supervised by three-Michelin-starred Nihon Ryori Kanda, showcasing hybrid beef raised by Kagoshima’s Asanuma Chikusan. Highlights from the ten-course menu include a dashi omelette with snow crab, a sirloin-wrapped rice ball, and Mount Fuji natural shaved ice with muscat grapes and white wine syrup for dessert.

At Fuji Takumi, omakase sushi takes centre stage. Each bite is meticulously crafted using the finest cuts of fish sourced from across Japan. Before or after dinner, guests can retreat to a hidden, dimly lit cocktail bar, where a thoughtful curation of Japanese whisky, sake, wine and caviar is on offer.

Where to switch off

Guests visiting the Kadan Spa should reserve time in the private bath, followed by a deep-tissue body massage using highly oxygenated avocado oil by O2 Kraft. Post-treatment refreshments include cold raspberry and vinegar tea (also available hot) and candied fruits. Additional offerings include facials, head immersion and scalp treatments, dry and mist saunas, and a 24-hour gym. Adjacent to the onsens is a spa salon furnished with books, tea and massage chairs.

The walk from the spa to the communal onsens (separated for men and women) is a wellness experience in itself, accompanied by the sound of trickling mountain water and views of dense, vibrant foliage.

The verdict

After spending time up close with Fuji-san, it is easy to understand why it has served as a pilgrimage site for centuries. A visit to Gora Kadan Fuji feels like a moving meditation. On average, Mount Fuji is visible only 80 days a year. During two of the days I was there, the views were so clear it felt as though I could reach out and touch the mountain – no longer elusive, but instead a point of connection, linking me more deeply with nature, and Japanese history and tradition.

Gora Kadan Fuji is located at 110-1 Subashiri, Oyama-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka, 410-1431, Japan

The new year brings travel into focus. While the months ahead may herald anticipated openings, 2025 has already delivered a series of assured arrivals – hotels led by design, intent and context. From Taipei’s first luxury opening in over a decade to the long-awaited Chancery Rosewood, and a Saudi resort carved into the landscape itself, these projects stand apart. Each has a singular character, and each is worth the journey.

The best hotel openings of 2025

Capella Taipei

Long-awaited in the Taiwanese capital, Capella Taipei marked the city’s first true luxury hotel debut in over a decade. Conceived by André Fu, the hotel occupies part of a newly built glass tower by Tokyo’s Mori Building Group, unfolding as a modern urban mansion shaped by the Hong Kong-born designer’s own encounters with Taipei. The 86-room property sits in a calm, subtle palette, where bespoke fixtures and artisanal details form a sophisticated urban bolthole. Four on-site restaurants sharpen the hotel’s profile, while the dramatic Glasshouse crowns the ensemble with a three-storey bar complex. A minimalist spa, finished with beige barrel-vaulted ceilings, completes the picture with celestial, lunar-led treatments.

Capella Taipei is located at No. 139, DunHua N Rd, Songshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 105

Read our full review of Capella Taipei

The Chancery Rosewood

Once Eero Saarinen’s modernist vision of American diplomacy, the former US Embassy on Grosvenor Square re-emerged this year as The Chancery Rosewood. A sensitive restoration saw British architect Sir David Chipperfield and French interior designer Joseph Dirand recast the Grade II-listed landmark as an all-suite hotel defined by Rosewood’s high-touch hospitality. Across 144 suites, softened geometries, tactile layering, and a palette of neutrals and burnished tones create a cocooning sense of calm; a language echoed through all public spaces and the Asaya Spa. Eight restaurants and bars introduce their own unhurried atmospheres, including the first European outpost of New York institution Carbone and Japanese chef Masa Takayama’s Tobi Masa. Meanwhile, the seventh-floor Eagle Bar opens onto panoramic views across London.

The Chancery Rosewood is located at 30 Grosvenor Sq, London W1K 9AN, UK

Read our full review of The Chancery Rosewood

Desert Rock Resort

Set within Saudi Arabia’s dramatic Hejaz mountains, Desert Rock Resort rises directly from millennia-old granite. Fifty-four villas and ten suites feel almost geological. Conceived by Oppenheim Architecture, the resort doesn’t impose itself on the terrain; it yields to it. Stone quarried during construction was folded back into the architecture. Studio Paolo Ferrari brought the same reverence to the interiors, allowing the raw power of the setting to remain the focal point. Dining unfolds across Nyra’s elemental wood-fire kitchen, Mica’s forward-thinking cocktail programme, Basalt’s reassuring comfort dishes, and Wadi’s lively poolside scene. On the valley’s far edge sits the spa, built against a towering rock face.

Desert Rock Resort is located at 7GQVP67Q+5P 48561, Saudi Arabia

Read our full review of Desert Rock Resort

The Eve Hotel Sydney

The Eve Hotel Sydney arrived as a vibrant new marker on the cusp of the Central Business District. Designed as a warm brick-and-biophilic low-rise by local firm SJB, with landscape architect Daniel Baffsky and interior designer George Livissianis, the hotel balances architectural restraint with bursts of colour. The 102 rooms, hued to the Australian bush, each feature balconies overlooking shingled rooftops and greenery. On the food front, guests can choose between Bar Julius, a European-inflected lobby bar, and Lottie, the rooftop Mexican restaurant and mezcaleria. Also upstairs, the Sukabumi-tiled rooftop pool beckons, though the surrounding mix of native and exotic flora demands equal attention.

The Eve Hotel Sydney is located at 8 Baptist St, Redfern NSW 2016, Australia

Read our full review of The Eve Hotel Sydney

Few & Far Luvhondo

Husband-and-wife adventurers Jacob and Sarah Dusek introduced Few & Far Luvhondo, a safari eco-lodge offering front-row access to the raw wilderness of South Africa’s Limpopo province. Designed by Nicholas Plewman Architects in collaboration with Ohkre Collective, the lodge’s six cliff-edge suites take their sculptural cues from Africa’s most emblematic trees, notably the monumental baobabs that anchor the surrounding landscape. Nature continues indoors, where clay-toned earths, sky blues and deep greens echo the terrain. In the kitchen, chef Nhlakanipho Soxhela leads a thoughtful farm-to-table programme celebrating regional cooking. Days unfold through immersive encounters with land and culture, from daily game drives to outdoor yoga sessions or guided mindfulness practices.

Few & Far Luvhondo is located at R523, Waterpoort, 3813, South Africa

Read our full review of Few & Far Luvhondo

La Fondation

Once a parking lot, La Fondation emerged as a brutalist shell softened by warm hues and muted tones that ripple through its ten floors. Paris-based architecture firm PCA-STREAM reimagined the exterior, while New York studio Roman and Williams infused the interiors with a modern, eclectic character, accented by nods to Piet Mondrian’s De Stijl palette and geometry. Muted tones and artisanal detailing define the 58 guest rooms, and two on-site dining venues offer a mix of French classics and contemporary dishes overseen by chef Thomas Rossi. The latest opening from Groupe Galia also introduces open co-working areas, a health club with a climbing wall, a spa with a semi-Olympic pool, and a rooftop garden with views from Sacré-Cœur to the Eiffel Tower.

La Fondation is located at 40 Rue Legendre, 75017 Paris, France

Read our full review of La Fondation

Patina Osaka

With the Osaka Expo pulling global focus, Patina Osaka debuted at just the right moment. Set in a 20-storey glass tower by Jun Mitsui & Associates Inc. Architects, the property, which marked the Japan debut for the Singapore-based group, sits between the Osaka Castle and Naniwa-no-Miya-Ato Park. Tokyo-based studio Strickland shaped the interiors with crisp Japanese geometries, softened by sculptural curves and copper accents that nod to the castle. Five dining concepts anchor the hotel, fronted by P72, where Japan’s 72 micro-seasons inform dishes served beneath a dramatic timber ‘roots’ installation. The Patina Spa is the real draw, offering hyperbaric oxygen, cryotherapy and holistic treatments for a full-spectrum reset.

Patina Osaka is located at 3-91, Banba-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka, 540-0007, Japan

Read our full review of Patina Osaka

The Standard, Pattaya Na Jomtien

A ten-building beach resort with plenty of swagger became The Standard’s fourth outpost in Thailand, pairing luxury with the brand’s trademark wit and creative flair. Led by the group’s global head of design, Verena Haller, alongside DIN Studio and Studio Lupine, The Standard Pattaya Na Jomtien occupies a sculptural white complex by Thai firm Onion, whose undulating curves echo their work for The Standard Bangkok and Hua Hin. Its 161 rooms, offered in seven generous configurations, feature high ceilings and sunlight-drenched spaces. Dining spans Sereia, an elegant seafood restaurant sourcing from Thailand’s eastern seaboard, and Esmé, a beach bar channelling CDMX street food. The adults-only spa, Mmhmmm, embraces the mud-bathing renaissance with a dedicated outdoor terrace for the ritual.

The Standard, Pattaya Na Jomtien is located at 8/12 Moo 2, Soi Na Jomtien 10, Na Jomtien, Sattahip, Chonburi 20250, Thailand

Read our full review of The Standard, Pattaya Na Jomtien

Villa Dubrovnik

Long a friend of Wallpaper,* Brazilian architect Arthur Casas and his studio led the reimagining of Villa Dubrovnik, the 1961 modernist landmark perched dramatically above the Dalmatian coast. Guided by the Croatian philosophy of fjaka –an artful devotion to unhurried living – the interiors are measured and serene, grounded in local tradition. Custom blankets and cushions, woven with patterns drawn from regional dialects, thread a quiet sense of place through all 56 rooms. Dining unfolds across moods: Restaurant Pjerin for refined dégustation or à la carte dining, Giardino for relaxed lunches, and aperitivo-worthy views at Libero Bar or the rooftop Galanto Bar. When the Adriatic sun takes its toll, the spa delivers restorative facials, massages, and exfoliating rituals.

Villa Dubrovnik is located at Ul. Vlaha Bukovca 6, 20000, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Read our full review of Villa Dubrovnik

W New York – Union Square

W Hotels’ evolution trades party-first theatrics for grown-up confidence, without losing its spark. The shift is clearest at W New York – Union Square, the global flagship, alongside newer openings in Florence and Budapest. Opened in 2000, the hotel has been reimagined by original architects Rockwell Group with a lighter, more assured hand. Its 256 rooms and suites balance scale with playfulness. On the food front, Seahorse pairs heritage and modernity with unmistakable New York ease; the high-energy Living Room (once a ballroom) serves cocktails and light bites, flowing into the laid-back Living Room Café; and upstairs, the 17th floor is home to Union Square’s only rooftop bar.

W New York – Union Square is located at 1567 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, United States

Read our full review of W New York – Union Square

Following a meticulous 19-month renovation, Park Hyatt Tokyo reopened its doors in December 2025. Yet some things never change, not even here: the timeless unfolding of cinematic city views, Mount Fuji hovering beyond the skyscrapers, lingering jazz notes drifting through the air. Forever celebrated as ‘that hotel’ from Lost in Translation (2003), Park Hyatt Tokyo remains one of the world's most iconic urban retreats.

When it first opened in 1994 as Asia’s first Park Hyatt, it rewrote the rules of city hospitality as one of the earliest skyscraper hotels – a new expression of vertical living occupying the apex of Kenzo Tange’s Shinjuku Park Tower. Balancing Tange’s steel lines and soaring atria was an interior no less distinctive: designer John Morford evoked the atmosphere of a private residence through an intimate sequence of spaces, using an elegant material palette of dark woods, natural stone and the hotel’s signature green. More than three decades on, visitors still lose their breath over its sweeping views, whether watching the late-afternoon sun sink into peach-tinged skies or gazing across a nocturnal sea of lights.

Wallpaper* checks into Park Hyatt Tokyo

What’s on your doorstep?

While the hotel feels removed from the city’s intensity, it sits within easy reach of some of Tokyo’s most exciting districts and cultural landmarks, from the tree-lined paths of Yoyogi Park and the forested grounds of Meiji Shrine to the eccentric fashion boutiques of Harajuku, the luxury shopping avenues of Omotesando and the neon-lit energy of central Shinjuku. A short distance away, Golden Gai is an unmissable stop: a labyrinth of narrow alleyways packed with tiny bars, such as Open Book and Albatross G, many seating little more than a handful of guests.

Who is behind the design?

Paris-based Studio Jouin Manku helmed a top-to-toe renovation following four years of planning, exploring a sensitive ‘tightrope’ between original essence and contemporary touch. ‘The hotel is only 30 years old, but it’s precious,’ Patrick Jouin tells Wallpaper. ‘This was the first modern hotel in Japan, and it became even more mythical with the movie. People always ask us to be careful with the DNA, the charm, and the presence of a place. Here, they asked us to keep the soul.’

With most materials replaced and updated, new touches slowly shift into focus, subtly softening and warming the spatial experience – from circular patterns cast by Cristallerie Saint-Louis lights on Peak Lounge tables, to the veined burgundy of a new Rosso Levanto marble counter at Girandole by Alain Ducasse. Even the hotel’s signature green, in corridors and guestrooms, has been updated with Tai Ping carpets. ‘It used to be a bit dusty, silvery,’ explains Manku, with Jouin adding: ‘We warmed it up, softened it and desaturated it.’

‘Before, it was a bit stiff, cold, a little run-down, technologically out of time,’ says Jouin. ‘It was very pure and modern, but the level of luxury has risen in everything around us. We introduced warmth, centrality, colour, refinement – a sense of pleasure. We kept things clean, minimal, pure and beautifully proportioned, but with details you can touch through objects and openings.’ Manku adds: ‘This is our take on a recipe that was already written. It’s always connected to the original recipe, but adds a different flavour – renewed with new energy.’

The room to book

It is inside the guest rooms – 171 in total, spanning floors 42 to 51 – that the most significant interventions are revealed. Morford’s strong lines have been softened, the material palette warmed, and the sense of luxury subtly recalibrated. ‘Generosity’ is a word the designers return to frequently while showing Wallpaper* around Deluxe Room 4514, where Manku was staying. A defining detail is a new black cabinet, a contemporary interpretation of an original Morford piece.

A softly curved leather headboard – with original magnolia-leaf artworks suspended above – wraps around the bed and extends into integrated side tables, seamlessly concealing technology alongside floating tubular lanterns: hovering coils of light-filtering white textile. Bathrooms, meanwhile, have evolved into expansive wet rooms, where bathtub and shower are united in an onsen-inspired arrangement. Blown-glass ‘moon’ lamps illuminate the walls, while double vanities are carved from a single block of Serpe stone.

Throughout, straight lines have given way to smooth curves and concealed layers, creating discreet new homes for the television, minibar, coffee machine and lacquered-red niches containing drawers of porcelain and glassware. ‘It is function, material and ritual,’ says Jouin. Elsewhere, a new Park Suite category frames sweeping views across Yoyogi Park, Meiji Shrine and Shibuya.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Some places reside in the imagination with a vividness that precedes any real visit. The New York Bar at Park Hyatt Tokyo is one of them: an atmospheric perch on the 52nd floor where Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray drift into a tender, transient friendship high above the neon-washed city in Sofia Coppola’s magnum opus. It is difficult to claim you've truly experienced the hotel without lingering over a martini while live jazz carries late into the night. Look out, too, for the indigo-toned bowl used for serving wasabi nuts. Created by Japanese glassmaker Toyo-Sasaki, the design was discontinued more than a decade ago but continues to be produced exclusively for the hotel.

The New York Grill also remains untouched, still clad in John Morford’s original black-ebony-and-walnut palette. Soaring windows pull the skyline indoors, while intimate tables are offset by Valerio Adami’s riotous murals depicting New York landmarks. Window seats once again frame vertiginous views: Mount Fuji on one side on a clear day, Shinjuku’s skyscrapers on the other. In the kitchen, chef de cuisine Ben Wheeler continues to serve longstanding favourites, including the signature Caesar salad and Hokkaido seared scallops.

Girandole, the hotel’s brasserie-style restaurant (where breakfast and afternoon tea are served), has also returned, now operating in partnership with Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse. Equally rejuvenated is The Peak Lounge & Bar, whose soaring two-storey glass atrium and surrounding bamboo grove have regained their distinctive glow.

Where to switch off?

Among the hotel’s most compelling spaces is Club on the Park, whose cathedral-like pool hall remains as striking as ever. Solid green-marble baths, minimalist steel-and-black-leather loungers and soaring volumes lend the space a serene sense of grandeur, while a double-height layout extends into the energetic fitness studio and gym beyond.

Wellness unfolds on the 45th floor, where dry saunas, thermal baths, cold plunge pools, whirlpools and 360-degree body showers are arranged within separate men's and women's facilities. Drawing inspiration from Japan’s shifting seasons, the treatment menu ranges from full-body rituals incorporating stretching, acupressure and seasonal botanical oils to the Tokyo Elixir Facial by Omorovicza, where rhythmic massage techniques and rose quartz tools work to sculpt, restore and revitalise the skin.

The verdict

With visitors returning to discover what has changed – and what has remained untouched – one constant continues to define Park Hyatt Tokyo: the sweeping views, still among the city’s most breathtaking, whether watching the late-afternoon sun sink into peach-tinged skies or gazing across a nocturnal sea of lights, and the inimitable energy that has long set it apart.

And this iconic outlook will continue to shape the spirit of Park Hyatt Tokyo, both old and new – as Manku puts it: ‘It feels like we’re in a Zeppelin floating over the city. We see these little cars below but don’t feel any pressure – everything becomes a sense of wonder, looking out at the city, seeing Mount Fuji and the twinkling lights. What can you do with this view? You can’t battle it or obscure it, so you work with it. That feeling is so strong when you’re here.’

Park Hyatt Tokyo is located at 2, 3 Chome-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 163-1055, Japan

At Wallpaper*, movement is second nature, and savouring it is an art. Whether on assignment or off-duty, our editorial team is perpetually combing the globe, visiting places that are mind-expanding and spirit-lifting. This year, we paused to gather the places that truly stayed with us. Consider this selection of travel highlights, handpicked by our staff, as a starting point for the year ahead, compiled to spark curiosity and fuel your future travel plans.

As such, follow the sun to Mexico, Greece, Spain and Italy, or embrace the stark beauty of Finland and Iceland. Looking for adventure? Uzbekistan, Egypt and Kenya deliver. For a spiritual reset, Japan and South Korea offer ritual and depth. From European mainstays such as Vienna and Lisbon to American icons including Miami and Joshua Tree, let’s get globetrotting.

Amanohashidate, Japan

‘Last April, adding a few days to a long-haul work trip felt like the responsible thing to do, particularly when long-haul now extends to a 16-hour dog-leg to Osaka via Doha, which is how I came to visit one of Japan’s most revered destinations, Amanohashidate, site of a 3.6km sidebar known as ‘the staircase to heaven’ that cuts across Miayazu Bay in Kyoto prefecture. Amanohashidate itself is a quiet village with a national landmark at its heart and a well-run ryokan (Monjusou) to relax in, but the surrounding area is blessed with no less significant points of interest. Ine is a ‘floating village’ of 230 fishing cottages, protected as a heritage site, that offers good walking with splendid sea views and great coffee in one of its repurposed properties. Sometimes all you need is sea air, the odd stroll and the chance to indulge in something as silly as matanozoki, or peering between your legs atop Kasamatsu Park, at which point the now-inverted sandbar appears as a bridge across the sky.’

– Bill Prince, editor-in-chief

Athens, Greece

‘This past autumn, I celebrated a milestone birthday in Athens. The city feels as though it was shaped by accumulation rather than careful urban planning, its layers of typeface, texture and attitude stacked across eras, politics and glitzy inconsistencies. Visually, Athens is unrelenting: everything speaks loudly and constantly, and nothing is treated as too precious. Even the Acropolis feels unresolved, its original fragments scattered between the exquisitely built Acropolis Museum and far beyond Greece’s borders. I enjoyed long lunches with generous pours of Assyrtiko from aluminium jugs, and late nights drifting into hot spots like SMUT, where Athens’ spontaneity really kicks in. I chose Athens as my favourite of the year because it thrives in chaos, offering moments of beauty and excitement, and rewarding those who stay longer, pay attention and arrive hungry.’

– Gabriel Annouka, senior designer

Brittany, France

‘On something of a nostalgia trip to the south coast of Brittany, France – the destination of my first-ever trip abroad – now with my own teenagers in tow, I was relieved to find it a still-lovely, laidback and low-key escape with none of the hussle or hassle a beach break during the summer holidays can entail. The sea was utterly clear – too freezing for me, even in July, for more than one cold plunge, but perfect for kayaking or admiring endlessly from coastal walking paths. Bike hire in this cycling-obsessed nation was ubiquitous and the paths plentiful and well sign-posted; they even continued across estuaries, courtesy of short ferry hops on which bikes were not just bienvenue but (bafflingly for a Brit used to transport-network shortfalls) positively encouraged. And a day’s hire extended through to the evening, allowing ample time for a thoroughly civilised French lunch break en route with (savoury) galettes and (sweet) crêpes galore. Pancakes for all courses is a concept close to my heart.’

– Bridget Downing, executive editor

Cairo, Egypt

‘In November, I visited Cairo and spent a few warm, autumnal days watching the light shift over the Art D’Égypte installations, set in the sand beneath the pyramids of Giza. I was particularly drawn to SolidNature and Studio PROBA’s organically shaped, naturally coloured stone sculptures. Seeing them positioned against the pyramids was both wondrous and surreal: two forms of stone, prehistoric in material yet composed millennia apart, held in quiet dialogue with one another. The experience was utterly mesmerising, leaving me feeling incredibly small in the face of such magnificence and scale. Other highlights across the city included losing track of time in the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) and wandering through the calming gardens of Adam Henein’s gallery house.’

– Olly Mason, head of interiors

Évora, Portugal

‘When my sister moved to Lisbon in 2024, I dreamily imagined endless weekends of wandering, but life got in the way and it never quite happened; until this summer, when we managed to bring both our families together for ten scorching days in Alentejo, a more off-the-beaten-path part of Portugal, around 90 minutes east of Lisbon. We stayed in gloriously serene countryside, awash with olive groves and vineyards, occasionally popping into the medieval, walled UNESCO city of Évora for ice cream (Pezagno, delicious!). On one visit, we explored the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), a 16th-century chapel within the Church of St Francis, built by Franciscan monks as a memento mori to inspire reflection on the transience of life. Its walls and columns are clad with thousands of strikingly arranged human skulls and bones, previously buried in Évora’s medieval cemeteries. Above the door, an inscription reads: “We bones are here, waiting for yours.” At the entrance to this macabre chapel is a simple modern mural by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira – a counterpoint to its meditation on mortality.’

– Anne Soward, production editor

Helsinki, Finland

‘While others escaped to hotter climes, last February, I decided to embrace the cold and wintry feel of Europe and headed further north, to Helsinki. It was one of the best travel decisions I ever made. The day was short, but the city was fun, and the cultural offerings were plentiful and welcoming. Helsinki was frozen – not that you would be bothered with the right clothes and shoes, especially in the city centre, where pavements are heated so that the snow doesn’t build up. A short ferry ride, breaking through the icy waters, took me to the magical Suomenlinna sea fortress - thank you, Laura Iloniemi, for the tip! I also explored the numerous art offerings the city has to offer, from the Amos Rex museum to the Temppeliaukio church of the rock. I stayed at a timber-framed hotel by the water, Solo Sokos Pier 4, paid a visit to the renovated Finlandia Hall, and enjoyed sticky Korvapuusti (Finnish cinnamon rolls) and warm and creamy salmon soup. As travel reviews often conclude, “would definitely recommend.”’

– Ellie Stathaki, architecture and environment director

Hydra, Greece

‘This year I’ve been lucky to visit great European capitals including Vienna, Paris and Athens, but somehow it’s my day on the small Greek island of Hydra that was most memorable. Big cities are filled with great things to do and see, but Hydra offers an escape from it all, with no cars, no museums, and practically no phone reception. And yet it still has everything you might possibly need on a nice autumn day: a lunch at a taverna followed by a dip in the sea, and a walk along the coastal path, suspended between the blue sky and the Mediterranean.’

– Léa Teuscher, sub-editor

Joshua Tree, USA

‘In May, I made the three-hour journey from Los Angeles into the Mojave Desert to Joshua Tree. It had long been on my list to visit, likely prompted by endless interviews with musicians who enthused about the desert’s mystical energy. There are no shortage of incredible architectural stays to book in the area, but after much deliberation, I settled on this geodesic dome, far enough away from civilisation to get the full experience (the drive back from dinner in the pitch black was a little hairy) but just twenty minutes from Joshua Tree National Park and the must-sees of the Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms. I loved every single thing about this trip. From the weird roadside stops along the route – a desert crochet museum? A shrine to fifties hairdressing? A park filled with many, many statues of Christ? – to dinner at The Copper Room, drinks at Mas o Menos and obligatory live music at Pioneertown institution, Pappy & Harriet’s (the nearby Red Dog Saloon was a little quieter when Pappy’s is packed). I can’t wait to return.’

– Charlotte Gunn, director of digital content

Kyoto, Japan

‘I loved visiting Kyoto this year, and discovering its rich history, gorgeous food and beautiful surroundings. The highlight, though, was being able to get to know some of the locals, who were as generous with their time as they are cultured, intelligent, and extremely kind.’

– Hannah Silver, art, culture, watches and jewellery editor

Lake Como, Italy

‘Until last year, I had never been to Italy; now, I can say I’ve been three times. A run of good fortune took me to Milan for Salone de Mobile, and Venice for an immersive exhibition hosted by Golden Goose. In addition, to mark the beginning of the summer season, I was invited to Lake Como to stay at Il Sereno’s new listening suite, designed by Patricia Urquiola. The lake in the foothills of the Alps took my breath away. It was scenery I had not seen before, and I was captivated by its beauty. There was an effortless air of Old Hollywood glamour and relaxed sophistication coupled with the calming nature of the lake, which makes the location entirely unique. I cannot wait to go back.’

– Tianna Williams, staff writer

Menorca, Spain

‘The Menorca Experimental hotel had been on my bucket list for years, and I finally made it there for a short break in September. Designed by Dorothée Meilichzon, the interiors strike a balance between playful colour and subtle Art Deco references, incorporating local designers and materials. It felt considered yet relaxed. The weather was still warm enough for sea swims in some of the clearest water I’ve seen in Europe, and it was easy to find quieter spots that felt untouched. There’s a quiet, understated rhythm to the island that encourages you to slow down, making it a perfect mid-season reset.’

– Cindy Parthonnaud, acting photography editor

Mérida, Mexico

‘I spent 10 days in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula this summer and enjoyed soaking up Mérida’s rich history, intense summer heat and xtabentún, the local firewater. The city is about 30 miles inland, meaning those craving a swim-up bar or large beach resort won’t find it here. Instead, they’ll discover a mix of unhurried streets, bustling markets, pretty boutiques and innovative cuisine that spotlights traditional Yucatec cooking. My husband and I checked in at Hotel Cigno, an elegant boutique property located in Mérida’s historic heart, before hiring a local guide to take us to Uxmal, one of the Mayan world’s most important sites, and an azure blue cenote, a naturally occurring limestone sinkhole that peppers the area. There was still an opportunity to hit the beach, though: an hour-ride taxi will take you straight to the coast, where you can take in tranquil waters, white sand beaches, bright-pink salt lakes and – my favourite – droves of flamingos.’

– Anna Fixsen, U.S. editor

Miami, USA

‘I came to Miami for the Grand Prix – where Lego had built ten fully drivable cars – but stayed for the art deco architecture, palm-lined boulevards and viscerally cinematic sunsets. Miami’s expansion in the 1920s and 30s left it with a remarkable concentration of art deco buildings, which I completely fell in love with. A stroll down Ocean Drive – one of the finest showcases of the style – took me hours, slowed by pastel façades and kitsch vintage cars that demanded to be photographed. Little Havana, shaped by Cuban émigrés after the 1959 revolution, is home to cigar shops, graffiti tributes to Celia Cruz and Old’s Havana Cuban Bar & Cocina, which, with its yellow walls and mojito production line, is an institution. So, too, is Delilah – swathed in pink velvet and favoured by A-listers – though in an entirely different vein. Miami is a place I’d return to in a heartbeat.’

– Anna Solomon, digital writer

Nesjavellir, Iceland

‘My yearly travel mainly comprises the movement between Milan, Paris and New York for fashion week (and the freneticism and overstimulation these trips bring), so when I’m not working I seem to be attracted towards the vast and the desolate – Lanzarote has become my go-to escape, and this spring I loved losing myself in its strange, moonlike landscapes once again. Though it was another otherworldly (and volcanic) island that was my favourite trip of 2025: Iceland, which I visited with 66 North last month (the outerwear brand was founded on the island a century ago). I have been a couple of times before, though each time it is surprising in its vastness and scale: speeding across the snow-covered mountain ridge Thórsmörk – named after the Norse god Thor – on off-roading buggies was a truly cinematic experience (and the perfect release). We spent the second night at the Ion Adventure Hotel, a Brutalist box on stilts that looks out over the geothermal fields of Nesjavellir – in the silence, it was my best night’s sleep of the year.’

– Jack Moss, fashion and beauty features director

Seoul, South Korea

‘About two hours from Seoul, in the mountains of Wonju, Museum SAN (Space Art Nature) heralds an architectural feat by Tadao Ando: a 25-metre-wide subterranean dome beneath the museum’s flower garden, topped with an oculus rising more than seven metres high. Titled Ground, it was commissioned to accompany Antony Gormley’s exhibition Drawing on Space.’

– Jason Hughes, creative director

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

‘I spend much of my year bouncing around beautiful design-led hotels. But at least once a year, I make it my mission to step out of this bubble as a reminder of why I love to travel in the first place. And this year, my trip to Uzbekistan was a welcome reset. It’s not a destination known for luxury, but with tourism on the rise, you can feel the energy in Tashkent’s creative pockets and across Samarkand and Bukhara, which just hosted its inaugural biennale. From the staggering detail of the Islamic architecture to the small, genuinely local boutique hotels, there’s an incredible history and a rawness that was not just compelling, but a reminder that stepping away from the familiar is not just refreshing, but important to keep your curiosity alive.’

– Lauren Ho, travel director

Tokyo, Japan

‘Tokyo had been calling for some time, and this October I was finally able to answer. Japan’s capital is an urban sprawl of ritual, contrast, beauty and tradition, where even the smallest details feel deliberate and meaningful. It was my first visit, and I tried to stay fully present, absorbing as much of the city’s energy as possible; yet I still feel I barely scratched the surface. There are countless moments I hold onto, but one stands out: waking to a bright, clear morning and, from my hotel room on the 34th floor of Fairmont Tokyo, spotting Mount Fuji in the distance. It appeared as a majestic presence on the horizon, wishing the city a good day.’

– Sofia de la Cruz, travel editor

Vienna, Austria

‘Vienna is a really great city for a short getaway, especially for those interested in design. The city is filled with hidden gems, such as the interiors and ambience of Café Prückel, located just across the street from the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). Be sure to check out the numerous storefronts designed by Hans Hollein throughout the city, including the iconic façade of the Retti candle shop. One of the highlights for me was the Roman Catholic church depicted above, built in the late 1970s by architect Viktor Hufnagl.’

– Sebastian Jordahn, head of video

Watamu, Kenya

‘Earlier this year, I travelled to Kenya and spent time in Watamu, a coastal town known for stunning white-sand beaches, coral reefs, mangroves and a large marine life. I was there for a private yoga retreat with a yoga company called Pana and stayed in a one-of-a-kind treehouse, Watamu Tree House, near Watamu Beach. Our treehouse retreat, built by the family who runs it, rises through the landscape, from the ground to the top floor, with shimmering coloured glass mosaics. Each day in Watamu began with yoga in the studio at the top of the building, which offered quiet and perspective. Practising yoga above the ground, with the sea nearby and trees in the distance, felt grounding. Fresh vegetarian meals formed the core of each day, as each meal came with coconut water and juices made fresh each morning.’

– Jamilah Rose-Roberts, social media editor

Not A Hotel, the irreverent brand behind architectural showpieces in Tokyo, Rusutsu and Ishigaki Island (and a 2023 Wallpaper* Design Award winner) is charting a bold new course. Its latest ventures, Heritage and Vertex, take hospitality in two different directions: Heritage by Not A Hotel reimagines landmarks – temples, museums and cultural sites – through a contemporary lens, while Vertex by Not A Hotel explores the fusion of avant-garde architecture, design and technology.

For the debut Vertex property, only one architecture firm could bring such a vision to life: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). The late Zaha Hadid, lauded as ‘the queen of curves’, left a legacy of fluid, futuristic forms, and that signature is unmistakable here. The hotel will be located in Okinawa, Japan, where renderings show a bold architectural statement set against the island’s turquoise waters, white sand beaches and lush subtropical forests.

Despite its striking appearance, the 25,322 sq m building has been designed to integrate into its sensitive coastal environment. Every aspect – from engineering and site planning to material selection and construction – prioritises minimising ecological impact on Okinawa’s ecosystems.

​​The site sits atop Ryukyu limestone formations – Pleistocene coral reef sediments over 400,000 years old – and is subject to strict regulations from environmental authorities. In order to minimise its footprint, the hotel will appear to ‘float’ above the interface between forest and beach, with terraces, gardens and courtyards that trace the natural contours of the land and echo its rock formations.

The building design also responds to Okinawa’s tropical climate. Year-round digital mapping of temperature, humidity, rainfall, winds, solar exposure and sea conditions shaped the hotel’s orientation and form. Its cascading canopies will provide shaded outdoor spaces and reduce heat gain, referencing the deep eaves and overhangs of traditional Okinawan architecture. The structure will also capture the island’s Kāchibē winds for natural ventilation, and its elevation – 6.5m above the high-water mark – protects against typhoons, storm surges and seismic activity.

Construction will combine modular, prefabricated components with finishes that reflect the colour and texture of local coral sands, incorporating recycled materials from decommissioned island structures. Locally sourced Okinawa pine, quarried limestone and regionally produced ceramics will further embed the building within its cultural and material context.

The result is a visually striking, ecologically sensitive and resilient property – a bold inaugural statement for Not A Hotel that will resonate with architecture aficionados and off-beat travellers alike.

Fukasawa, a residential area in south-west Tokyo, is quietly known for its architectural charm, with typically small buildings lining narrow-fronted deep plots..

Tour a contemporary Fukasawa house

The atmosphere is quaint, considering this is one of the world's biggest metropoles, and echoes the character of an older shopping street. It is here that you’ll find the newest completed residence by Japanese architecture firm MIDW, nestled into its narrow street-facing plot.

This Fukasawa house, which spans 2,73m in width and 13,65m in depth, is identified by its six truss-shaped load-bearing walls, with beams that span the length between the evenly spaced columns.

‘Our architectural work often draws inspiration from local construction techniques. The traditional Japanese timber post-and-beam system – formed through the assembly of linear wooden members – combines flexibility and structural aesthetics, and remains one of the most prevalent building methods today,’ says Daisuke Hattori, co-chairman and managing architect of MIDW.

‘In this project, too, the structural framework plays a defining role. In this sense, it can be seen as a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional wooden architecture, such as that found in historic shrines and temples.’

Stepping inside the house, the floor is slightly sunken. From here, a sequence of spaces unfolds, playing with shadow and light. The straight staircase leads up into a broad, open space on the upper level, animated by the calming rhythm of the beams.

The project, which is situated in a typically dense inner Tokyo neighbourhood, left limited space for manoeuvring – both in terms of design gestures and materiality. ‘Rather than treating this configuration as a mere constraint, we explored design approaches that could lead to a more universal solution while expressing an identity shaped by these site conditions,’ explains Hattori.

The architects aimed to create a space that feels unique, yet also familiar. ‘“Specificity” and “universality” may seem like opposing concepts, but we believe they can coexist,’ says Hattori. The residence showcases different spatial conditions, such as the dark, high-ceiling ground floor, and the open and 'lighter' second floor, yet its integration within a single structural system allows for a harmonious contrast.

‘One of the key qualities of the project is that, despite its compact overall volume, the interior conveys a sense of spaciousness that exceeds its actual volume,’ shares the architect.

‘To achieve this, we collaborated closely with the structural engineer and furniture designer to treat materials that usually exist at very different scales – from columns and beams to countertops and interior fittings – as elements within a continuous spectrum. By avoiding shifts in scale inside the building, all materials connect seamlessly, producing an effect of spatial continuity and a generous sense of expansion.’

midw.jp

The Seto Inland Sea in Japan, nestled between the Hiroshima, Okayama, Hyogo, Kagawa and Ehime prefectures that form the Seto Inland region, is a treasure trove of 20th and 21st-century architecture gems. This is not only the result of the local architects' inspiring visions. It also stands as testament to a series of clients with a forward-thinking stance and deep ambition – a confluence that created the perfect breeding grounds for pioneering building design.

Join our architecture tour to find out more.

Seto Inland Sea: context and origins

The emergence of avant-garde post-war architecture in the Seto Inland region owes much to the presence of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, built by Metabolist architect Kenzo Tange in 1955. Commissioned by the state to mourn the victims of the nuclear attack, the institution was designed by Tange, a native of Ehime Prefecture's Shikoku island, which faces the Seto Inland Sea.

Instead of Japan's traditional timber frame style, it was constructed using concrete, a cutting edge material for the time.

'Tange applied the Japanese-specific timber construction method, built with columns and beams, to concrete used in Western structures. This method spread throughout Japan,' says Terunobu Fujimori, an architectural historian who interviewed Tange during the architect's lifetime. The technique is particularly evident in the Seto Inland region's buildings.

There was plenty to build following the destruction of WWII. Kagawa Prefecture suffered particularly from air raids by US bombers. In Takamatsu City alone, 73 public buildings were destroyed, including the prefectural office, 264 factories and companies, and 90 temples and shrines.

Politicians and local business leaders wanted new public buildings that would be cherished by all and that would demonstrate the ideals of Japan's newly-formed democracy. The charge was led by Masanori Kaneko, who served as Governor of Kagawa Prefecture for 24 years. Guided by the conviction that ‘politics and art are one and integrated as a whole. Both must be dedicated to enriching the life of the citizens,’ Governor Kaneko commissioned the construction of several civic buildings and cultural facilities, which earned him his nickname, ‘design governor’.

The result is one of the richest assortments of architecture in Japan, by some of the world's leading design names. Here are eight highlights from the Seto Inland Sea region.

8 buildings to see around Japan's Seto Inland Sea

Kagawa Prefectural Office, Kagawa Prefecture

Architect: Kenzo Tange
Year: 1958

The Kagawa Prefectural Government Building was designed by Kenzo Tange (1913–2005), who was deeply influenced by Le Corbusier and practised with the latter's disciple, Kunio Maekawa. The building incorporates traditional Japanese design elements – such as columns and beams reminiscent of timber construction, and balconies with handrails – but uses concrete, just as he did at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

Responding to then-Governor Kaneko's request for ‘an civic building befitting the democratic age,’ Tange conceived a ‘prefectural office open to the citizens.’ This spirit is most strikingly embodied in the ground floor's pilotis – a column-supported, wall-less atrium. The pilotis created a dramatic, publicly accessible space that allowed free passage for all citizens who might not otherwise have ventured in.

The ceiling features wooden louvres made from local pine timber, while the floor incorporates paving stones of Aji stone and Shodo island granite (both found nearby), alongside pebbles collected from the ocean floor. Tange's distinctive design, blending Japanese and Western elements, remains a powerful statement today.

Seto Inland Sea History and Folklore Museum, Kagawa Prefecture

Architect: Tadashi Yamamoto
Year: 1973

Perched atop the Goshikidai hills overlooking the waters between Okayama and Kagawa Prefectures, the Seto Inland Sea History and Folklore Museum is a facility conceived to convey the life and culture of the region. It displays fishing gear, wood boats and domestic items from the area. The stone-built structure was designed to harmonise with the natural surroundings by architect Tadashi Yamamoto (1923–98), who was also an official at the Kagawa Prefectural Government.

During his tenure at the prefectural office, Yamamoto nurtured his architectural philosophy through collaborations and exchanges with figures such as Tange, artist Isamu Noguchi and designer George Nakashima through which he was exposed to a new wave of post-war modernist design. The stone-piled exterior, made from the volcanic rock andesite, evokes a pirate's castle. The stone-piling was overseen by Masatoshi Izumi, a stone sculptor and production partner of Noguchi, who had a workshop in Kagawa. The concrete walls were built using formwork techniques to reveal wood grain patterns, blending naturally into the hilly landscape of Goshikidai.

Teshima Art Museum, Kagawa Prefecture

Architect: Ryue Nishizawa and Rei Naito
Year: 2010

Perched on a hill near Karato Port in Teshima – an island between Shodoshima and Naoshima in the Seto Inland Sea – the Teshima Art Museum is a collaborative work by architect Ryue Nishizawa and artist Rei Naito. Built on a section of land where terraced rice fields, once left fallow, were regenerated with the help of the locals, the architecture evokes an image of a water droplet. Measuring 40 metres along its short side and 60 metres in length, with a maximum height of 4.5 metres, the building is a concrete shell structure without a single pillar. Its smooth volume, made of free-form curves, appears to merge seamlessly with the surrounding terrain.

Integrated with this architecture is Rei Naito's installation work ‘Matrix’, which explores the animating force (anima) of nature. This piece incorporates an underground spring and throughout the day, water emerges from numerous points on the floor, creating a fountain. Surrounding sounds of nature, light, wind, and rain come through the two openings above, creating a space where environment – which changes seasonally – art and architecture are integrated.

Inujima Seirensho Art Museum, Okayama Prefecture

Architect: Hiroshi Sambuichi
Year: 2008

The Inujima Seirensho Art Museum – approximately a ten-minute cruise ride from Hoden Port on mainland Okayama prefecture – is a museum centred on the theme of ‘heritage, architecture, art, and environment.’ It was created by renovating a copper smelter that operated for only ten years from 1909 before falling into disuse. The environmentally conscious architecture, conceived by Hiroshima-based architect Hiroshi Sambuichi, incorporates existing chimneys and Karami bricks – slag bricks made from the residue left after copper is removed during the smelting process – while utilising natural energy sources like solar and geothermal power.

The museum incorporates an advanced water purification system harnessing the power of surrounding plants, evolving like a living organism as part of Inujima's perpetual natural cycle. Art works evoking the spirit of novelist Yukio Mishima, who rang a wakeup call to Japan's rapid modernisation, fill the space which once contributed to the country's industrial evolution but now exists only as a shadow trace – making a comment about the future of the country and its relationship to its past through art and architecture.

Kurashiki International Hotel, Okayama Prefecture

Architect: Shitaro Urabe
Year: 1963

Opened in 1963, the Kurashiki International Hotel is as popular now as when it first launched. Founded in response to growing post-war calls from local businesses and the government for an international-standard hotel in Kurashiki, a local city in Okayama prefecture, the hotel was born from the vision of its founder, Ohara Soichiro, who sought to create a modest but practical establishment where heartfelt hospitality prevailed.

When architect Shintaro Urabe (1909–1991) designed the building, he intended it to blend into Kurashiki’s landscape. Constructed in reinforced concrete, it was conceived as a fusion of Japanese and Western styles. The traditional namako kabe – a type of wall in coloured tiles found in Kurashiki’s historical district – appears alongside pitched kabe hisashi eaves, resembling mini roofs, which are layered on top of each other across all floors and nod to local construction typologies. Urabe’s vision described that, ‘by the time the ginkgo trees planted by the hotel at its opening have grown into spreading trees, this hotel too will have put down deep, strong roots in local and among the people of Kurashiki, welcoming visitors from around the world.’

Elements like the staircases, handrails, and wall clocks remain unchanged since the hotel's opening. Urabe, while planning the design, sat with the hotel's general manager, gaining deep insight into how the hotel might operate – such as the importance of maintaining the line of sight for guests seated in the lobby and how international guests spend their time in their rooms. This resulted in his meticulous detailing of the interior. The hotel is a source of pride for the local citizens of Kurashiki, and a piece of architecture that is truly embedded in the local life.

Honpukuji Temple, The Water Temple, Hyogo Prefecture

Architect: Tadao Ando
Year: 1991

One of the Buddhist Shingon sect’s temples, Honpukuji, dating back to the 12th century, is located on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture, overlooking Osaka Bay. Enshrined here is a statue of Yakushi Nyorai, which is also designated an Important Cultural Property. In 1991, Tadao Ando designed the new main hall, Mizumido – Water Temple – to honour this deity. Accessed by a wooden approach leading to the new main hall, Ando’s temple is not something one would expect from an ordinary Japanese temple: an austere concrete wall divides the secular world from the sacred realm.

Circling it to enter, visitors encounter a 40m long elliptical pond cast in concrete. Floating within are water lilies, a Buddhist symbol. A staircase leading underground is positioned centrally, bisecting the lotus pond. Descending these steps, as if burrowing beneath the earth, leads to the main hall. In the late afternoon, when the sunlight streams in from the west and layers different colours on the vermilion-painted walls, the hall is bathed in a tapestry of crimson hues, offering visitors a unique experience where time and space seem to merge.

Yodogo Geihinkan, Hyogo Prefecture

Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Year: 1924

In 1924, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) designed this residence for Taizaemon Yamamura, a local who ran a sake brewery. Shortly after the Second World War, it became the property of Yodogawa Steel Works Co., Ltd., and has been open to the public since 1989. Wright undertook the original design in 1918, but soon returned to America, so completion was entrusted to his disciples in Japan, Arata Endo (1889–1951) and Makoto Minami (1892–1951). Following Wright's exploration of the fusion of nature and architecture, the architecture exploited the site's undulating terrain, extending from the nearby Rokko Mountains, and the floors are arranged in a stepped configuration running north-south.

A notable feature is the 120 small windows arranged throughout the house, which allow natural light to filter through during different hours of the day, creating an ever-changing interior atmosphere. The use of sculpted Oya stone is another unique and unusual element. The material is commonly used for exteriors, but here, it features expansively in the interior. Oya stone sourced from Oya town in Tochigi Prefecture is soft and easy to work with, and was a favourite material for Wright when he worked on the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

Kiro-san Observatory, Ehime Prefecture

Architect: Kengo Kuma and Associates
Year: 1994

Kiro-san Observatory crowns the 307.8 metres-high Kiro mountain Observatory Park in Ōshima in Ehime Prefecture. As Oshima is among more than 700 islands dotted around the Seto Inland Sea, the site commands panoramic views of the world's first triple suspension bridge, one of Japan's three major tidal currents, as well as the highest peak in western Japan – Mount Ishizuchi – when the weather is clear. However, as the site sits within the Kiro-san Observatory Park, part of the Seto Inland Sea National Park, regulations prevented the construction of a conventional protruding structure that might unduly spoil the mountain scenery.

Kengo Kuma, whose studio designed the Observatory, says, ‘We attempted to make architecture disappear on the summit of Ōshima’. Avoiding the fate of conventional protruding observatories – where the act of construction distracts from the landscape – Kiro-san Observatory is instead folded into its environment. Its structure is buried within the terrain, forming an observation deck that remains imperceptible from the outside while offering views from within.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has unveiled a new scheme offering free domestic flights to travellers from the UK and Europe, in a bid to encourage deeper exploration of Japan’s lesser-visited regions. The initiative, created in partnership with the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), is now running until 31 January 2026, allowing eligible passengers to add up to two complimentary internal flights to their international booking.

The campaign centres on ANA’s expanded Stopover & Add-on Free Fare, which lets economy-class travellers build multi-stop itineraries without additional airfare. Passengers flying into Tokyo can continue onwards to destinations such as the volcanic landscapes of Kyushu, the snowy expanses of Hokkaido or the remote islands of Okinawa, paying only applicable taxes and fees. Domestic flights do not need to begin and end in the same city, giving visitors greater flexibility to design open journeys.

The offer arrives as Japan continues to experience record tourism growth: the country welcomed 36.87 million international visitors in 2024. Yet despite strong demand, travel remains concentrated in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. By easing the cost of internal travel, ANA and JNTO hope to draw visitors away from the main gateways and support more balanced, sustainable tourism. ANA, which operates services to over 40 domestic destinations, says the scheme is designed to make regional discovery easier while connecting travellers with the country’s cultural diversity.

For more information, visit ana.co.jp. While the flights themselves are free, taxes and visa fees may still apply.

A timber façade with a pink noren curtain. Centuries-old eaves reflected cleanly in mirrors. Minimal aluminium lines in soft cherry blossom tones. And a wall of glass framing a timeless raked stone garden. HaaT, the Issey Miyake brand rooted in textile innovation, has opened its first flagship store in Kyoto, a minimalist renovation of the historic timber structure of a former sugar store dating back 150 years.

Designed by Tokujin Yoshioka, the store seamlessly blends the past with the future, echoing HaaT’s philosophy of creating a dialogue between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary experimentation.

A Kyoto-style latticed wood shopfront, with neat waves of curved rooftop tiles, is balanced with a signature pop of colour: a perfectly pink curtain at the entrance. Sliding the door open and crossing the stone threshold, the interior feels pure and light, with Yoshioka reinventing the building’s story-etched heritage into a minimalist expression of modern lines, tones and textures.

For Makiko Minagawa, the creative director of HaaT, who spent decades working alongside Issey Miyake, Kyoto is a key hub for the brand (as well as her hometown). HaaT works with numerous textile artisans in the region, as well as across Japan and India, to create inventive materials rooted in meticulous crafts heritage.

Speaking at HaaT / Kyoto ahead of its opening, Minagawa tells Wallpaper*: ‘We have been working with Kyoto’s artisans for many years, creating textiles. The number of artisans is decreasing yearly but we want to keep supporting them and developing creations together.’

She adds: ‘Kyoto is a very important place. It has more than a thousand years of history and artisans are always trying to create something new. This spirit has nurtured Kyoto’s handcraft traditions. We really want Kyoto’s artisans to keep thriving – so we want to continue working with them and hope this store will create more opportunities to showcase their work.’

The starting point of the design concept was simple, according to Minagawa: ‘We’ve been working with Yoshioka-san for a long time so I didn’t need to give him specific instructions. I just said that Kyoto’s machiya townhouses are generally all brown with white walls – and I’d like some pink.

‘From there, the pink concept expanded – soft pinks, almost white pinks, various shades. Yoshioka-san created the Olympic torch from a cherry blossom-dyed aluminium. He said that pink suits Kyoto and the pink idea gradually grew.’

A sense of Kyoto imbues the new HaaT store from the start. The shop, on Aneyakoji Street, has an unusually wide façade measuring 12m. Here, a grey stone boulder – reminiscent of a tea-room entrance – is set smoothly into concrete on the ground beneath a pink curtain floating in the breeze, creating a soft transition between in and out.

Entering the space, there is an immediate sense of lightness not typically associated with often dimly lit Kyoto machiya townhouse architecture. Centre stage is an updated framework made of new timber, with a traditional stone garden at the rear visible through a wall of glass.

The atmosphere is lightened by a soft contemporary material palette. There are smooth swathes of light grey concrete floors, contrasting gently with a pink-white shade painted on walls, as well as cleanly cubed display and counter units.

A sense of dynamism is evoked by accents of aluminium, tinged with soft tones of cherry blossom pink – with clothing hanging from a horizontal hanging rail cutting cleanly across one side of the space, creating angular lines of shadows; plus a wall of modular pink panels which are adjustable for displays.

For Yoshioka, the space is shaped by an essential notion of creating something new, rather than replicating the past, as he explains: ‘The design undertaken in this project was not merely an effort to reproduce a traditional townhouse or to renovate its interior, but rather a comprehensive reconfiguration of the building itself.

‘By retaining only the structural framework and roof and redesigning the entire architecture – including the façade – the project sought to reconstruct the structure as a new and original work of architecture.’

The dialogue between past and future is perhaps best captured at the rear of the store. Here – Minagawa’s favourite spot – a glance up reveals the beauty of the original wooden eaves overhanging a large window framing garden views. The timber craftsmanship is subtly highlighted by mirrored surfaces on walls either side, evoking a clean and light infinity effect.

Yoshioka adds: ‘This fusion gives life to a space where the spirit of Makiko Minagawa’s creations breathes quietly. In this harmony between inorganic material and traces of meticulous handwork, a new form emerges to bridge the past and the future.’

Since launching in 2000, HaaT has carved a distinct creative path as a womenswear brand focused first on textiles, fusing heritage craftsmanship with exploratory technology, as brought to life in three lines: Every Month, Every Week and Every Day.

Textile innovations are written into HaaT’s DNA – from lightweight crinkly Kyo Chijimi fabric, which is woven with twisted threads in pure spring water in nearby Shiga, to kabira, an Indian hand-stitching technique creating soft dimensional surfaces reminiscent of Japanese sashiko embroidery.

At the new HaaT store, exclusive items include the cloud-like texture of light Kumo Shibori pieces and graphic patterned wool clothing called Roving Kogin, woven in shades of pink or grey and white.

‘My inspirations come from the makers we work with,’ explains Minagawa. ‘Japan and India share many similarities. Both cultures make things that last, repair what is worn and have traditions that evolve. Sustainability is essential because it keeps traditions alive. And for the future, the idea of always creating something new is important.’

HaaT / Kyoto. 569 Kikuyacho, Yanaginobanba Higashi-iru, Aneyakoji-dori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto

isseymiyake.com

Slipping into the upper tiers of the Maki & Associates-designed Blue Front Shibaura South Tower, the Fairmont Tokyo hotel (the brand’s debut in Japan) settles at a height where the skyline begins to blur into the horizon. Spanning levels 35 to 43, it sits just far enough above the streets for the city’s noise to fade away and the views to take over. Inside, the lines stay clean, the palette restrained, and every room is attuned to Tokyo’s shifting light. The journey starts in the street-level lobby, where Serene, the resident Labrador and chief happiness officer, offers a gentle welcome before your ascent skyward. Conceived as a place for both locals and travellers, the hotel leans into the city’s contrasts.

Wallpaper* checks in at Fairmont Tokyo

What’s on your doorstep?

The stately hotel sits within Blue Front Shibaura, a new waterfront development in a district that isn’t always the obvious choice for a Tokyo stay, yet offers a surprising sense of calm and a clear vantage point on the bay. Once a fishing village and a transport hub, Shibaura still carries an industrial undertone, but remains well-connected and atmospheric. The Edo-period Kyu-Shiba-rikyū Gardens are a short walk away, with Hamarikyu Gardens further along the waterfront. Hamamatsucho Station on the Yamanote Line provides quick access to Shibuya, Harajuku and the city’s livelier quarters, while the nearby Zojo-ji Temple, which stands next to Tokyo Tower, further anchors the area with a dose of history.

Who is behind the design?

Conceived by Melbourne-based boutique practice Bar Studio, the design embraces the area’s bayfront calm, dissolving the line between interior and exterior with wide, double-height glazing that pulls the landscape straight into the room. On level 35, the lobby lounge flows onto a landscaped terrace where you can catch a salty hint of the bay.

‘We sought to create a link in the design between Tokyo’s contrasts of traditional and contemporary, calm and energy, modern culture and the intrinsic connection with nature that has a rich heritage in Japan. We also wanted to capture a sense of ritual,’ explains Lucas Chirnside, design director at Bar Studio. The design language throughout focuses on intimacy, harnessing warm tones, tactile materials and atmospheric lighting, prioritising the natural richness of materials and plush finishes throughout the hotel.

Most furnishings and lighting are bespoke Bar Studio creations, complemented by pieces from Giopato & Coombes, Lasvit, B&B Italia, Minotti and Molteni&C. As a special touch, the lifts feature a delicate installation developed with Wanda Barcelona, reimagining Japanese botanicals through intricate paper-cutting. Artistic gestures continue in the Vue Mer lobby lounge, where a vibrant suspended work by Berlin-based artist Tomislav Topić nods to the translucency of washi paper. Meanwhile, custom carpets in corridors and guest rooms incorporate the graphic lines of Japanese Zen gardens.

The room to book

Fairmont Tokyo offers 217 rooms, ranging from 52 to 278 sq m, situated on the 36th to 42nd floors. The Fairmont Gold suites have access to a private lounge serving gourmet breakfasts, afternoon tea, evening canapés and all-day drinks. The Fairmont Gold Tokyo Tower View King Suite keeps the city’s hum in frame, with the crimson glow of the tower at night and Le Labo Santal 33 amenities in the bathroom.

Interiors nod to traditional Japanese architecture – the genkan-style entry, engawa-inspired seating – and feature karakami (woodblock) prints from printmaking duo Aiko and Takuma Noda and hand-drawn calligraphy by Shun-Yo, who uses crushed shell for luminous pearl pigments. ‘We’ve incorporated the calm, natural shades of Japanese sen timber, cloud-white quartzite stone and brass. Guestroom bathrooms feature textured granite, evoking tranquil onsen rituals,’ explains Chirnside.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The hotel runs five distinct culinary rooms, from Mediterranean to French and modern Japanese. Afternoon tea anchors café Vue Mer; next door, Kiln & Tonic serves pizzas, grills and charred seafood. Migiwa, a six-seat counter, focuses on seasonal seafood, while Totsuji handles Wagyu and a Parmigiano-crisped take on okonomiyaki via teppanyaki.

Driftwood turns Yōshoku (a Japanese style of Western-influenced cuisine) into a luxe affair; think scallops shoyu-yaki with edamame purée and caviar beurre blanc, or Kagoshima Megumi Black Pork Katsu in a house sauce. Its bar, Off Record, feels like a cocooned listening room of vinyl, rare spirits and soulful bites. Here, Bar Studio designed a custom chandelier, which incorporates illuminated bubble-texture resin, making for a soft glow.

Where to switch off

The spa on the 35th floor extends the hotel’s altitude-induced calm. ‘At Fairmont Spa, expect a soothing urban retreat, drawing on warm tones and elemental, natural stone. The spa’s atelier centres on a monolithic quartzite island bench,’ says Chirnside. Treatments begin with choosing your scent blend from seeds and spices.

The ‘self-love’ magnesium ritual is the post-Tokyo antidote: dry brushing, warm basalt stones charged under the full moon, and a slow, restorative massage. A 24-hour Technogym space offers full free weights and there are private studios for yoga and Pilates. Afterwards, drift into the 20m indoor infinity pool, pause on the outdoor sundeck or reset in the heat of the sauna.

The verdict

Japan is famously exacting in its approach to hospitality, yet Fairmont Tokyo (five months in) feels determined and confident. Service is attentive without theatrics; the Fairmont Gold lounge is a standout, letting guests graze, decompress and recalibrate all day. The balance of serenity and city energy is deftly handled, so much so that staying indoors becomes its own temptation.

Fairmont Tokyo is located at Blue Front Shibaura Tower S, 1 Chome-1-1 Shibaura, Minato City, Tokyo 105-0023, Japan. Rates: from JPY 127,600

An artisanal, almost cinematic sensibility defines the work of London- and Hong Kong-based interior designer Joyce Wang. Her eponymous studio recently completed the interior concept and branding for Club Bâtard in Hong Kong, a new three-floor members’ wine club housed within the city’s historic Pedder Building.

While the world continues to proliferate with private clubs, Wang’s understanding of them as spaces for both play and pause ensures each project emerges with its own distinct cadence. Her latest exploration of the typology is The Magarigawa Club Clubhouse, a private driving club secluded in the forested hills of Chiba, Japan.

Joyce Wang Studio unveils The Magarigawa Club Clubhouse

Conceived as a counterpart to the 3.5km driving circuit it serves, the clubhouse choreographs the pre- and post-drive experience. The journey begins with check-in, changing areas and an energising 18-bay pit-lane lounge. After driving, the focus is on restorative rituals: onsen, spa, an infinity pool and meditative lounges. This duality of high performance and quiet recovery underpins the project’s architectural language. A restaurant and bar host tasting experiences throughout the year, extending the sense of retreat.

Japanese visual codes are woven subtly throughout. Shoji screens demarcate zones and create pockets of intimacy while modulating daylight across timber and stone surfaces. ‘An interplay between light and shadow became a guiding principle of our design, reflecting an appreciation for negative space and the ephemeral,’ says Joyce Wang, founder of the eponymous studio.

Warm, tactile materials define the interiors. Ergonomic layouts and precise detailing echo the spirit of high-performance design, while timber ribbing forms an intricate ceiling landscape that feels deeply rooted in nature. ‘It was an honour to work with The Magarigawa Club to shape a unique and holistic resort experience for their members. We are so proud of the destination we have created together and excited to share it with our community,’ Wang reflects.

Named Magarigawa, after the Japanese aesthetic of mui shizen (effortless naturalness), the club sits an hour from central Tokyo and Haneda Airport. It is located at Tomiuracho Otsu, Minamiboso, Chiba 299-2412, Japan. For more information on memberships, visit magarigawa.com

Ichio Matsuzawa has spent his career questioning what architecture can be when it stops trying to be solid, permanent, or even entirely visible. Since establishing his independent practice, the Tokyo-based architect has cultivated a reputation for projects that exist at the threshold of perception, from temporary installations at Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion to the Art Houses on Inujima. His recent installation for Art Week Tokyo’s bar offered a concentrated expression of this ongoing enquiry: a work of what he calls formless architecture, defined not by walls or volume but by the changing relationships between people, light, motion, and the city itself.

Ichio Matsuzawa: Architecture at the edge of perception

He created the bar with a series of curved, three-millimetre acrylic sheets, each a two-by-four-metre panel with 94 per cent transparency. They hovered at the edge of consciousness, present only when they caught the light, distorted a likeness or, momentarily, eclipsed a moving body.

The panels were heat-formed in an industrial oven using steel moulds, a process as delicate as it was unpredictable, as the acrylic became almost liquid when heated, making the ultimate curves impossible to control. Matsuzawa embraced the risk, allowing ‘beautiful accidents’ to shape the final forms, discarding everything that felt too rigid, precise, or artificial. What remained was a series of ephemeral thresholds that appeared and dissolved as visitors moved through the space.

This is where Matsuzawa drew a line between architecture and sculpture. Objects, he commented, are static. Architecture is perpetual: it changes with people, climate, sound, and time. In the bar, nothing stayed still. From the street, shadows of trees rippled across the acrylic, and echoes bent and multiplied. The breeze pushed both surfaces and images out of alignment. ‘New, mirage-like spaces are constantly being generated,’ he explained.

The transparency also blurred the divide between inside and out, a deliberate strategy given the bar’s street-level site in central Tokyo, which became part of the architecture, not merely the backdrop. Nature, too, entered the framework: wind, branches, sunlight, passing cyclists, and the casual choreography of pedestrians.

To counter the coolness of the acrylic, Matsuzawa designed stools and tables wrapped in richly coloured Afghan textiles, introducing tactility, warmth, and cultural layering. A soundscape by composer Yusuke Nakano completed the multisensory environment.

Matsuzawa, who has quietly built up a reputation for projects that question material presence and spatial perception, saw the AWT Bar as part of a philosophical enquiry into architecture as experience rather than form. ‘Each visitor encounters a different space, depending on their movements, their timing, their sensitivity,’ he said. ‘The work isn’t complete until someone inhabits it.’

The bar served cocktails designed by artists, including Chim↑Pom from Smappa!Group and Tsuyoshi Ozawa, and snacks by chef Shinobu Namae, including Seaweed Jambon Beurre made with Suji-Aonori seaweed butter and two kinds of seaweed pickles, but the bar’s real takeaway was spatial. In creating architecture that existed only through perception rather than solidity, Matsuzawa inverted conventional notions of what a building should be.

Rather than defining space, his near-invisible acrylic panels dissolved it – making the architectural experience something visitors sensed rather than saw, felt rather than touched. For an architect committed to spaces that emerge from sensation rather than structure, the AWT Bar wasn’t simply a commission. It was a manifesto.

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