Amanemu — Shima, Japan

Continuing the Aman Group’s successful foray into Japan following the 2014 opening of the Aman Tokyo, the hotel collective has launched a second property in the country, Amanemu. Located 300km southwest of the capital in Ise Shima National Park on the Kii Peninsula, the hot spring resort offers just 24 suites and four two-bedroom villas, and successfully replicates the ryokan experience — from the traditional okami, (female manager) right down to the private onsen featured in each accommodation.
Designed by long-term Aman collaborators, Kerry Hill Architects, each room is sheathed in an ombre of pale Japanese timber, and features art by the likes of Japanese kimono and obi artisan, Genbei Yamaguchi, alongside custom-made coffee tables, sofas and neutral armchairs that are keeping with Aman’s signature reductive aesthetic. This theme is sustained in the bathrooms, where traditional Japanese baths and charcoal-coloured basalt stone tiles harmonise with the resort’s overall minimal aesthetic.
At the in-house restaurant, izakaya-style cuisine is served under a vaulted and coffered ceiling from a menu that takes full advantage of the location’s riches, with lobster, sea urchin and abalone featuring heavily alongside a large selection of sake, shochu and vintage Japanese whiskey. It can all be sweated out at the Aman Spa, where salt-infused and mineral–rich spring water is pumped into two onsen pavilions and a watsu pool, and is utilised in treatments that aim to reconnect mind and body.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
2165 Hazako Hamajima-cho
Shima-shi
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
London Design Festival 2025: live updates from the Wallpaper* team
From 11-21 September, London is celebrating design in all its forms. Here's the latest news, launches and other goings-on from London Design Festival 2025, as seen by Wallpaper* editors
-
Inside Ardbeg House, the whimsical Islay hotel from the Scotch distillery
‘Luxury with a laugh’ is how Russell Sage describes his designs for the new hotel, where each room draws on island and whisky lore
-
Luxury cruise line Explora Journeys will set sail in Asia for the first time
28 voyages across Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore will mark the luxury travel brand’s debut in the region
-
Will the revamped Park Hyatt Tokyo keep its cinematic soul?
As Park Hyatt Tokyo prepares to reopen after an extensive transformation, film fans wonder: will it still evoke Sofia Coppola’s dreamscape?
-
Stay at Patina Osaka for a dose of ‘transformative luxury’ in western Japan
From nature-inspired interiors to sound-tracked cocktails and an unusually green setting, Patina Osaka is a contemporary urban escape that sets itself apart
-
Tune into the rhythm of Tokyo’s most ambitious record shop
Vinyl Delivery Service in east Tokyo’s Skwat Kameari Art Centre is spinning a new narrative for the traditional record store model
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Waldorf Astoria Osaka
‘It’s rare to work on a brand new hotel of this scale in Japan in today’s landscape,’ says designer Andre Fu about Osaka’s newest luxury hotel. Wallpaper* paid it an early visit
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Rosewood Miyakojima: ‘Japan, but not as most people know it’
Rosewood Miyakojima offers a smooth balance of intuitive Japanese ‘omotenashi’ fused with Rosewood’s luxury edge
-
A new book captures the kitschy allure of Japanese ‘love hotels’
For his latest project, French photographer François Prost documents the whimsical façades that characterise these erotic roadside venues.
-
All aboard the world’s most luxurious train journeys
Stay on track with our pick of the most luxurious train journeys around the world, whether in 1920s-style opulence or contemporary chic
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Hoshino Resorts KAI Akiu: a soothing onsen hotel
In Japan’s bucolic northeast, Hoshino Resorts KAI Akiu breathes new life into a sleepy hot spring village without betraying its ancient roots