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
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Get lost in Megan Rooney’s abstract, emotional paintings
The artist finds worlds in yellow and blue at Thaddaeus Ropac London
-
‘Water is coming for the city, how do we live with that?’ asks TBA21 in Venice
Art advocacy and activism platform TBA21's Venetian project, Ocean Space, addresses the climate issues the city is facing
-
In Shanghai, Hermès conjures a ‘cosmopolitan explorer’ for its one-off show on the Huangpu River
Nadège Vanhée, artistic director of Hermès’ womenswear collections, presented ‘The Second Chapter’ of her A/W 2025 collection earlier this evening (13 June 2025) against the futuristic skyline of Shanghai
-
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
-
Shake off the winter chill at these design-led onsen hotels in Japan
Whether you’re heading to the mountains of Hokkaido or the alleys of Kyoto’s Gion district, these immaculately designed onsen hotels will keep the shivers at bay
-
The new hotels you’ll want to stay at in 2025
Where to stay in 2025? Let six of the most-read-about hotel openings of the past 12 months inspire your escape – from a tiny Tokyo bolthole to a Tanzanian safari retreat