Hakone, Izu & Ise-Shima and their ryokan
South-west of Tokyo the country turns to hot springs and inns, and the luxury is the ryokan. Three houses: a one-time imperial family retreat under Fuji, in the middle of the Hakone park, with open-air baths and a mineral pool ringed with rocks; the prototype of the inn at Shuzenji, five centuries old, with a floating Noh stage in its bamboo-ringed pond; and Amanemu, an Aman on Ago Bay — the thoroughly modern interpretation of the country inn, by Kerry Hill, where every suite has a private onsen bath over the bay. Hakone is the national park in the shadow of Mount Fuji, an hour and a half from the capital; the Izu peninsula and the old spa town of Shuzenji are an hour by bullet train and forty minutes by car; and, on the Pacific, the Ise-Shima National Park keeps its shrine, its pearl coast and Ago Bay. All three hold the territory's strict five-star standing. Spring blossom, June greens, November maples and clear winter days each have their season; the baths are best in the cold.
Five-star hotels in Hakone, Izu & Ise-Shima
3 hotels
The neighborhoods
Hakone
The national park in the shadow of Mount Fuji, with its hot springs, about eighty-five minutes from Tokyo. Within it lie Gora and its gardens, the lake, the ropeway and the open-air museum.
Izu & Shuzenji
The Izu peninsula and its old spa town of Shuzenji, with the temple, the bamboo path, the river and the hot springs. From Tokyo it is an hour by bullet train to Mishima and forty minutes by car.
Good to know
Which are the five-star hotels in Hakone, Izu & Ise-Shima?
Three, one in each zone. The five-star houses we list in Hakone, Izu & Ise-Shima are Gora Kadan, the one-time imperial family retreat turned ryokan in the middle of the Hakone national park, with open-air baths and a mineral pool ringed with enormous rocks; Asaba, the five-century inn at Shuzenji on the Izu peninsula, facing a pond ringed with bamboo with a floating Noh stage at its center; and Amanemu, the Aman in the Ise-Shima National Park by Kerry Hill, whose suites and villas frame Ago Bay and each keep a private onsen bath.
Where should I stay in Hakone, Izu & Ise-Shima: Hakone, Shuzenji or Ago Bay?
Hakone for Mount Fuji and the easiest reach from Tokyo — Gora Kadan stands in the national park about eighty-five minutes from the capital, with the lake, the ropeway and the open-air museum around it; Shuzenji, on the Izu peninsula, for the purest ryokan tradition — Asaba is an hour from Tokyo by bullet train to Mishima and forty minutes by car, and it welcomes children from seven (its separate Villa Tenko takes younger ones); and Ago Bay, in the Ise-Shima National Park on the Pacific, for the modern inn — Amanemu sits over the bay near the pearl coast and the Ise shrine, farther from Tokyo and worth the journey.
When is the best time for Hakone, Izu & Ise-Shima?
Every season sells: cherry blossom in late March and April, the fresh green of May and June before the rains of late June and July, the heat of August, the maples of November — the finest month in Hakone and at Shuzenji — and the clear winter days from December to February, when Mount Fuji shows above Hakone and the hot-spring baths are at their best. Ise-Shima on the Pacific is milder in winter and finest from October to April. Ryokan book out on Japanese holidays and weekends; midweek is the quiet time. Each house keeps its own calendar on its page.
How do I get around Hakone, Izu & Ise-Shima?
By train from Tokyo, as the Japanese do. Hakone is about eighty-five minutes from the capital; Shuzenji is an hour to Mishima by bullet train and forty minutes by car, and Asaba runs a fixed-rate taxi from Mishima and from Shuzenji station; Ise-Shima is reached by train to Kashikojima from Nagoya or Osaka, and Amanemu arranges the transfer with the booking. Between the three zones a car with driver suits, or the train back through Mishima; within each, the inns are the destination and the walks, baths and shrines are minutes away. The houses arrange station and airport transfers on request.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.
