The Best Hotels Near Mirongyuan, by the Record
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A lakeside ryokan in Kochi where the audiophile-grade sound system gets the same thoughtful attention as the natural hot spring onsen. Rooms are sparse and uncluttered, framing the greenery outside like a considered composition, and the kitchen runs on freshly harvested local ingredients. The whole place orbits a single idea about living naturally, taken more seriously here than that word usually warrants.
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Saijo sits at the foot of Mount Ishizuchi and the groundwater practically bubbles up through the pavement, which explains why a University of Tokyo eco-project chose it for Japan's first zero-energy hotel. The building is all angular rooflines and open-air walkways, rooms kept spare with blonde wood and pale green tile, beds on raised platforms. Shared coworking space, a café, and riverside gardens round things out for a hotel that takes its minimalism as seriously as its environmental brief.
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The local pottery tradition lands on every table at this ten-room luxury inn near Matsuyama, where Tobe ceramics hold a French-Japanese kitchen's output. The architecture reads as almost Alpine beside its lake, and the spa runs European rather than onsen-style. Rooms are modern-minimalist and face the water. Japan's auberge tradition is younger than the ryokan but finding its footing, and this place is a good argument for it.