The Best Hotels Near ristorante giueme, by the Record
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Three old houses in the samurai district of Kakunodate, one of them an actual samurai residence, have been turned into a small hotel whose name translates to something like "the old Japanese way of living." The other two were a pickle storehouse and a fabric shop, all painstakingly preserved. Breakfast arrives bento-style; dinner means your hosts pointing you toward town. It's less lodging, more an argument that time is negotiable.
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Century-old red pine and Koiwai cedar frame the 24 villas here, each sited around the trees rather than in spite of them. This is a design-forward resort on a vast working farm at the foot of Mount Iwate, deep in Tohoku, well off Japan's usual luxury circuit. Dining leans on the farm and the Sanriku coast, and guests can try Nanbu ironware forging or ride through historic pastures. Remote in the best, quietest sense.
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A 400-year-old Japanese beech tree grows inside the club lounge, which tells you something about the ambition here. This small luxury ski resort in Iwate, just 38 rooms, holds a Michelin Key, and every unit sits at Club InterContinental level with floor-to-ceiling views of slopes and forest. The top-floor onsen has cypress baths facing the treetops, the restaurant runs Japanese-French, and the bar specializes in Japanese whisky.