Hoshino Resorts

The Hoshinoya brand (星のや),[11] represents Hoshino Resort's flagship properties, currently six, including: Hoshinoya Kyoto (in Arashiyama), Hoshinoya Okinawa (on Taketomi island) and the original Hoshinoya Karuizawa. All represent the company's dedication to luxurious traditional Japanese hospitality with modern elements.

Hoshinoya Fuji opened in 2015.[9] Hoshinoya Tokyo, the fifth flagship resort and first to be constructed inside a major city, is located in downtown Marunouchi. The property was announced on March 5, 2013, and opened in July 2016.[8][12]

Hoshinoya Bali in Ubud opened in early 2017.[13]

Hoshinoya Karuizawa and Kyoto have both been members of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) group since December 2009.[14]

Kai Kaga, originally built in the early 17th century

The Kai brand, is a chain of authentic onsen, natural hot spring resorts with a style of traditional Japan which serve kaiseki cuisine featuring local ingredients in each property. Targeted towards couples and women, it currently operates resorts in Aso, Atami, Kaga, Hakone, Itō, Izumo, Matsumoto, Tsugaru, and Kai Alps near the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. The brand was launched in 2011.[2]

Kai Kaga is typical of the Hoshino Resort strategy of finding existing properties and refurbishing them in traditional style with modern design elements. Originally built in the 1630s, the ryokan faces a restored communal bathhouse known as Kosoyu, and has undergone renovation since being acquired. Its rooms have been adapted to washitsu Japanese style, with zaisu (legless) chairs, while the spa, inspired by local peasant Imohori Togoro, who first discovered gold in the area, offers gold-leaf facial treatments.[15]

Kai Hakone, built in 1987 and acquired in 2012, combines paper screens and tatami mats in its rooms with modern sofas and kakejiku by Gallery Tsuyuki.[16] It also provides performances of Kamishibai, folk tales about yosegi-kaizu told using paper scrolls.

Risonare, is Hoshino Resorts' modern accommodation, designed to be stylish and appealing for families, and often offering a range of sports activities. Properties include Risonare Tomamu[17] offering skiing in central Hokkaido, Risonare Kohamajima offering golf and windsurfing in southern Okinawa,[18] Risonare Yatsugatake located in a wine region in central Honshu, and Risonare Atami, a seaside hot-spring resort south of Tokyo. Italian, French, and Japanese cuisine are featured in many Risonare resorts, though vegan diners are also available.

Risonare Tomamu in Central Hokkaido

Other brands include Omo, focused on urban city centers serving as a base for exploring, and BEB, designed for stay-cations with a group of friends with rooms and louge areas built to accommodate multiple family groups.

Hoshino Resorts' original property is located in Karuizawa, an area of Nagano Prefecture, under Mount Asama, first deemed fit as a resort and villa spot in the late 19th century by foreign missionaries like British/Canadian theologian Alexander Croft Shaw in (1886).[19] Emperor Akihito met his wife Michiko in the area, and it is the only place in the world to have hosted both summer and winter Olympic events.[20] Hoshinoya Karuizawa is located on the banks of the Yukawa river.

First opened in 1914, it was closed in 1995 for ten years by Yoshiharu Hoshino, before being reopened as Hoshinoya Karuizawa in 2005, the first eco-resort in Japan.[3] The resort and its 'Tombo-no-yu' hot springs are powered by geothermal heat from the volcanos in the surrounding topography. This, as well as hydroelectricity from mountain streams, provides the energy for the rest of the resort's power.[21] The property is Hoshino's first to achieve the policy aim of zero-emissions.

The property has 77 rooms, two hot-spring baths and a chaya tea room.[22]

The second Hoshinoya, opened in 2009,[2] is the former home of wealthy merchant Ryoi Suminokura (1554–1614). Suminokura is remembered mostly for creating the Takase River canal that runs through Kyoto, completed in 1611 and allowing goods to be transported to the then capital. His secluded home was constructed[23] on the banks of the Ōi River in the forests of Arashiyama, famed for its bamboo.

The "riverside sanctuary"[24] is reached by a small private wooden boat ride of ten minutes and retains its 19th-century wood-framed buildings, with 25 tatami-mat rooms, a library, and two gardens.[25] Temple bells ring upon the arrival of each guest,[26] and its moss-traced stone walkways are lit by iron lanterns.[27]

The rooms have been noted for both their natural location, visited by wild monkeys,[26] surrounded by cherry trees, and bathed in natural light, but also for their traditional style, with hinoki cypress wood bathtubs,[24] heated chestnut-wood floors,[28] and wallpaper made by Kyoto craftsmen from hand-printed woodblocks (karakami).[29]

The kaiseki restaurant, run by Executive Chef Ichiro Kubota and focusing on local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients, was awarded a Michelin Star in October 2012.[5] Kubota previously held a Michelin Star as head chef of London's Umu restaurant.[29]

Traditional style villas of Hoshinoya Taketomijima on Taketomi Island

Opened in 2012, Hoshinoya Taketomi Island is the only resort on the island of Taketomi Island (part of the Yaeyama Islands group), a 2.4 square mile island with 342 inhabitants, 1,200 miles southwest of Tokyo.[18] One of the last vestiges of the former Ryukyu Kingdom to retain its long-held identity, local village chiefs approval was needed before the complex could be built.[18] When it was, it was under strict rules to respect the architectural style of the island, with only single-tier structures eventually approved and constructed.[13]

The property consists of 48 wood-structure villas arranged as a mini-village with stone walls, prominent Shisa displayed upon rooftops, and a lobby live-house where locals perform music on traditional sanshin.[18] It was selected for three awards in the May 2013 edition of the Conde Nast Traveler "Best New Hotels in the World"; "Best New Hotels to Splurge On", "World's Most Romantic New Hotels", and "Amazing Pools at the Best New Hotels".[30]