The Most Luxurious Hotels in Japan
Tokyo and Kyoto — the two shortlists — and the ryokan trail that runs beyond them.
Japan is the most expensive country in this collection and the one where the money is most visibly spent: tower suites above Tokyo, and in Kyoto a set of stays that includes the finest thing on the whole Luxe List. Two shortlists, one for each city.
The third strand here is not a hotel list at all. Japan’s great stay is the ryokan — a room, a bath and two meals, often in a hot-spring town rather than a city — and those sit with the destination guides, which the card below leads to. Cherry blossom in late March and April, and the autumn leaves in November, are the two periods to book far ahead.
The Japan shortlists
All 19 cities →Japan on the Luxe List
1 of the collection’s top ten for 2026 is in Japan.
- Aman Kyoto — Kyoto, Japan Kerry Hill’s final masterwork — minimalist pavilions in a secret forest garden.
Before you book
Rates are indicative low-season from-prices for the cheapest room a hotel normally sells, and they move a long way with the season and the calendar. Treat them as a way of ranking the shortlists against one another rather than as a quote. Every hotel on these pages was cross-checked against live listings; none of it is a paid placement, and PacificAir takes no commission on a booking.
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