B/C/J Independent

Tag · 6 pieces

Japan

Every piece on the journal carrying the japan tag, most recent first.

24 MAY 2026 hotels

Park Hyatt Tokyo Post-Renovation Review: Is the Lost in Translation Hotel Still Tokyo's Reference?

The Park Hyatt Tokyo closed in May 2024 for the most substantial renovation in its 31-year history and reopened in phased waves through 2025 and into early 2026. After three stays across the reopened floors, including two nights in the Park Suite and one in a Park Deluxe corner, the question is whether the property still holds the position it has held since the day it opened — Tokyo's reference luxury hotel — against a generation of younger rivals that did not exist when the Park Tower was built.

By Sebastian Vance · 23 min read

14 MAY 2026 hotels

Aman Kyoto at Six: The Takagamine Forest Verdict, 2026

Aman Kyoto opened on November 1, 2019 on a 32-hectare forest site north of Kinkaku-ji. Designed by Kerry Hill Architects and completed posthumously after Hill's 2018 death, the resort is six years into operation. We ran four nights to read the property at the maturity mark.

By Naomi Kawakami · 22 min read

08 MAY 2026 hotels

Best Luxury Hotels in Tokyo 2026

Ten Tokyo luxury hotels ranked by room product, dining, service, location, and value, scored on a weighted rubric, no press trips, no affiliates, paid revenue benchmark across the Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Roppongi cluster.

By Naomi Kawakami · 22 min read

23 APR 2026 hotels

Aman Tokyo at Ten: The Otemachi Tower Verdict, 2014-2026

Aman Tokyo opened on the 33rd floor of the Otemachi Tower in December 2014 as the brand's first urban property, and it spent the better part of a decade rewriting what a city Aman could mean. Ten years in, with four stays banked in the past eighteen months and a return trip in March 2026 spanning the Deluxe room, the Garden View Suite, and four nights in the 156-square-metre Aman Suite, we deliver the longitudinal verdict — what has aged, what has slipped, what has been refreshed, and whether the property still earns the JPY 250,000 entry rate in a Tokyo market that has materially levelled up around it since Bvlgari, Janu, and a re-positioned Capella entered the conversation.

By Vincent Holloway · 28 min read

22 MAR 2026 hotels

Mandarin Oriental Tokyo: A Review of the Nihonbashi Penthouse Tier

Mandarin Oriental Tokyo occupies the top nine floors of the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, perched between the Imperial Palace gardens and the Tokyo Skytree. This is a long-form review of the property's penthouse tier — Deluxe through Mandarin and Presidential — with current 2026 rates, dining at Sense and the Michelin-starred Signature, the 9th-floor spa, the 37F club lounge, and where the property sits against Aman Tokyo, Four Seasons Otemachi, Park Hyatt, Conrad, and the imminent Bvlgari.

By Sebastian Vance · 23 min read