B/C/J Independent

Tag · 10 pieces

Tokyo

Every piece on the journal carrying the tokyo 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

19 MAY 2026 routes

JFK to Tokyo: ANA vs JAL — 2026 Route Review

ANA's The Room is still the bar everything is measured against, but JAL's Sky Suite III and Korean Air's Prestige Suites 2.0 — both refreshed Apex variants — have closed the gap on hardware. This is the full carrier-by-carrier breakdown of New York to Tokyo in business class, with mileage redemption math, NRT vs HND practicalities, and JFK departure-terminal notes.

By Kavi Banerjee · 16 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

04 MAY 2026 lounges

ANA Suite Lounge HND International — A 2026 Review

Four visits to ANA's international lounge complex at Haneda T3 between October 2025 and April 2026 — the Suite Lounge naming question, the ramen counter, the sushi bar, the showers, and how ANA's business-tier flagship reads against the JAL Sakura across the same terminal.

By Naomi Kawakami · 23 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

14 FEB 2026 lounges

JAL First Class Lounge Haneda — A 2026 Review

The JAL First Class Lounge at HND Terminal 3 on the fourth and fifth floors. Three visits across February 2026. The Champagne Bar, Sushi Tsurutei, the Dining Room, the showers, and where this lounge actually sits in the oneworld league table.

By Naomi Kawakami · 22 min read