JAPAN

Japan’s spa culture may be synonymous with hot tubs and mineral springs, but now a cache of forward-thinking operators are uniting traditional relaxation rituals with modern techniques and facilities, as Natasha Dragun discovers.

The nation’s best hotel spas combine tradition with cutting-edge wellness

THE SPA The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto

One of Kyoto’s newest hotels enjoys one of the city’s best locations, on the banks of the Kamo River with unbroken views of the Higashiyama mountain range. Impeccably styled rooms and suites are fitted with Japanese artwork, handmade soaps and tea sets for windowside ceremonies. Really, the only reason you should drag yourself away is for a treatment in the spa, a calming union of cool stone, teak and water features. If you’re looking to bliss out, book the ‘Ryokucha Serenity Ritual’, using antioxidant-rich tea leaves plucked locally; to relieve weary muscles, ‘Higashiyama Vigor’ involves pressurepoint massage using volcanic stones and ESPA oils infused with botanical and marine extracts; and to improve flexibility and joint movement there’s the ‘Kyoto Bamboo Ritual’, which, as its name suggests, sees therapists use warmed bamboo sticks to stretch and elongate tight muscles. ritzcarlton.com

THE SPA Suiran, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Kyoto

On the outskirts of Kyoto on the banks of the emerald Hozu River, Suiran is designed in the style of the city’s traditional ryokan inns. Japanese maples and bonsai trees ring pebbled courtyards, and some rooms come with private gardens, replete with deep hinoki soaking tubs. The spa also features two private open-air bathing facilities – ‘Raku’ (made of cypress) and ‘An’ (carved into rock) – both offering enviable views over Kyoto’s templedotted Arashiyama bamboo grove and drawing upon waters from a hot spring of the same name. The spa menu revolves around indigenous rituals and beliefs: zuko, a Japanese incense used by monks, is employed to cleanse and purify during your treatment, which might involve a green tea body scrub, jade massaging stones and tea seed oil prepared in accordance with the lunar cycle. suirankyoto.com

IZUMI SPA & ONSEN HAKONE Hyatt Regency Hakone Resort and Spa

Shaped by lava flows over tens of thousands of years, Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park begins in the foothills of Mount Fuji and spills south through Hakone, around 100 kilometres southwest of Tokyo. Thanks to its volcanic history, the region is home to more than 2300 hot springs, which Izumi Spa makes the most of at its slick base in the mountain lodge-style Hyatt Regency hotel. Here, a therapeutic soak in mineral-rich waters is a relaxing prelude to body wraps incorporating organic indigenous plants known for their healing properties. House-made vegetable and fruit oils are concocted from potent extracts of blueberry, raspberry and avocado, all high in antioxidants to deeply hydrate the skin. Don’t miss the ‘Flower Therapy’, using rose and bergamot to restore hormonal balance and lift up the spirit. hakone.regency.hyatt.com

AMAN SPA Aman Tokyo

In a city where luxury hotels abound, the first Aman property in Japan, set high in the Otemachi Tower, is hard to fault. Australian architect Kerry Hill has managed to capture a sense of place from the moment you step into Aman Tokyo’s 33rd-floor lobby, an aesthetic that is carried through to the serene spa; think sliding wooden doors, washi paper screens, deep soaking tubs and elegant kimono-clad staff. While it’s tempting to just enjoy the views of Mount Fuji from the infinity pool, it would be a shame to miss out on a treatment. All begin with

misogi, the age-old act of purification and meditation using water to reconnect