Centurion Australia Summer 2022

|Places| Japanese Idylls

|Places| Japanese Idylls From countryside to coast, a pair of design-forward hotels in rural Kyushu showcase their individual senses of place. By Ute Junker L eave the light on when you slip between the sheets at KAI Yufuin. Even if you usually prefer total blackout at bedtime, you will want to savour the swirling shadows cast by the spiral bedroom lights, crafted to mimic the fireflies that dance above the local fields on summer evenings. It is just one of the small touches that firmly anchor the newly opened KAI Yufuin (hoshinoresorts. com) in its landscape. Sitting 10 minutes outside the hot-springs haven of Yufuin in northeastern Kyushu – a relaxing two-hour train ride from the island’s main city, Fukuoka, best enjoyed aboard the Yufuin no Mori sightseeing train – the hotel is framed by mountains on one side and rice paddies on the other. It is the latest local project for celebrated architect Kengo Kuma, who also created Yufuin’s sleek Comico Art Museum, a celebration of contemporary Japanese art. (The equally celebrated Shigeru Ban designed the local visitor centre.) Kuma drew his inspiration for KAI Yufuin’s design from local motifs and materials such as bamboo flooring and tatami seating, as well as the lowslung silhouette of traditional farmhouses that is echoed in the shape of the hotel’s freestanding villa suites. Yufuin has always appealed to travellers looking for a laidback travel experience – horse-drawn carriage tours are a popular way to explore the scenic streets – and guest wardrobes at KAI Yufuin come equipped with comfortable resort wear. Slip on your samue suit when you head to the hotel’s onsen, or sashay to the restaurant, where walls are made with decorated washi paper, wearing your yukata robe. Speaking of meals, they are not to be missed. Kaiseki dinners celebrate local ingredients including the tangy kabosu citrus fruit as well as wild boar and other game. Breakfast is equally memorable: order the western option and you will be given your own PHOTOS AKIFUMI YAMABE 36 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM

Hashimoto’s design frames epic stretches of sea and sky, with ornamental pools and metal-panelled walls reflecting the ever-changing vistas miniature grill on which to cook your sausage and bacon to your own liking. On the far side of Kyushu, another new hotel offers a soft landing in a more rugged landscape. Floating off the coast near Nagasaki, the Goto Islands have a wild beauty that differs markedly from northern Kyushu’s more sedate landscapes. To create the archipelago’s first five-star offering, Okcs Retreat Goto Ray (goto-ray.com) on Fukue Island, the owners invited Yukio Hashimoto, the architect responsible for Tokyo’s Peninsula Hotel, to create an edifice that could match the island’s dramatic landscapes. Working on a grand scale, Hashimoto’s design frames epic stretches of sea and sky, with ornamental pools outside and metal-panelled walls inside reflecting the ever-changing vistas. Outdoor soaking tubs placed on the terrace of each room offer more opportunities for undisturbed appreciation of the island’s beauty. Local touches abound, from the bookends made of local lava to the porcelain made in Kyushu’s celebrated pottery town of Hasami and even complimentary vials of tsubaki oil. Extracted from the camellias which flourish in the island’s salt-tinged air, the oil has been used by generations of Japanese women to nourish their hair and skin and also features in many of the treatments offered by the hotel spa. Local flavours are heroed in the kitchen, where chef Kou Takahira avails himself of ingredients such as Goto beef, treasured by gourmands for its tenderness and flavour but produced in such small quantities that it is rarely found off-island. The delicate glass vessels scattered around the hotel are another local speciality, one that reflects Nagasaki’s singular role as the first European trading port in Japan. The Portuguese introduced glassmaking to Japan along with another import that was less popular with local rulers: Christianity. After the foreign religion was outlawed in 1614, a number of Japanese Christian communities established themselves in the Goto Islands, away from the scrutiny of the shogunate. Around 50 of their churches survive to this day, recognised by a Unesco World Heritage listing. The hotel offers a boat tour that takes you past some of the island’s most striking churches, which include the serene white-walled Mizunoura church and the red-brick Kusuhara church, the only one still in use today. Equally alluring: a visit to the lovely Takahama Beach, washed by the sort of jade-tinged waters you would expect to find in Thailand rather than Japan – and a reminder of just how lovely and varied the Japanese countryside can be. The sea meets the verdant coast of Fukue Island just steps from Okcs Retreat Goto Ray; left page: the tranquil onsen at KAI Yufuin, and a postcard-perfect view of the resort‘s idyllic surrounds from one of its suites PHOTO © OKCS RETREAT GOTO RAY CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 37