Nasu Mukunone

Nasu Mukunone

Stand at the edge of the Water Garden at Nasu Mukunone and the town falls away: oaks, maples and beeches arranged by architect Junya Ishigami around water that keeps rearranging the view as you move through it. It's the one thing here that has no equivalent among the forest hotels scattered through this part of Tochigi, and it shapes the whole stay rather than sitting off to one side as a photo opportunity. The hotel itself is small, 15 rooms, no elevators, so there's no lobby crush and no waiting on floors that don't exist. Rooms keep things simple but considered: a bathtub, a minibar, slippers, the basics done properly rather than padded out. Dinner leans on produce picked that same morning and prepared by chef Takumi Chiba, with a bar for afterward and a concierge if you need anything arranged. There's a garden and terrace for sitting outside without going anywhere, Wi-Fi if you need it, and parking for the drive up from Tokyo or Nasushiobara Station. Thirteen kilometres out from the town centre, it asks you to come here for the forest, not for proximity to shops or nightlife. Children seven and under aren't permitted, there are no cribs, and pets stay elsewhere, which tells you plainly who this is for: a couple, or someone travelling alone, who wants the quiet uninterrupted. Anyone hoping for a lively base or a family-friendly stopover should look elsewhere. Check-in from 3pm, check-out by 10am, nothing unusual there. What lingers isn't the room, it's the ten minutes spent standing in front of that water, doing nothing, on purpose. A forest hotel near Nasu built around Junya Ishigami's one-of-a-kind Water Garden, 15 rooms, no elevators, chef-led dinners from same-day produce. Suits couples wanting real quiet; not for families, since children seven and under aren't permitted.