Azumi Setoda

"Azumi Setoda was designed by Kyoto-based architect Shiro Miura." - Nicola Chilton

"Ikuchijima Island is famous for its lemons and Shimanami Kaido cycle route. And leave it to Adrien Zecha, founder of Aman Hotels, to create an entirely new reason to come here: Azumi Setoda, a retreat in the 146-year-old former home of the island’s prominent Horiuchi family. For the 22-room minimalist inn, which is located in the town of Setoda, he hired Kyoto-based architect Shiro Miura. The retreat captures the languorous mood of the Seto Inland Sea, while still offering proximity to the area’s famed art islands, including Naoshima with its famous yellow pumpkin installation by Yayoi Kusama. Curved roof tiles, exposed beams, and a courtyard with a cherry tree offer a taste of Old Japan. The guest rooms feature rice paper screens, cypress wood bathtubs, and gardens that face a landscaped courtyard, while the community bathhouse across the street is complimentary for guests." - Keith Flanagan, Sanjay Surana, Jennifer Flowers, Adam H. Graham

"The new Azumi Setoda invites visitors to a corner of Japan unknown even to many domestic travelers. Part of an archipelago in the Seto Inland Sea, Ikuchijima is a quiet island with a population of 10,000. There, Kyoto based architect Shiro Miura was entrusted to transform a 146-year-old private residence into 22 guest rooms. The accommodations offer a contemporary take on the traditional ryokan, with rooms featuring rice paper screens, cypress wood bathtubs, and gardens that face a landscaped courtyard. Meals feature seasonal ingredients such as octopus and Omishima wild boar, all served on antique plates from the original owners of the estate. With an eye toward improving the property’s sustainability, Azumi is working to ensure it will use only renewable energy sources by 2023." - Jennifer Flowers

"Housed in a 140-year-old building that once served as the primary residence of the influential Horiuchi family, designer Shiro Miura has turned the former home into a 22-suite modern ryokan and the first Azumi hotel in Japan. Launched by Aman founder, Adrian Zecha, who fell in love with Japanese ryokans in the 1950s during his first visit to Japan, Azumi Setoda gives a fresh take on the traditional Japanese B&B with tatami-matted rooms and communal bath houses for guests to soak in together, but the knockout feature is the hinoki cypress wood bathtub in each guest room with unbeatable views of the island. Located in Japan’s premiere art region, Setouchi, guests can go forest bathing or enroll in ikigai classes, just a few of the immersive cultural experiences Zecha wants each guest to have at Azumi. Art lovers will love the accessibility to Naoshima Island and the Setouchi Triennale art festival, which are all in the same area."

"A sliding door in a jigsaw of dark timber beneath waves of gray roof tiles is the quiet arrival to Azumi Setoda. Located on an island famed for its lemons in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, it’s as understated and exquisitely executed as you’d expect from Adrian Zecha, original Aman founder and godfather of hotel minimalism. The first opening for his new Azumi brand, co-created with Naru Developments, it aims to reinvent Japan’s traditional ryokan for contemporary times. Azumi Setoda has taken over a 140-year-old residence with a pared back modern renovation by Kyoto-based architect Shiro Miura. Doors open onto an intimate lobby, with exposed timber and a wall of sea blue plasterwork. The loosely communal restaurant is a central hub—citrus fruits piled high in ceramic dishes—surrounded by wooden tables, where chefs serve modern Japanese dishes with a Silk Road edge (from octopus sashimi to coriander and tofu), tapping into the island’s shipping route heritage. An inner garden is wrapped in 20-foot tall fences known as kakine— a signature design feature of interlocked cedar wood—showcasing a cherry tree and curved pines. Nearby is Azumaya—a meditative space on the site of the family’s teahouse, glass walls overlooking a fenced garden of exotic foliage. The 22 guest rooms are no less serene with light cypress and paper screens; low white beds; and hinoki bathtubs. But it’s no bubble: Azumi is rooted in community, reflected not only in activities (from lemon picking to Zen temple meditations) and local projects (the hotel repaved the main street). It’s perhaps best embodied by Yubune, its sleek new sento bathhouse, just opposite, where guests and locals can soak together in steaming pools, lemons bobbing on the surface. Rooms from $640. —Danielle Demetriou" - CNT Editors