PHOTOGRAPHS: ENSO ANGO; DENIS PIEL; TADAO ANDO ARCHITECT & ASSOCIATES; TEAM LAB TESHIMA ART MUSEUMJAPANT R AV E LTomi II at Enso AngoBorderless, TokyoPicassos, and a museum
dedicated to Lalique. Here, each of
the 16 stylish rooms feature works
by the artists in residence, but the
masterpiece is the private onsen
with its uninterrupted views of the
volcanic valley of Owakudani.
kai-ryokan.jp
Borderless,Tokyo
Everyone’s going crazy for this
Instagram heaven from teamLab.
At the art collective’s ‘museum’ in
Tokyo Bay, the energy is electric,
images of blossom are projected
onto visitors’ faces and you can
bounce on a sprung floor made to
look like a galaxy of stars.
borderless.teamlab.art
Enoura Observatory, Odawara
Hiroshi Sugimoto, the artist
famous for his black-and-white
‘Seascape’ photographs, has
opened a new museum in a citrus
grove above the ocean, two hours
south of Tokyo. The museum’s
focal point is the 70-metre-long,
rectangular ‘Winter Solstice
Observation Tunnel’, which starts
underground and extends over the
cliff edge, framing views of the
Pacific and the sky. odawara-af.comtatler.com Tatler August 2019 115Enso Ango, Kyoto
For elegant peace, nowhere
compares to the romantic city of
Kyoto, with its trove of ancient
artistic practices inspired by
Japan’s abiding love of nature and
spirituality. The graceful, clean
lines of Japanese styling have now
found their finest incarnation at
Enso Ango, a ‘dispersed hotel’,
which opened in October 2018
across five buildings around Kyoto.
One of the outposts, Tomi II, has
a stunning azalea at the centre
of its courtyard garden. The real
highlight here, however, is the
tatami salon, where you can
meditate with a Zen master
beneath a large-scale work of
Japanese calligraphy by artist
Gazanbo Higuchi. ensoango.com
House of Light, Tokamachi
Buried deep in the Japanese Alps
near Niigata is guesthouse-cum-
artwork ‘House of Light’ by James
Turrell, built in 2000. The centrepiece
is ‘Outside-in’, a minimal tatami
room with a retractable roof, where
you can watch the changing light
from sunrise to sunset. Take a dip,
too, in the sento – a communal bath
where Turrell’s fibre-optic installation
gives the impression of light dancing
on water. hikarinoyakata.com
KAI Sengokuhara, Hakone
This cultured and cultural haven
taps into the mountainous area of
Hakone’s major artistic credentials
with an on-site gallery and art
studio, an array of creative
courses, from sketching to
photography, calligraphy to fabric
painting on traditional tenugui
cloths, not to mention private visits
to the nearby open-air sculpture
park filled with Henry Moores andThe most immersive art
experiences in JapanBy KATE CROCKETTnow& zen08-19TRAVEL-Main.indd 115 11/06/2019 16:03