Japan: a tale of two capitals

At ground level, tradition is never too far away. Sleek towers, convenience stores and glittering malls stand side by side with wooden temples, miniature gardens and narrow, lantern-lined alleyways that lend the city's modernity its uniquely Japanese character. High above, from the private sanctuary and superb vantage point of the 53rd-floor Club Lounge of The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, street blocks stretch as far as the horizon, but they do so under the age-old gaze of Mount Fuji.

This duality holds true in the contrast between The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo’s contemporary design, which draws inspiration from the skyline, nature and distinctive Japanese patterns such as bamboo, kimono sashes and stone pavement blocks, and the insights the hotel lends into traditional Japanese culture.

Anyone who visits Japan even once is likely to find their own favourites among the exquisite arcana of Japanese food and drink traditions. In the hotel bar, a specialist sake sommelier will happily enlighten guests about the myriad varieties of Japan’s famously subtle and complex national drink, as bartender Wada san expertly pours the drinks. Less intoxicating, just, are the hotel’s enjoyably focused sessions teaching the art of Senko incense making, during which guests create their own original scent by measuring out and mixing natural ingredients such as sandalwood or cinnamon to create pastilles of incense (mastering this art takes years, naturally).

While The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo is clad in skyscraping glass giving floor-to-ceiling urban panoramas, the low-rise The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto has an air of pared-back luxury and cloistered tranquillity that is underscored by its unobtrusive architecture, soothing design and some 400 pieces of modern art by local artists: sculptures and paintings curated to chime with the hotel’s understated aesthetic.

With the contours of the Higashiyama mountains creating a backdrop to the east, the Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto is modelled on a traditional townhouse or machiya. Its low-rise buildings stand next to the Kamo River, along whose banks Kyoto residents love to walk and socialise. The stylised gardens are replete with maple trees and harmonious bridges, and the natural world feels woven into the design of the hotel, too, starting with a walkway across a rushing stream on the threshold, and a bonsai tree by Christian Tortu.

Softly illuminating the reception area is a contemporary ceiling light constructed in paper by Hiyoshiya, a traditional Kyoto umbrella-making company established 150 years ago. Next to the front desk, Ritsue Mishima’s artwork, The Light of the Moon is the artist’s imagining of a bamboo grove lit by moonlight. On the way to the lower level, Shinji Omaki’s Echoes – crystallization / moon uses correction fluid and crystal powder to represent endangered flower species. To the naked eye, it appears like the moon, cratered and glowing against a dark background, suspended by the staircase leading down to the restaurants.

The city’s craftsmanship and historic atmosphere can be imbibed together in a genuinely unique private dining room within La Locanda, known as Ebisugawa-tei; this niche inside the hotel’s lauded Italian restaurant has been painstakingly reconstructed with an interior from a machiya dating back to 1908 and the Meiji era.

There are many ways to get under the skin of this secretive city. Behind high walls, in the tranquil courtyard gardens of 14th-century Myokaku-ji Temple, guests of The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto can exclusively attend a morning chanting ritual performed by Buddhist monks. And, this November, a special seasonal hike has been arranged giving guests the chance to see the autumn leaves at their most colourful and view the city from the top of the mountain with a bento lunchbox.

Back in Tokyo, so pervasive is the complexity of Japanese culture that, even amid the Bladerunner bustle, a contemporary slow movement is flourishing that honours the skills and rhythms of the country’s traditional arts and crafts. The contrast is nicely illustrated in the ikebana classes held at The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, which explore the meditative practice of Japanese flower arranging while life in the non-stop, 24-hour city hurries on below.