The Ritz-Carlton Nikko

Lake Chuzenji sits at approximately 1,270 meters above sea level in Nikko National Park, reached by a switchback road that climbs out of the valley through cedar forest. The lake is volcanic in origin — formed by a lava flow from Mount Nantai that dammed the river and created a body of water of unusual stillness and depth. The Ritz-Carlton Nikko, which opened in 2020 as the first Forbes Five-Star property in the Nikko region, faces this lake from its east shore, positioning its rooms and terraces along the water's edge.

The hotel's approach to its location is one of restraint and alignment rather than dominance. A modern-minimal architectural language allows the landscape — the lake, the forested mountains rising above the opposite shore, the seasonal shifts between spring snow melt and autumn maple — to do the primary work. The onsen, a natural thermal spring that serves as the resort's signature wellness element, connects the property to the volcanic geology that formed the lake in the first place.

Dining at the hotel uses the produce of the highland region: freshwater fish from the lake, mountain vegetables from the surrounding forests, and ingredients shaped by the altitude and climate of Oku-Nikko. The Kegon Falls — one of Japan's most powerful waterfalls, descending from the lake's edge — are within easy reach, as are the shrine and temple complexes of lower Nikko.

For the Ritz-Carlton brand, Nikko represents a departure from its customary urban positioning in Japan. The result is a hotel that asks guests to engage with a landscape rather than a city: one where the ambient sounds are water and wind, where the views are uninterrupted by other structures, and where the purpose of being there is renewed rather than achieved.