Travel and design lifestyle
Two Japanese Baths I Still Think About
There are two baths in Japan that I still think about. We experienced them nine years apart, during two very different stages of our lives, but both changed the way I think about bathrooms and the kinds of spaces I want to create. The first was at a traditional ryokan during our honeymoon in 2015. The second was in a Japanese larch house in the forest during a family holiday in Azumino in 2024. Both were connected to natural hot springs. Both created a strong connection between bathing and the surrounding landscape. Most importantly, neither felt like a bathroom designed simply for getting clean. They were places where you wanted to stop and spend time.
A private onsen on our honeymoon
In 2015, we stayed at Hanare no Yado Hanagokoro in Minamioguni, Kumamoto, as part of our honeymoon.
Our room had its own private indoor and outdoor onsen baths. The indoor bath was made from dark stone and looked directly out into a lush garden. Beyond it were two smaller round outdoor baths, surrounded by rocks, plants and trees.
It was completely private and felt like its own little world.
The contrast between the dark stone, warm water and green garden was beautiful. Even while sitting in the indoor bath, the garden was right there in front of us. The boundaries between inside and outside felt less defined.
It was unlike any bathroom I had experienced before.
That stay began my desire to create beautiful bathing spaces with the same sense of calm, privacy and connection to nature. I started thinking about bathrooms as places that could have atmosphere and a connection to nature, rather than simply being practical rooms filled with shiny fittings.
It was not about copying a traditional Japanese bathroom. What stayed with me was the feeling created by the privacy, natural materials, warm water, soft light and connection to the garden.
Returning to Japan as a family
Nine years later, we travelled to Japan again, this time as a family.
We stayed in a private onsen villa in Azumino, surrounded by forest. The house was built using beautiful Japanese larch, which gave the interior warmth and made it feel completely at home among the trees.
The bathroom was enormous.
It was tiled in light colours, filled with beautiful natural light and opened onto a wooden deck. The large bath was connected to a natural hot spring and comfortably fit four people. Although the bathroom was indoors, it did not really feel like an indoor bathroom.
The scale of the room, the light, the natural materials and the surrounding forest made the indoor bath feel connected to the forest outside. It felt peaceful and removed from everyday life, even though we were staying in a family holiday house.
There was something particularly special about experiencing it with our child after first discovering Japanese onsen bathing on our honeymoon. The setting was different and the trip itself was very different, but the feeling was immediately familiar.
Once again, the bath was not treated as an afterthought. It was one of the defining experiences of staying there.
Japanese Larch and Charred Timber
The Azumino house also reminded me how much the materials used in a building affect the way it feels.
The Japanese larch brought warmth and softness to the house. It worked beautifully with the forest setting and made the building feel connected to its surroundings.
In the next block, we found a modern building with deeply charred black timber cladding. The timber had an incredible texture, particularly when viewed close up. Against the pale timber inside and the surrounding trees, it looked dramatic without feeling out of place.
These buildings were very different in style, but both used timber in a way that celebrated the material rather than trying to make it disappear.
It was something I noticed repeatedly during our trips through Japan. In the places we visited, natural materials were allowed to have texture, variation and character. Dark surfaces were balanced with light and warmth. Windows did more than bring in daylight. They connected the rooms to whatever was outside.
What these baths taught me
Neither of these experiences was really about having the most expensive bath or the largest bathroom.
What made them memorable was the way everything worked together. The materials, light, water, privacy and landscape all contributed to how the spaces felt.
The honeymoon onsen first gave me the idea that I wanted to create beautiful bathing spaces of my own. The Azumino house reinforced it years later.
A bathroom can be practical and still feel special. It can use darker colours without becoming gloomy. It can be indoors while maintaining a connection to the outdoors. It can feel private without feeling closed in.
Most importantly, it can be somewhere you genuinely want to spend time.
I have stayed in many beautiful places, but these are the two Japanese baths I still return to when I think about the atmosphere I want to create at home.
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