If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (JPY56,000.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
What’s the sound of one hand clapping? It’s us, and fans of elegant ryokans, gently applauding Azumi Setoda, the serene 140-year-old seat of the Horiuchi family, and now cool, calm boutique hideaway on scenic Ikuchijima island in the Seto Inland Sea (essentially Japan’s Med). Adrian Zecha (of Aman fame) was instrumental in its revival, and while his and architect Shiro Miura’s luxurious minimalism has been translated beautifully by local craftspeople (cypress furnishings, shoji screens, deep hinoki bath tubs); the dark woods, curved roof tiles, and courtyard gardens of tradition remain. As does a lifestyle of citrus-fruit soaks, breathtaking bike rides and tea rituals, for which we offer our faint – but damn sincere – praise.
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 4pm; early arrivals may be able to be accommodated if rooms are ready.
Prices
Double rooms from £343.21 (JPY67,760), including tax at 21 per cent.
More details
Rates don’t include breakfast (JPY4,235 a guest, JPY2,118 for a child). But guests get a citrusy welcome drink and free entry to the baths next door.
Also
While there are some ground-floor rooms with smooth ingress, bathrooms aren’t adapted and the entrance is stepped, so guests with mobility issues may need some extra assistance.
At the hotel
Interior garden courtyard, lounge, free-to-hire bikes, umbrellas to borrow and free WiFi. In rooms: Bluetooth speaker, pour-over coffee-maker, kettle, minibar, and kimonos and slippers.
Our favourite rooms
Azumi Setoda’s rooms are spectacular in their simplicity, styled with just cypress and cedar woods, washi paper, stone and white linens, and formed with the clean lines and contemplative spaces typical of Zen architecture. But, it’s the thoughtful touches that stop the less-is-more design from feeling too stringent: a deep-soaking, wood hinoki tub in the bathroom, a recessed floor to allow for a low workspace, furnishings positioned towards the floor-to-ceiling windows. The Suzumi rooms on the upper floors are slightly more desirable for their private balcony (although you get more green for your buck on the lower level). The two-storey suites give guests a bit more elbow room, with a separate tatami-matted lounge.
Spa
There’s no spa in the 140-year-old Horiuchi family residence, but in a more modern building across the street, you can enjoy the full restorative, authentic Japanese soaking experience in sentō bathhouse Yubune – free for guests to use. In your room, you’ll find a wicker basket with suitable kit (sandals, split-toed socks, towels) and robes; and soothing lemon-infused pools (one for men, one for women), jetted tubs, sauna steaming, and brisk cold plunge baths are just steps away, in spaces that local artist Mai Miyake has decorated with mosaics of marine life and Ikuchijima island scenes. Massages and facials are also available on request (must be booked in advance).
Packing tips
This is a great time to finally download that meditation app and choose a mantra, but also bring your non-chafing cycling kit, as even amateurs will likely hop on one at some point.
Also
The Japanese art of hospitality (omotenashi) is well-practised here, and the aruji (house manager) will take great care of you.
Children
Quiet, calm and contemplative: words that sum up this ryokan, but it’s relaxed too, meaning kids – while not catered to specifically – can stay (the Sora-suzumi or Niwa-suzumi rooms are best) and enjoy bike-riding, lemon-picking and fishing.
Best for
Older children who’ve mastered bike-riding.
Recommended rooms
The two-storey Sora-suzumi or Niwa-suzumi rooms will give you that bit more space.
Activities
The hotel doesn’t specifically cater to kids, but has bikes for hire and can arrange fishing trips, kayaking, SUP sessions, lemon-picking outings and other all-generation enjoyments.
Meals
The hotel’s tasting menu may be a touch challenging for fussy younger ones, but there are plenty of restaurants and cafés close by. Breakfast for under-fives is JPY2,118 a child, available on request at least four days in advance of your stay.
Sustainability efforts
With the backing of the Aman group’s Adrian Zecha, and Kyoto-based architect Shiro Miura at the helm, Azumi Setoda has gently and respectfully revived the 140-year-old estate of the noble Horiuchi merchant family, who dealt in salt and coal. Wherever possible, the design team preserved the fine craftsmanship – wood beams and furnishings, delicate shoji screens, stone flooring – and rebuilt the rest using natural materials, that colour and take on new form as they age, in the traditional sukiya minimalist style. A delicate courtyard garden has been cultivated, and chefs work with local suppliers they have a face-to-face relationship with (within a 50-kilometre radius of the ryokan). This restorative streak has traversed main shopping thoroughfare Shiomachi Shotengai, too: since the hotel opened, its owners have also built a beautiful bathhouse across the way, restored the Horiuchi’s old storehouse into a work and gathering space, and opened the first branch of Portland’s Overview Coffee outside the US, reinvigorating the community.
The tables gathered around the central counter feel more in step with the stay’s traditions, but we do also like the two private dining rooms, which overlook the courtyard garden’s delicate botanicals.
Dress Code
Keep to the cool clean lines of sukiya-concept interiors, with Zen hues, delicate washi-esque layers, and perhaps a stroke of kanji-esque embellishment.
Hotel restaurant
It was customary for wealthy families of the Setouchi region to host visitors for meals in regal halls, and Azumi Setoda’s retains its sense of subtle grandeur, with soaring vaulted ceilings that dark-wood beams are flung across, window-walls offering flashes of calming green, and a central square of counters where guests can dine with more of a communal feel (plus standalone tables, too). And, it still feels as though the Horiuchi family is hosting you, because you’ll be dining off their very ornate century-old tableware. Chef Akita cut his teeth in France, and some of those techniques flew back with him, but there’s loads of local influence too, with ingredients sourced within 50 kilometres, plenty of fresh fish and Silk Road spices. Dishes are seasonal, but you might have pickled mackerel with turnip, pan-fried sea bream with sautéed crown daisies, or beef stew with confit burdock. And, desserts make liberal use of the local mikan citrus fruit. In the morning, the Japanese breakfast is a tempting assortment of small plates and bowls bearing fish, rice, veggies, fruit and more, but a small Western breakfast can be arranged on request.
Hotel bar
There’s no set bar area, just sit where the energy feels the most inviting, perhaps at a table in the dining hall looking out to the garden, in the peaceful upstairs lounge area, or on your balcony. We recommend the mimosa or the salted-lemon cocktail, but there are also many seasonal sakes to try, local beers from Onomichi Brewery and wines from the Setouchi region.
Last orders
Breakfast is served from 7am to 10am; dinner runs from 5pm to 10pm (last orders, 9pm).
Azumi Setoda is set on serene island Ikuchijima, in Japan's southern Hiroshima prefecture. It’s a stop on the popular Shimanami Kaido biking route, and has views of distant mountains over the Seto Inland Sea.
Planes
Hiroshima Airport is just over an hour’s drive away, and the route is very scenic, crossing some neighbouring islands once you leave the mainland. The hotel can help arrange transfers (JPY32,000 one-way for up to three guests).
Trains
JR Fukuyama station is on the high-speed (meaning sleek bullet trains) San'yō Shinkansen line, about an hour’s drive away.
Automobiles
Pedal power is better than horse power here (and there are parts of the biking route you can’t drive along), plus the islanders favour a gentle pace of life which you’ll easily take to. But, if you’ve arrived here along a road-trip route, you can use the free street parking about a minute’s walk from the hotel.
Other
To make your journey a touch more romantic – albeit on a public ferry – travel to Mihara Port (30 minutes by car from the airport) and hop on the 30-minute ferry that docks at Setoda Port, just a five-minute walk from your digs.
Worth getting out of bed for
Before Aman founder Adrian Zecha took note of it, laidback island Ikuchijima was best known as a stop along the famous Shimanami Kaido expressway (a 70-kilometre route beloved of bikers); for its Buddhist temple complex, and as a immensely relaxing spot by the Seto Inland Sea with near-year-round clement weather – plus some equally soul-lifting mountain views. But, in restoring Azumi Setoda, Zecha has given second wind to main drag Shiomachi Shotengai (meaning ‘tide-waiting’, after the fishermen who would dock here to wait for favourable waters), revamping Soil Setoda (the Horiuchi family’s former salt storehouse) into a work and gathering space, and luring over Portland’s Overview Coffee to a lively outpost where there’s also an activity centre. The hotel can arrange a guided walk from the everlasting Joyato (night-light), to the Kone Bridge past sketching spots of native artist Ikuo Hirayama, or a deep dive into Setoda’s history as a port town, trade route and pastoral player on Japan’s fertile crescent. They also have free-to-use bikes should you want to tackle even a small section of the Shimanami Kaido route, plus two-wheeled tours that take you out and over striking Tatara Bridge; to Lemon Valley, where you’ll learn more about farming the famous citrus and pick your own; out to the Oyamazumi Shrine (for confident cyclists); and through the sacred sites of the Yumeshima Kaido route. The still waters of the Seto Inland Sea also provide entertainment, such as fishing trips, kayaking and SUP jaunts, catamaran rides and sunset cruises. For sunbathing, Sunset Beach is a short cycle away, but perhaps more edifying is exploring the large-scale art installations on Naoshima Island (think, Yayoi Kusama’s huge polka-dot pumpkins, Ando Tadao-designed museums, James Turrell’s mind-bending Open Field); or touring the vast Buddhist temple complex Kosan-ji, which includes mighty monuments, such as the Cave of a Thousand Buddhas and Choseikaku Villa.
Local restaurants
Ikuchijima may be an island, but it’s not cut off from Japan’s always fascinating culinary scene, with a brace of diverse restaurants to try. At Soil Setoda, there’s Minatoya, a lively spot serving up the likes of lemon-fed pork in a black-vinegar sauce, smoky wood-grilled fish in Genovese sauce, Shinmei chicken with cold jellyfish, and – of course – citrusy desserts. Sushi joint Keima sits just across the road from Azumi, and stylishly spare eatery Shokudō Aori extends that concept to its menu, which essentially serves one perfected dish: bigfin-reef-squid sashimi with egg and a special sweet sauce, but you can also order it tempura too. Izakaya Rikyu does plump lemon-y fried chicken thighs and crispy octopus karaage; and, for sandos and okonomiyaki (a sort of pizza of a pancake laden with toppings), head to Matusige.
Local cafés
Ikuchijima has plenty for the peckish – try former butcher, now famed croquette stop, Okatetsu Shoten for their comforting sweet potato and beef patties; Tamaki Shoten for juicy roast-chicken legs; and Felice di Tucca for citrus juices you drink straight from the orange with a straw.
Local bars
Welcoming Ochi bar, with its friendly owner and curved wooden counter is steps away, serving sakes, whiskies and more; and Minatoya has a selection of crafts and drafts.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this regally restful ryokan in Hiroshima and unpacked their freshly-picked lemons and bag of Portland-import Overview coffee, a full account of their biking and bathing break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Azumi Setoda in Japan…
There’s an innate calm to Ikuchijima Island – perhaps it’s the unruffled waters of the Seto Inland Sea, backed by mountain scenes straight from a Hokusai print, the ancient shrines, or acres of citrus groves. But, it was once a bustling trade route for salt, squid and later coal, and around 140 years ago, reimagined ryokan Azumi Setoda was the seat of the Horiuchi family, wealthy salt barons and arbiters of excellent taste. They employed the finest craftsmen to make their cedar- and pine-wood furnishings, delicate shoji screens and dainty interior gardens. In creating the Azumi brand, which gives new life to not just historic ryokans across Japan, but also the neighbourhoods surrounding them, Aman’s Adrian Zecha has stayed true to tradition, and for Setoda, he employed Kyoto architect Shiro Miura to keep what he could and craft cool, thoughtful minimalism for the rest. From the moment the aruji (house manager) welcomes you in with a glass of the island’s famed citrus juice, and sits you with a view of elegant botanicals, Ikuchiima’s peaceful nature kicks in, and continues through lemon soaks in the bathhouse next door, bike rides to shrines and temples, picnics amid groves, and trips to the region’s art islands. And, you can engage with the quiet dynamism of Zecha’s community input at the workspace and activity centre, restaurant and coffeehouse down the road. We think even the Horiuchis would agree that this is a stay worth one’s salt.
