Hinoki (Japanese cedar) is prevalent in the merchant villa-turned-ryokan perched on a cliff over Hozugawa River and five-minutes from the popular Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. Guests take cedar boats to the hotel, pad around on heated wooden floors, and luxuriate in deep soaking tubs in the expansive rooms. Sit down for a fifteen-course haute-cuisine kaiseki meal at the teahouse restaurant headed executive chef Ichiro Kubota.

Read more on Fathom: Old-World Japan: What's Quintessential in Kyoto