Singapore's Banyan Tree Group moves into Japan in style with 5 new hotels

The Banyan Tree Group, a Singapore-based hospitality company with Hong Kong roots, is moving into the Japanese market in style.

The company – named after a restaurant in Yung Shue Wan village on Lamma Island, where founder Ho Kwon Ping once lived, he told the South China Morning Post in 2005 – is in the process of opening five properties in Japan, three of them in tourist magnet Kyoto.

The first two do not bear the Banyan Tree name and both opened on June 17.

Dhawa Yura Kyoto, a collaboration with Japan-based property investment firm Wealth Management Group, sits beside the city’s Sanjo Ohashi bridge, while the 25-room Garrya Nijo Castle Kyoto stands in front of Nijo Castle, a Unesco World Heritage Site that dates to 1603.

Garrya Nijo Castle Kyoto is the first property to be opened under Banyan Tree’s Garrya concept, which it says “provides a back-to-basics ambience inspired by Asian sensibilities and natural elements”.

Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto, a 52-room hilltop urban resort with views over the city, will be the next to open, in spring 2024.

According to Banyan Tree, it will be the first hotel in Kyoto to have a stage constructed for performances of Noh classical dance-dramas.

Slated to open in 2025, Cassia Hirafu will be the fruit of another partnership, this one with Hong Kong-based property investment firm Terraform Capital.

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Located in Niseko, a popular ski resort destination in Hokkaido, Cassia Hirafu will offer 50 guest rooms and 113 residential units, ranging from one-bedroom apartments to villas.

Finally there’s Banyan Tree Ashinoko Hakone, set to open in 2026. Close to Lake Ashi, in Kanagawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu, this resort should benefit from the area’s hot springs and views of Mount Fuji.

“We are pleased with our strategic entry into Japan, in line with the government’s recent decision to ease international tourism into the country [following restrictions enacted to slow the spread of Covid-19],” said Eddy See, president and chief executive of the Banyan Tree Group.

He added: “Kyoto is an unmistakable great start for Banyan Tree Group’s foray into Japan, with its natural healing springs, vast history and abundant culture.”

This article was first published in South China Morning Post.