Imperial Hotel, Kyoto: Where Heritage Meets the Table

When the Imperial Hotel, Kyoto opens its doors on March 5, 2026, it won't arrive with fanfare—just the quiet confidence of a brand that's been defining Japanese hospitality since 1890. Tucked into the restored Yasaka Kaikan, a nationally registered cultural landmark in Gion, this 55-room retreat marks the first new Imperial Hotel in three decades. But what makes it worth the trip isn't the pedigree. It's what happens at the table.

Four Spaces, Four Moods

The hotel's culinary program is anchored by Executive Chef Koji Imajo, who's spent nearly three decades with Imperial Hotel, including formative years in France. His approach is deceptively simple: let the seasons dictate the menu, using Japan's twenty-four solar terms as a guide. The execution, though, is anything but.

REN is where Imajo's vision takes center stage—literally. The 18-seat dining room, built around a 10-seat chef's counter, feels like stepping into a low-lit theater where the kitchen is the performance. Plaster cherry blossoms drift across the walls, a nod to Gion's famous Miyako Odori dances, while French technique meets Kyoto's obsessive seasonality on the plate. Think early spring greens with their gentle bitterness, or a jus coaxed slowly into something approaching transcendence. The counter isn't just for watching—it's for experiencing texture, aroma, and heat in real time.

YASAKA trades precision for primal energy. A custom wood and charcoal oven dominates the open kitchen, sending smoke and flicker across the 54-seat space on the second floor. Breakfast here catches morning light flooding through the windows; by dinner, the room takes on a deeper warmth. The menu leans communal—Yasaka Burger, Yasaka Curry—but don't mistake approachable for simple. That subtle char, that whisper of smoke? That's craft. A historic Bashō relief, salvaged from the original Yasaka Kaikan VIP room, hangs as a quiet reminder of the building's past lives.

OLD IMPERIAL BAR sits on the seventh floor, designed as a tribute to the Imperial Hotel's iconic Wright Building. A single slab of zelkova wood forms the bar counter, where 19 guests can settle in for the long haul. Low lighting grazes ceramic reliefs, making each cocktail look like it belongs in a museum. The menu splits between classics and Kyoto originals, including Mount Hiei—a matcha riff on the legendary Mount Fuji cocktail. This is where the evening's tempo slows down, where conversation softens, where time behaves differently.

THE ROOFTOP is reserved for hotel guests only, and only when the weather cooperates. Running late March through late November, the 24-seat terrace trades walls for Kyoto's skyline, with lighting kept minimal—terrace strips and lantern fixtures that glow against the night. No theatrics, no distractions. Just the city, the breeze, and whatever's in your glass.

The Details That Matter

Food & Beverage Manager Yuto Jindo orchestrates the experience across all four venues, calibrating pacing, ambiance, and service so it feels effortless. "Our craft lives in small moments," he says. "The warmth of the grill's first ignition, the quiet exchange at the counter, the way a cocktail meets the night air on the terrace." It's that attention to micro-moments that elevates the experience from excellent to memorable.

The design philosophy extends beyond the dining spaces. The hotel's "old is new" ethos preserves the 1936 Yasaka Kaikan's bones while introducing interiors shaped by Japanese marble, Ōya stone, and Tamina-ishi. Warm woods, muted neutrals, subdued metallics. In the North Wing, tatami flooring grounds you immediately in Kyoto's craft culture. It's architecture that doesn't shout—it whispers, and you lean in to listen.

Why Now

Imperial Hotel, Kyoto is the brand's fourth property and its most intimate—a deliberate pivot from the larger Tokyo and Osaka flagships. As a member of The Leading Hotels of the World since April 2025, it's positioning itself not as a grand dame but as a refined insider's choice. The kind of place that doesn't need to announce itself because it knows exactly what it is.

Reservations for REN and YASAKA opened January 7 for Imperial Club International members, with general bookings starting January 13. OLD IMPERIAL BAR and THE ROOFTOP remain exclusive to hotel guests, keeping the rooftop experience genuinely scarce. Which, in Gion—where scarcity and seasonality have always been currencies—feels entirely appropriate.

Spring in Kyoto waits for no one. Neither should you.