Matt Bomer Japan Journey, Shedding His Passport: Visitor Column

After I’m away on a protracted shoot, I at all times attempt to do journeys with our boys or as a household. One of our sons was in his third yr of learning Japanese in school, so we determined to go to Japan. We didn’t notice his eighth-grade spring break fell proper in the course of cherry blossom season. We sort of fell within the butter that method: We have been fortunate to hit it proper on the peak, and it was sakura fever in every single place. I’ve by no means seen something prefer it!

Japan takes a superb quantity of planning, and I owe quite a bit to the journey agent, Diane Sherer at Beyond, and the parents at Wondertrunk & co. in Japan. I believe guides are instrumental. There’s customary habits at sure temples, blessings and prayers you may ask for, and also you don’t need to go into that blindly. It’s one other tradition and also you need to be respectful. 

We flew into Tokyo and stayed on the Lost in Translation resort, the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Obviously, it’s iconic for me being a fan of cinema, and it’s nice, very centrally positioned and with an enormous breakfast buffet within the morning.

Japan’s might be probably the most civilized tradition I’ve ever seen. I’ll always remember watching Shibuya Crossing and being a part of it. Having spent a superb portion of my life in New York City, I used to be shocked that in Japan when it says, “Don’t walk,” nobody walks. Shibuya Crossing makes Times Square seem like a one-stoplight city in Indiana.

My son needed to strive Kobe steak, so we went to Hakushu Teppanyaki in Shibuya; it’s not terribly fancy, however the beef was so top quality. It’s proper subsequent to Sakuragaokacho, a road designed to raise the cherry blossoms with all these lovely LED gentle shows, which we loved a stroll via after consuming. But Nakameguro is my favourite neighborhood: It’s an unbelievable, vibrant space with retailers, cafes and meals stalls, stay musicians, younger folks and nice thrift shops alongside a canal. During sakura season, the timber lean over either side of the canal in full blossom.

We did a sword preventing choreography class sporting conventional garb with the combat choreographer from Kill Bill, Tetsuro Shimaguchi. On a wet day, we went to teamLab Planets, which is likely one of the coolest interactive experiences I’ve ever had in a museum. It’s sensory; at instances you’re strolling via water with projected koi swimming round you. We ended up doing a cruise on the Tokyo canals that was most likely extra for newlyweds, with plush pink cushions and a bottle of champagne on the boat. But the cherry blossoms have been weeping over the sting of the canals, so the entire thing was spectacular.

I like to recommend having a information in Tokyo Station, as a result of it’s actually Byzantine and labyrinthine, and you may get misplaced. We took the bullet prepare to Kyoto, and it was unbelievable. But I used to be tremendous jet-lagged and my passport dropped between our seats and I didn’t understand it, so after we reached our resort I clearly utterly freaked out. Like an angel despatched from heaven, there was an American diplomat behind me, and he mentioned, “Don’t even worry about it. I promise you, in Japan it’ll be turned in in the next couple of hours.” He was proper. Wondertrunk positioned it at Osaka station. The folks in Japan are so honorable.

I liked Kyoto. When I’m going again to Japan, I’ll by no means miss Kyoto. Our resort, The Mitsui Kyoto, was my favourite, the service was unbelievable; it had probably the most unbelievable onsen [hot spring] within the basement. It was so nice that my son advised me he needed to get married there. It was just like the bat cave, blacked out, with mist falling down on you — it seemed like a 14-year-old child’s dream hangout spot, with a sizzling tub and pool.

We visited Arashiyama’s monkey park and bamboo grove in sooner or later, and the golden Kinkaku-ji Temple, which is gorgeous. Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine is admittedly enjoyable, however I’m actually glad I went there early within the morning, earlier than the crowds. And we did a Zen tea ceremony with a Zen Buddhist monk. He lived so merely, but was so joyful and joyful; it was actually cool for our son to witness. Throughout Japan, the craftsmanship is unbelievable, and folks take delight within the work they do, which is a refreshing, lovely factor to see, for our son, too.

We received to fulfill a younger geisha in coaching in Gion who was [my son’s] age, 15, and that was an interesting expertise for him. He was very respectful and I assumed his questions have been actually insightful. It was good for each of them to see how comparable sure facets of their lives have been — and totally different. Gion is enjoyable, too, since you’ll be strolling down the road and a few geishas stroll by and also you’re like, “What?” It’s simply so surreal. My favourite place of the entire journey was the Philosopher’s Path, a couple-miles-long strolling path alongside a stream. With the sakura falling into the water and wild goldfish-colored carp swimming, it was such a peaceable expertise.  

We did a day journey to Osaka, and I’d have stayed an additional day as a result of I’m obsessive about the meals there and the folks — I discovered them to be actually, actually enjoyable. There’s a phrase in Osaka, kuidaore, which implies “eat until you drop” tradition. Even amid fancy eating places, my favourite meal was the okonomiyaki [savory pancake] we had from a small restaurant our information knew. I nonetheless am looking for Osaka-style okonomiyaki right here in L.A.! We went to the Osaka Castle, which overlooks the entire metropolis and isn’t to be missed. It’s so grand it’s sort of mind-boggling, and there are lovely, stepped partitions you may climb up and overlook the town. The Dotonbori district is so alive and vibrant at night time, with every kind of road distributors, folks laughing on the street, and these enjoyable, glowing occasion boats going by within the canals. It’s actually dreamy; I liked it there.

We completed our journey at a wonderful conventional ryokan in Hakone that neglected Mount Fuji far within the distance, so you possibly can simply get an impression of the grandeur of it. The second you get there you set in your yukata and the sandals and split-toe socks. There was an onsen, and the meals was probably the most adventurous but. Yet our pickiest eater broadened his horizons on the journey. Our son was down for every part, even the fish dishes I’ve by no means seen earlier than.

We’re going again for my fiftieth birthday — I need to spend it at this pizza restaurant Monk on the Philosopher’s Path, top-of-the-line eating places on the earth apparently. I need my husband [Simon Halls] to see how magical Japan is. It’s a spot I really feel like everybody ought to go to sooner or later of their life. And it’s certainly one of my favourite international locations on the earth, fingers down.

The THR Hotel Edit

A trio of debut and just lately renovated inns in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.

Park Hyatt Tokyo

Fresh off a luxurious, elegant top-to-bottom renovation by Paris’ Jouin Manku, the so-called Lost in Translation resort — recognized for its panoramic metropolis views — is extra arresting than ever, with extra suites, newly commissioned Japanese artworks, and a novel Alain Ducasse French brasserie idea, Girandole by Alain Ducasse. Yet the property’s alluring soul stays intact and it’s simple to think about Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson round each nook. The famed (and newly refreshed) New York Bar & Grill is as iconic and mouthwatering as ever, with stay jazz nightly, and the Club on the Park spa is a divine place for downtime. Rooms from $1,026 an evening.

Capella Kyoto

In the geisha district of Miyagawa-cho, this newly opened bolthole with 89 rooms and suites represents an expensive Japan tackle quiet luxurious. Designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates with Brewin Design Office, it attracts inspiration from machiyas, conventional Japanese picket townhouses. Intimate experiences are on the core of property. Guests can acquire uncommon front-row entry to personal performances and encounters on the restored Miyagawacho Kaburenjo Theatre, positioned subsequent door. The resort additionally boasts a 12-seat counter and conventional teahouse-styled lounge bar known as SoNoMa, created alongside Sonoma’s three-Michelin-starred SingleThread. There, seasonal bounty from Northern California’s Dry Creek Valley melds with Kyoto’s beautiful Kansai agricultural choices. Rooms from $1,315.   

Patina Osaka

Facing Osaka Castle and taking cues from its materials and coloration palette, this resort (the town sister property to Patina Maldives) opened its 20 flooring final May, elevating Osaka’s hospitality scene. In addition to its 221 rooms, there’s a whole 15,000-square-foot flooring devoted to high-tech meets holistic spa and wellness therapies and swimming. There’s quite a bit to like and expertise, from bijou teppanyaki and plant-focused ultra-seasonal eating places to the listening lounge bar and rooms themselves, with washi paper headboards evoking the fortress’s partitions, deep stone tubs and tatami mats. Rooms from $525. — Kathryn Romeyn

This story seems in The Hollywood Reporter’s 2026 Travel Issue. Click right here to learn extra.