Inside Japan's most unusual hotel - where guests can live like feudal lords

I am reminded of fish food as I sprinkle delicate flakes of gold and copper over a blank piece of card. Taking a hand roller, I press the flakes into the invisible picture drawn with glue, before using a small scrubbing brush to remove the remaining metal leaf, revealing a beautiful artwork underneath.

In the small village of Ikazaki in Japan's southern Ehime prefecture, in the showroom of a 100-year-old paper factory, we are combining two traditional artforms - gold leaf gilding and an ancient "Ozu style" of handmade rice paper called washi. Guiding us through the process is washi paper master Hirayuki Saito, who tells us the gilded washi produced and sold here is the only paper of its kind in the world.

"The mulberry trees that grow here and the softness of the river water from the mountains is the reason Ikazaki has been the home of washi for thousands of years," Saito tells us. We are curious to see how the ancient paper - traditionally used for calligraphy, "shoji" screens and wallpaper - is made. Taking a tour of Tenjin Sanshi paper factory with Saito, we witness workers washing, ironing, brushing and folding with choreographed precision, like silent dancers, parading their "paper partners" around the room.

Like many artisan villages once belonging to the old feudal realm of Ozu on the island of Shikoku in Japan's west, Ikazaki has battled economic decline in recent decades due to technology and its younger generation swapping traditional trades and culture for modern city lifestyles. It's a future that even the old capital, 17 kilometres away from here, faced until recently.

Often dubbed Little Kyoto of Iyo, the town of Ozu emerged around the site of its medieval castle as a thriving merchant town during the Edo period (1603-1867). Once famous for its samurai warriors and production of paper, silk and wax, Ozu suffered such economic hardship over the past century that it risked abandonment, with its dwindling population and buildings in a serious state of disrepair, until recently.

Today, it's obvious the castle town has undergone an incredible transformation, for as we make our way through Ozu's stone-paved streets, to check into the hotel responsible for bringing the town back to life, we pass upmarket clothing boutiques, hip cafes, galleries and even a craft brewery, among the renovated former residences of samurais and merchants.

With its award-winning model of sustainable tourism, Nipponia Hotel Ozu Castle Town is the result of an initiative between local government and community stakeholders to return economic stability and traditional culture to the town. The hotel's accommodation, restaurants and shops are scattered throughout Ozu, encouraging guests to explore the town, engage with locals and immerse themselves in cultural experiences.

It's a concept that's worked, with the restoration of Ozu's 17th century buildings generating new employment opportunities for locals, and attracting a new wave of small businesses, visitors and residents since the hotel's opening in 2020. It's something that's also earned the town a place on Green Destinations' Top 100 Sustainable Tourism Destinations list in 2023.

Eager to explore the luxuries of my accommodation, I am shown to my "room" which is an entire two-storey wooden terrace, positioned within "Mune" complex - an area where wax wood production took place and skilled craftsmen lived. While the bottom floor consists mainly of a spacious bathroom, where a traditional cypress wood bathtub overlooks my own private courtyard, the top floor is where I find neatly folded kimonos resting on double futon beds, and a combined living and dining area with a minibar stocked with complimentary sake, European wine and regional specialties, like the freshly squeezed orange juice for which the prefecture is known.

Later we gather for dinner at the hotel's French-Japanese fusion restaurant, Le Un, where our table by the window offers a view to Ozu Castle. Illuminated by burning torchlight, the warlord residence of a bygone era looms dramatically above.

Le Un's autumn degustation menu is inspired by Ozu's natural surrounds, including mountain delicacies, seafood from the Seto Inland Sea and river fish from the Hiji River. We enjoy dishes like threadfin bream with scallop mousse, Aihime beef with taro galette and persimmon tarte tatin.

The next day we enjoy a much closer view of the castle, this time from our seats on a traditional "yakata-bune" long boat. The breakfast cruise on the Hiji River that runs through Ozu's heart is one of the cultural experiences offered by Nipponia. With morning mist spilling down the mountainside, we tuck into bento boxes filled with local fare, and glide as serenely as the white herons we spy in the distance. The appearance of the water bird - a symbol of purity, good luck and transition in Japanese folklore - in a town that's managed to change the course of its future feels like a fitting farewell.

When luxury hotel brand Nipponia came on board to manage the City of Ozu's Castle Stay experience in 2020, it became Japan's first castle "hotel" offering. With only a few wooden castles of its kind in the country, the two-day stay in the restored 14th-century castle gives guests exclusive overnight access to Ozu Castle's main tower, plus, the chance to experience life as a feudal lord during the Japanese Edo period.

With a dedicated butler and private chef, the experience also includes a "warrior's welcome" where guests dress in samurai armour and are escorted to the castle by a samurai troop, to the sounds of conch shell trumpets and drums - in the re-enactment of a historic scene from 1617 when Kato Sadayasu, the first lord of Ozu, first entered the castle.

Other inclusions are a sacred Kagura dance performance, exclusive use of the castle's bath house, and a private breakfast and tea ceremony at Ozu's Michelin-starred teahouse, Garyu Sanso, overlooking the Hiji River. But it doesn't come cheap, at more than $13,000 for two people for one night. castlestay.ozucastle.com/en/stay

The writer was a guest of JNTO.