Longevity runs for a long time, but it needs at least occasional refreshment. Fashion knows how to diversify outside the box—think Dior Home. So, too, do cars—we have McLaren Residences, Peugeot salt and pepper mills, and Porsche clothing and suitcases. Hotels usually think more in vertical expansion, but Aman breaks that mould.

It is now 35 years since Adrian Zecha opened Amanpuri in Phuket. As Aman grew, the brand became synonymous with individual units offering ultimate privacy and seclusion. Now, in 2024, the Aman concept has a sibling, Janu (“soul” in Sanskrit), that boldly says social connection.

Janu opened in Tokyo’s newest “village,” Azabudai Hills, in March 2024. The exterior looks like any other modern Tokyo glass-and-steel block, but it is set in striking green landscape architecture by Thomas Heatherwick—typical of the designer who came up with New York’s High Line and London’s bulbous-ended red buses. One of Azabudai Hills’ residential blocks is a grass-topped rollercoaster shape.

Inside Janu, the 122 rooms are, in many cases, connected, so you can link, say, four rooms together. See the socialising every day at 12 pm noon when afternoon tea starts: the Janu Lounge in the lobby is all-seats-taken with local lovelies networking before rushing off to pick up their kids from the nearby British School. Tokyo pleasure-seekers use Janu constantly—the Chinese restaurant Hu Jing is the most popular of the eight dining venues. When it comes to wellness, the indoor pool is a staggering 25 metres long. Do try a Janu Experience, with warmed copper massage sticks.

Interestingly, Janu’s main art decoration is dorodango, an ancient Japanese art using plain old mud. The result is that all rooms have large sections of their cream walls covered with deliberately pockmarked panels of dried mud, and remarkably effective it is, too. A hardback in bedrooms, Dorodango: The Japanese Art of Making Mud Balls by specialist Bruce Gardner, explains the process.

Talking of art, is Asian investment taste diversifying away from speculating in things to hang on walls? One of Andy Warhol’s many signed Flowers artworks realised HK$66.6 million at Christie’s Hong Kong on 28 May. Anders Petterson, managing director of ArtTactic, a research firm, says that overall evening art sales in Hong Kong are 40 per cent down year-on-year. It will be interesting to see what happens at Christie’s Hong Kong’s next sale of 20th- and 21st-century art, scheduled for 26 and 27 September. This will be at the global auction giant’s new Asia-Pacific headquarters, in the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed Henderson Building in Central.

At youthful level, Gen Zs are, it seems, still investing in sneakers, especially white, and in fragrance. Italian cashmere king Brunello Cucinelli may be on to a good thing. He is working with celebrated noses on aromas that are inspired by the Cucinelli base in Umbria. OK, Cucinelli is Italian, so why name the perfumes in French? Brunello Cucinelli Pour Femme apparently blends notes of sweet chestnut, citrus, orange blossom, and pink pepper to capture the elegance and depth of women. This perfume has been created by nose Daphné Bugey, a kite-surfing world traveller whose clients also include Dolce & Gabbana, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Kenzo. For men, meanwhile, Brunello Cucinelli Pour Homme is said to be a blend of cypress, juniper, sage, and ginger; this was created by Olivier Cresp, one of the legends of his hometown of Grasse, often said to be French home of perfume.

Cresp is working on five to 10 new fragrances at any one time. It’s probably rather like a chef having to create several menus simultaneously. Switching from one to the other could well stimulate creativity. At his Amber base in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, culinary director Richard Ekkebus sees an increasing number of customers—lunch as well as dinner—choose 10-course menus. Planning means an awful lot of tastes to consider. Perhaps multi-thinking is good for the brain, and thus longevity.