Let's talk about Ryokans

[rbjhan]

Part A

First of all, what is a ryokan?
I'm copying the Japanese wiki here so I can refer back to it.

旅館（りょかん）とは、宿泊料を受けて人を宿泊させるための宿泊施設で、通常は和風様式の構造及び設備を主とする宿泊施設のことを指す。

So, it's a type of accommodation allows people to stay for a fee. Normally it is Japanese in style and facilities.
For western style accommodations, there's the word ホテル (pronounced hoteru). If you search on Japanese booking sites like IKYU, you can actually filter ホテル or 旅館 as you prefer.
*There's also Minshuku 民宿 which is kind of a low budget ryokan (they do operate on different licenses afaik), but let's don't go there for now....

So what does Japanese in style and facilities mean?
Generally speaking, it should be tatami floor rooms with sliding doors, futon beds, public baths (may or may not be onsen)....dinner and breakfast are generally included, mostly Japanese cuisine, served in your room or in a dining area.
Yukata should be provided to wear inside the ryokan, in some cases you can wear yukuta around town as well, eg Kinosaki onsen, Dogo onsen.
*Ryokan yukata have different sizes to fit, which is different from traditional yukuta or kimono.
However do not wear your bathrobe/PJ or whatever outside of the room in a ホテル unless it's specifically allowed.

Okyakuya, Kurokawa onsen.



Traditionally, a ryokan has a female general manager called Okami 女将, she is most likely the owner or owner's wife. She should be wearing Kimono serving guests. If there are female attendants called Nakai looking after each room, they should be wearing kimono too. However nowadays this is getting rare and often you don't have a fixed Nakai looking after you...I would only expect this in high end places.

 

[RooFlyer]

So, it's a type of accommodation allows people to stay for a fee. Normally it is Japanese in style and facilities.

Useful thread, thanks. You are probably going to continue , but in my (limited) experience, ryokans also offer some 'western style' rooms, with a western bed and chairs we are used to.

 

[rbjhan]

Useful thread, thanks. You are probably going to continue , but in my (limited) experience, ryokans also offer some 'western style' rooms, with a western bed and chairs we are used to.

Well yes we'll get to that later when I talk about reservations.
The opening is, more about the general idea of a ryokan.

 

[Quickstatus]

Watching

 

[rbjhan]

Part B
Types of Ryokan

Japanese wiki again!
旅館の種類には、観光利用や行楽利用主体の温泉旅館や観光旅館、割烹旅館がある。一般には中〜大規模の施設から個人・家族的な小規模で行われているものまである。

So, according to the above, ryokans are mainly for sightseeing/recreational purposes. There are onsen ryokan, tourist ryokan, cuisine ryokan, etc. Sizes can range from small family run places to medium to large.

Onsen Ryokan
This is pretty self evident. Onsen means hot spring water, so onsen ryokan has hot spring water in their bath. Generally they are close to the onsen source (ie in an onsen town), there are exceptions ofc.

There's this famous top 100 onsen town ranking every year (voted by the travel industry not tourists):

にっぽんの温泉100選 - 観光経済新聞

にっぽんの温泉100選とは 全国の旅行会社やOTAの社員など”旅のプロ”が選んだ温泉ランキングです。1年に1回

www.kankokeizai.com

So for 2024, the top 10 are:
Kusatsu, Dogo, Gero, Beppu, Arima, Noboribetsu, Ibusuki, Kurokawa, Kinosaki, Hakone.

Hey I've been to 8 of them
This is by far my favourite type.

Picture here is Kusatsu's famous Yubatake, taken by me.


Tourist Ryokan
That would be near some famous sightseeing spots, eg Ise Jingu.
Depending on whether there's onsen source nearby, the bath might be just hot water

City Ryokan
It's rare nowadays, there are some famous ones in Kyoto, for example Tawaraya. But honestly I would be out and about all day in cities, don't see the point of staying in a ryokan....

Cuisine Ryokan
Ah, this is where you go and stay with the main purpose of enjoying their dinner.
For example the one I just went here...

Sizes are pretty simple so we don't need to go into details, right?
I would say one thing though, I normally prefer smaller ryokans but sometimes there are things you can only get in a larger one, ie the big public bath with breathtaking views...

Like this


*Yamanoha, Unatsuki onsen.

 

[Seat0B]

Great idea for a thread @rbjhan.

 

[rbjhan]

Part C Reservations

Ah yes I think this is important.
For ホテルs I'm not fussed, I book whichever site has the lowest price.
Ryokans however, you want Japanese sites. My go to is IKYU, but Jalan, Rakuten Travel etc are good too. Note: NOT their English language versions.
Why? The main problem is the details missing.

I have yet to come across a nation who loves details more than the Japanese...
They would list everything you are paying including floor plans, dimension of beds (if there are beds), dinner menus, dinner/breakfast venues, anything you can think of (or not).

This is a dinner menu from a random onsen ryokan I was looking at.


In English sites you will get "Dinner and breakfast included" and that's it.



Note also, in Japanese sites more often than not there are different dinner plans for the same room (at different prices), in English language sites I've never seen one. Presumably you are getting the most basic dinner.
For example:



This is the description of the room
和室 32平米 和室8帖（お風呂無し）定員1名～3名 階数3階～7階
So, total 32m2, the main room is 8 tatami mats, no bath tub, for 1-3 guests, room on levels 3 -7.

The same room on Booking.com



Ah but you see, in this particular case there's a mistake in the English translation!
When I see "Shared bathroom" my mind jumps to hostels

But if you check the floor plan on Japanese sites, there's clearly a toilet plus sink:


お風呂無し means no bath tub no more no less - sometimes there is a shower, sometimes not.
Because this is an onsen ryokan and you are supposed to go to the public bath.

This is also a no bath tub room, see floor plan below.

 

[RooFlyer]

When I see "Shared bathroom" my mind jumps to hostels

You might remember I got hung up on that planning my Hokkaido trip last year!

 

[rbjhan]

You might remember I got hung up on that planning my Hokkaido trip last year!

Ha ha yes.
In a way I can understand there's no proper English translation for it without going into details like I did here.

But yeah, don't recommend using non Japanese sites for ryokans that's for sure.
I'm the one who likes to go for the most expensive dinner

 

[elanshin]

Ha ha yes.
In a way I can understand there's no proper English translation for it without going into details like I did here.

But yeah, don't recommend using non Japanese sites for ryokans that's for sure.
I'm the one who likes to go for the most expensive dinner

It depends. I got a ryokan room with its own private onssrn at noboribetsu through agoda JP. The Ryokans own site said sold out of the private onsen rooms and so did the English Agoda site. No problems with the booking.

But yes as a whole for Ryokans I'd suggest checking the JP side of things first.

 

[rbjhan]

It depends. I got a ryokan room with its own private onssrn at noboribetsu through agoda JP. The Ryokans own site said sold out of the private onsen rooms and so did the English Agoda site. No problems with the booking.

But yes as a whole for Ryokans I'd suggest checking the JP side of things first.

I am confused. You booked it on a Japanese language site, which is exactly what I recommend???

 

[Quickstatus]

the main room is 8 tatami mats

generally how does number of tatami equate to typical room sizes?

 

[rbjhan]

Part D Ryokan Rooms

We've touched on this subject already in the previous part.
Obviously there are many different types of rooms, it really depends on the style and taste of the ryokan, also prices ofc.

There's the traditional Japanese rooms of course.


Futon traditionally is made during or after dinner.



And then there's western style rooms, also pretty obvious.

Some ryokans will have very small rooms for solo travelers.
For example this is also in a ryokan, looks just like a business hotel



What if you want to sleep on a bed but like the tatami? Ah that's what 和洋室 is for!
Literally Japanese and western room.
Something like this:

​

And then of course there's the ones with its own private osnen, 風呂付客室, the room itself can be Japanese or western...
Like this

Summary, there are many different rooms and suites, based on your preference and budget there's one for everybody.

 

[rbjhan]

generally how does number of tatami equate to typical room sizes?

It doesn't. There's no general rule here.
One tatami is about 1.6 m2, other than that nothing is standard.
So your only way of knowing is to check the floor plan.

 

[Quickstatus]

@rbjhan
Will you do a part on etiquette/customs/taboos?

 

[rbjhan]

@rbjhan
Will you do a part on etiquette/customs/taboos?

Sure!

 

[elanshin]

I am confused. You booked it on a Japanese language site, which is exactly what I recommend???

Agoda is hardly a JP site.

 

[rbjhan]

How to stay at a ryokan.

First of all, don't arrive too early
The published check in time is an unmovable object in Japan ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But also don't arrive too late! Especially if you have booked dinner.
I normally aim for within 1 hour of check in time.

Typically you remove your shoes at the genkan, but not always. Staff will let you know.
Check in can be done in the lobby, in the room or at the front desk, no rules, entirely depends on the ryokan.
Matcha and wagashi should be served at this point, but I have seen this becoming rare, //sadface.

During check in all the details should be explained, the facilities, the baths, the meals, etc.
If there's a Nakai, he/she should be your go to person for the entire stay, check in, explain everything, serve your meals, prepare the futon, all the way to bid your farewell. However, as mentioned, probably only expect this in high end places nowadays.

Yukata is both lounge wear and bathrobe. But you are not obliged to wear it - I am not a fan of wearing yukata to dinner since the sleeve totally gets in the way!
Note some ryokans have Japanese/western dinner options. Generally you can wear yukata to the Japanese restaurants but not western ones.

Onsen or not, bath is the most popular thing to do in a ryokan.
And often the big public bath is the pride of the ryokan, a great deal of money and thoughts went into it.
Baths are mostly gendered, typically there will be at least one indoor bath per gender. Outdoor baths are also popular.
Mixed gender baths are rare these days - I've never been.



How to take a bath?
*Tattoos are generally not welcomed but there might be exceptions, check first before enter.

First you arrive at the changing room, take off your shoes.
*do research the kanji for men and women! Sometimes you can see blue curtain for men and red curtain for women but not always...

In the changing room there will be either lockers or baskets to put your clothes and towels in.
Some will provide towels in the bath, others you need to take the ones from your room.
Small towels can be taken inside, bath towels are only allowed to be used in changing rooms.

Onsen water is clean and shared by all guests. So please take a shower and clean yourself before entering, remember to rinse off any shower gel etc. Your hair, towel are not to touched the water.
The bath is not a pool, no swimming, no submerging your head.

Use the small towel to pad yourself dry before entering the changing room.

There are private baths either in your room or for hire by the hour, if you don't want to share the space with strangers, or men and women want to enjoy together.

In some onsen towns, especially the more old style ones, such as Kusatsu, Kinosaki, Kurokawa, Dogo.....many people go outside in yukata and geta, either to outside bath houses, or just enjoy the shops etc.

 

[rbjhan]

Agoda is hardly a JP site.

I was talking about the language.
I specifically pointed out English Jalan /Rakuten Travel is also no good.

 

[rbjhan]

To be continued tomorrow!
I'm going to write about some of my favourite ryokans