How a Ryokan Stay Works, From the Front Door to Breakfast

A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn: rooms floored with tatami, bedding laid out at night, baths shared by the guests, and dinner and breakfast included. Inns of this kind have existed since the eighth century. Two of them, Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Yamanashi, founded in 705, and Hoshi Ryokan in Ishikawa, founded in 718, are claimed to be the oldest hotels in the world still operating. Many more grew up along the highways of the Edo period to lodge travellers, and in the hot-spring towns.

For a first-time guest the difficulty is that a ryokan runs to a timetable and a set of customs that nobody explains. They are simple once known.

Arrival

Check-in is in the mid-afternoon, and guests are expected well before dinner. Arriving late in the evening, as at a hotel, is usually a problem, because dinner is prepared for a fixed hour; tell the inn in advance if you will be late. Times vary, so confirm them when booking.

Shoes come off at the entrance and are left there; slippers are provided for the corridors and are removed again before stepping on tatami. A member of staff, traditionally a woman in kimono called a nakai, shows guests to the room and serves green tea and a sweet at the low table. She will ask what time dinner and breakfast are wanted.

The room

A ryokan room looks empty. There is a low table, legless chairs or cushions, an alcove with a scroll and flowers, and often a narrow sitting area by the window with two armchairs. The bedding is in a cupboard.

In the room is a yukata, a light cotton robe, with a sash and, in cold weather, a short padded jacket. It is worn everywhere in the inn, including at dinner, and in hot-spring towns in the street. The left side wraps over the right.

The bath

The bath comes before dinner. Many ryokan have shared baths, separate for men and women, and in hot-spring areas they are filled with natural spring water, sometimes with an outdoor pool as well. The usual rule is: wash thoroughly, seated at the row of taps, before getting in. The bath is for soaking, not washing. No swimwear is worn. The small towel is kept out of the water.

Guests who prefer privacy should look for inns with baths that can be reserved for private use, or for rooms with their own open-air tub, now common at the upper end.

Dinner

Dinner is the centre of the stay. It is a kaiseki meal of many small courses built on the produce of the region and the season, and it is served either in the guest’s room or in a private dining room. Courses arrive in a fixed order, described in our guide to kaiseki. The menu is set. Allergies and dislikes should be stated when booking, not at the table.

While guests are at dinner, or just after it, the staff clear the table and lay out the futon: a thick mattress on the tatami, with a duvet and a firm pillow. Some inns offer Western-style beds in rooms of this kind; ask when booking if you prefer one.

Morning

Many guests bathe again on waking; the men’s and women’s baths are often exchanged overnight so that each can be tried. Breakfast is Japanese: grilled fish, rice, miso soup, pickles, egg, tofu and several small dishes. Check-out is in the mid-morning.

What it costs, and what it includes

The price is quoted per person, not per room, and includes dinner and breakfast. This is worth remembering when comparing a ryokan with a hotel, since the rate includes the meals. A minshuku is the family-run, simpler and cheaper version, where guests may lay out their own bedding.

One night is a common length of stay, though many inns welcome longer stays and will vary the menu. The pattern suits a stop on a journey well.

For travellers

Choose a ryokan for its food and its baths, in that order, and place it in the middle of an itinerary as a rest. Arrive by four, leave the evening free and do not plan to go out. Policies on tattoos in shared baths vary from inn to inn; ask in advance, or reserve a room with a private bath.

OKYTO’s experience pages include three good settings for a first stay: the bathing town of Kinosaki Onsen, the village inns of the Kumano Kodo, and, for the monastic version of the same hospitality, a temple lodging on Mount Koya. In the cities, Hoshinoya Tokyo applies the form to a tower.