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A ryokan (旅館) is a type of traditional Japanese inn dating from the Edo Era (1603–1868), when they served travellers along Japan's highways. They typically feature tatami rooms, a communal bath, and other shared areas where visitors can wear yukata and talk with the owner.
Ryokan are difficult to find in large cities such as Tokyo because they are expensive compared to Western-style hotels. Most ryokan are located in scenic areas, often in the mountain. In this way they are similar to bed-and-breakfasts.
Features
A typical ryokan might feature a relatively large entrance hall, with couches and chairs where guests can sit and talk; modernized ryokan would probably have a television in the hall as well. A room in a ryokan is constructed using traditional Japanese materials; flooring is tatami, and doors are sliding rice-paper (washi) doors. Even if a ryokan uses Western-style doors for security, they usually open into a small entranceway where guests can take off their shoes before stepping onto the tatami floor, which would be separated by a sliding door. A room in a ryokan might also feature a porch or balcony, also set off with a sliding door.
A ryokan will usually also feature a common bathing area, often using hot spring water if in an onsen area. (High-end ryokan may also provide private bathing facilities.) Typically a ryokan will also provide guests with yukata to wear; it might have games such as table tennis, and ryokan in scenic locations might have geta visitors can borrow to walk outside.
Sleeping arrangements are a futon on the tatami floor. When a guest first enters their room, there is usually a table, and frequently some supplies for making tea. While the guests are out, staff (usually called "Nakai" in Japan) will come and move the table aside, and set out futon.
Many ryokan offer dinner and breakfast as optional meals. Typically the meals available are mostly Japanese foods, although ryokan which are likely to serve Westerners may have a selection of Western dishes.
Minshuku
Minshuku (民宿) are the budget version of ryokan, roughly equivalent to the British boarding house. The facilities may be consist simply of spare rooms in a family home, and minshuku often serve as the only type of accommodation in towns or villages too small to warrant a dedicated hotel or ryokan. The overall experience is much the same, but the food is simpler, dining is communal at dinner, bathrooms are shared and guests are expected to lay out their own futon.External links
"Ryokan (inn)"