"Okami"
The “landlady” of the ryokan, welcomes guests with warm hospitality.
RYOKAN EXPERIENCE
Must stay in "Ryokan" when you travel to Japan!
A ryokan is a unique accommodation facility, found in no other country, which expresses the cultures of Japanese hospitality. You can enjoy stylistic elements of traditional Japanese culture in every aspect, such as architecture, garden design, cuisine, and rooms with tatami mats while your stay.
HOSPITALITY
Stay in a ryokan come experience Japan's omotenashi hospitality culture. Omotenashi meaning is to wholeheartedly look after guests.
Each of the guest will be taken care by "nakai" (Waitress in Ryokan) to welcome you like family. Here are what ryokans provide in the way of Japanese style of living.
- Serve both dinner and breakfast
- Offer Yukata, a kind of housedress looks like Kimono
- Public bath
- Friendly staff will take care of each guest
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"Yukata"It is a casual version of the kimono. Typical dress code for the guests at ryokan to make you feel relax.
JAPANESE ROOM
A tatami is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms which is called "Washitsu". Tatami is generally made of igusa or a soft rush plant. We take off shoes and sit directly or lay bedding on it and sleep. Houses built in Japan today often have very few tatami-floored rooms but many Ryokan have tatami-room (washitsu). Washitsu usually have sliding doors (fusuma) and they may have shoji and a tokonoma (alcove for decorative items like flower arrangement). The guest can experience sleeping on a futon which is consists of a mattress and a duvet set that are laid directly on the tatami flooring. Nowadays, more ryokan equipped the guest rooms with western beds.
There are various room types in the Ryokan.
- Japanese-style Room (Tatami-Room with Futon)
- Japanese/Western Combination Room (Tatami-Room with beds)
More than just a place to sleep, ryokan are an opportunity to experience the traditional Japanese lifestyle and hospitality, incorporating elements such as tatami floors, futon beds, Japanese style baths and local cuisine.
HOT SPRING - ONSEN
It’s also enjoyable to choose Ryokans with Onsen (hot spring) for staying. Since minerals of hot spring are different depending on source of hot water from underground, there are various kinds of effects in each hot spring at each ryokan. In old days, hot spring had been considered as a kind of hospital because of its efficacy. When you go to Onsen, generally you take a bath with others and 99% of onsen is gender segregated . There are more ryokan that have guest rooms with private onsen and private open-air bath recently.
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Open-Air bath -
Private Bath -
Sake
JAPANESE DINNER - KAISEKI
“Washoku” traditional Japanese cuisine has been added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. “Kaiseki” is traditional Japanese multi-course haute cuisine. At the heart of kaiseki dining is the Japanese principle of shun, or taking ingredients at the peak of their freshness. Dishes are presented simply, without artifice.
You can experience Japanese food culture that use seasonal food , beautiful arrangement and Japanese tableware. The dinner in Ryokan is different to restaurant where you order something according to the menu. The chef in Ryokan plans the menu and prepares the ingredients before hand to fulfill the guest’s request every day.
The guest expects how the chef welcomes them by their dinner.
