Your First Night in a Ryokan

A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn. That is the dictionary version. The truer version is that it is an evening with a shape to it, and the shape is the point. Here is what to expect, hour by hour, so that on the night you can stop wondering and simply enjoy it.

Arrive in the afternoon

Most ryokan expect you between about 3pm and 5pm. This is not a formality. Dinner is planned around your arrival, the bath is best before dinner, and the kitchen has been preparing since morning. Arriving at 8pm means missing half of what you came for.

At the entrance, the floor steps up. Shoes come off on the lower level, the genkan, and you step straight into slippers. Someone will tidy your shoes away. You will not see them again until you leave.

You will usually be shown to your room and offered green tea and a small sweet. Sit down. Drink it. This is the moment the trip slows to the speed of the house.

The room

Expect tatami, a low table, cushions on the floor and very little else. There may be a tokonoma, an alcove holding a scroll and a single flower that changes with the season. Do not put your bags there. It is the one place in the room that is not for using.

Slippers stop at the tatami. Walk on the mats in socks or bare feet. There is usually a separate pair of slippers in the toilet, which stay in the toilet. Everyone forgets this once.

You will find a yukata, a light cotton robe, folded in the room. Wear it to the bath, to dinner, and around the inn. Left side over right. Right over left is how the dead are dressed, and the staff will very kindly correct you.

The bath

If the inn has an onsen, go before dinner, when the light is changing. Shared baths are almost always separated by gender, marked with curtains in two colours. Ask which is which. Some inns swap them overnight.

The rules are simple:

• Undress fully in the changing room. Swimsuits are not worn.
• Wash and rinse thoroughly at the low taps first, sitting on the small stool.
• The small towel can come with you, but it stays out of the water. Fold it on your head or leave it on the stones.
• Get in slowly. The water is hot, often around 40 to 42°C.

Policies on tattoos vary. If you have them, we check ahead and, where needed, book an inn with a private bath. Many travellers end up preferring those anyway.

Dinner

Dinner is usually kaiseki: a long sequence of small courses, each one built around what is in season. It may be served in your room or in a private dining room, typically at a time agreed on arrival. There may be ten courses or more. Pace yourself on the rice, which comes near the end.

Nobody expects you to know what every dish is. Ask. The staff are often delighted to explain, even with little shared language. If you have dietary needs, we will have told the inn well in advance. Please do not try to explain a shellfish allergy for the first time at the table.

While you were eating

When you return, the room has changed. The table has been moved and futons are laid out on the tatami, with a thick mattress, a duvet and a firm pillow, often filled with buckwheat husks. First-timers are usually surprised by how well they sleep.

The inn will be quiet by 10pm. Walls are thin, and floors carry sound. It is a good night for a book.

Morning

Breakfast is typically served between about 7am and 9am. Expect grilled fish, miso soup, pickles, rice, perhaps a small hot pot or an onsen egg. It is a serious meal. Some inns will offer a Western alternative if asked ahead.

Take one more bath if you can. The morning bath is a different thing entirely: cooler air, clearer light, and very often nobody else there.

Check-out is commonly around 10am. Your bill will usually include everything, and there is no need to tip. A sincere thank you, and perhaps a bow at the door, is the custom.

A few honest notes

A ryokan is not for everyone every night. Sleeping on the floor, eating dinner at a set time and sharing a bath can feel like a lot. That is why we rarely book more than two nights in a row, and why we mix ryokan with machiya and small hotels.

But for one night, at least, let the house set the pace. It knows what it is doing.