Traditional Japanese Inns Open Up To Westerners
Japan's eRyokan Service has teamed with Pegasus Solutions to create a Web site and Internet booking service for traditional Japanese inns, known as ryokan, around the country. Created late last year, the site, www.eryokan.co.jp, has grown from 120 inns to more than 150, giving business travelers an opportunity to indulge in a very traditional Japanese experience, either during the time they do business or for a little rest and relaxation before or after.
"This new agreement is a unique opportunity to provide sophisticated reservations technology to a traditional Japanese hospitality-oriented company, which is rare in today's industry," said Hideo Hirahara, president of eRyokan Service K.K., a company that was founded by ryokan owners. "By using Pegasus' technology, we instantly gain a global presence that can catapult eRyokan into the international hospitality arena, critical for ryokan inns' long-term growth." The eRyokan Web site uses Pegasus' NetBooker custom booking engine.
Although Japan's ryokan may be employing 21st century technology, they are, at the same time, preserving centuries' old traditions. Ryokan were among the world's earliest hotels, dating back to the 10th century, when religious pilgrims, merchants and people looking for work began to travel throughout the country. By the 1600s, an elaborate system of inns lined the Tokkaido passage, which linked Kyoto and what is now Tokyo and other major roads traveled by feudal lords required to pay regular homage to their shogun leader.
The ancient system and the regulations that kept it going disappeared long ago, but the custom of inns offering traditional hospitality continues. Whether the Sukeroku Inn in Tokyo, the Hotel Ichiei in Osaka or the Izumiya Ryokan in the hot springs resort of Kakeyu, ryokan offer an insight into Japanese customs and way of life that would be impossible to get in a Western-style hotel. Although traditionally closed to foreigners by owners who feared non-Japanese guests wouldn't understand proper etiquette, in recent years they have been opening up gradually as an accommodation option.
Even as ryokan began to accept foreign guests, it was still very difficult to book a room at one of them, since each is individually owned and operated. Now, with the eRyokan Service, travelers can scan the Web site by location, check the availability of each ryokan and book it online. Although prices range from Y2,300 (US$19) to Y100,000 (US$830) per person per night, the average rate is about Y8,000 (US$66) per night, a cost that compares quite favorably to Western-style hotels.
Most ryokan rooms are traditional tatami (rice mat floor) style, with a low table and cushions during the day for relaxing. In the evening, the room attendant lays out a futon for sleeping. Some inns, however, have Western-style beds. The price of a room often includes breakfast and dinner, nearly always traditional in style. Whether delivered to a low table in the guest room, with guests sitting on the floor, or at tables and chairs in a common dining room, ryokan cuisine usually will be served on a lacquer tray in tiny dishes, each with a small serving of such favorites as shrimp tempura, sashimi, sushi, pickled vegetables, miso soup and broiled fish.
The more expensive inns and rooms may have private baths, but all ryokan have common bathrooms, with large hot—in some cases, very hot—soaking pools, or ofuro, to relax in after bathers thoroughly clean themselves at taps around the room beforehand.
The bath is an integral part of the ryokan and Japanese experience: Most Japanese bathe before dinner, so they can enjoy a relaxing meal after a busy day. Bathing before bedtime also is a common practice.
The etiquette involved may be a bit confusing for those unfamiliar with Japan, but the nationals are gracious and eager to help foreigners understand their culture and learn how to act in ways that may be different to what guests are accustomed. Adventurous business travelers and those who speak some Japanese and understand Japanese culture will find the experience a rewarding one and even may get additional insight into dealing with their local clients or business partners.
Ryokan Dos and Don'ts
Take off your shoes just inside the front door. There will be shelves to store them, and a hostess will offer you slippers to wear while in the ryokan. When entering the guest room, you must remove these slippers, so that you only wear socks or are in bare feet. When entering the toilet room (often separate from the bath), you must exchange your slippers and step into special slippers for that room alone.
Thoroughly scrub and rinse your body before entering the Japanese bath, whether a private bath in your room or the public baths that are part of the ryokan experience. Japanese people use the actual bath to relax in, and the water must remain clean.
Learn to wear a yukata. The clothing of choice in a ryokan is a cotton kimono-like garment known as a yukata, which guests change into to relax for dinner and the evening. In resort towns in Japan they even are worn on the streets in the evening. The eRyokan Web site includes instructions on how to wear one, as well as other pertinent information.