http://www.ryokan.or.jp/index_en.html
Ryokans developed during the Edo Period when feudal lords were required to travel to and fro from Edo (known as Tokyo nowadays).
Traditionally - ryokans are small, only 1 to 2 stories high, contain about 10 to 30 rooms and are made of wood and a tile roof.
Rates in a ryokan are per person rather than per room and usually include breakfast and dinner.
As I usually go for the traditional way (when in Rome...blah-blah), you may find the following w/c I consider fine to be cons when thinking of trying a ryokan:
- if you are not used to sitting on the floor,
then its going to be a bummer for you...yoga position anyone?
- the futon is put away during the day
(but you can always roll on the tatami-covered floor if you miss your futon)
- older ryokans may have only Japanese style toilets
- Japanese-style breakfast is served
(but some ryokans do offer Western-style ones)
- rigid schedule: check-in usually is by 3 pm (if you do arrive earlier, they will keep your luggage for you),
have your dinner around 6 or 7 pm,
breakfast served early (7 to 9 am probably) and
checkout by 10 am (or leave because they clean it by that time).
So you can't sleep in.
Tip: make a reservation if you want to stay in a good ryokan.
You can try your friendly travel agency or contact the ryokan directly (some of them have informative websites, and in English too).
I've heard that some ryokans do not take foreigners (probably because of some bad experience *shrug*) but there are a lot already out there that you may want to experience.
Thanks for the link. I guess I'll grab some more as well.
ReplyDeleteArigatou ne.
personally, with a little adjustment, I like ryokan style (but one can always pay extra for the more expensive ryokans which offer their personal bathroom/toilet and even open-air bath....)
ReplyDeletethanks Ted...hope you and Kyoko-san have the best experiences in your ryokans...
in a country where its hot and sticky most of the time, we don't have a lot of public hot baths though in Laguna there's a couple of hot springs...
ReplyDelete..but in Japan its very cozy especially during the cooler season...
for us Pinoys though, its a somewhat shocking experience for first-timers
one friend I know said he felt self-conscious especially in an open-air bath
The fact that you can't make a short term contract with a cellphone is also due to them. For the same reason many Night clubs and Hotels refuse to take foreigners.
ReplyDeleteyou lost me..you mean making a contract the contract by having a cellphone? agreeing thru verbal like a call thru a cellphone?
ReplyDeleteI thought maybe it was because some customs in Japan were not being followed by the foreigners..so some "shocking" behaviour to them or they are not used to it...
ReplyDeleteCultural difference do of course play a part but the contracts with "Docomo and Softbank" the two major cell phone service suppliers stopped it due to an order from the central government, this applied to all others too, after these companies had been swindled out of payment by US citizens.
ReplyDeleteThe two leaders now allow "Rentaphone"
wow....hmm..like people buy phones but didn't pay? here cellphones are sim cards are just like ...dust on the ground..its all over...though I've never thought about the ins/outs of the companies here selling them to foreigners...
ReplyDeleteYes, here we are also able to buy "Non locked phones" this allows the use of "Talk time cards" with any company that offers them. For that reason I could use my phone in Thailand as they also use the GSM system, Japan uses a different system. In Thailand you can buy a phone without SIM card so you can then buy a talk time SIM and use it from the company concerned, can be purchesd in most kiosks and supermarkets for a few Baht. Mine was from "Happy phone"
ReplyDeleteah yes, that is why I'm actually thinking of buying a 3G-enabled phone here instead of renting one when I go to Japan (or even renting one here)...and my phone and SIM worked well when I went to Thailand too..no worries...
ReplyDeletehappy phone? you bought a happy phone? or just the SIM?
"Happy phone" is the company that sells talk time cards with a SIM. I did however buy a Nokia from the Nokia shop near to Sukhumvit and the Sky Railway stn. It was a totally new model, still not released in Europe.
ReplyDelete3G, are you shure that it will work in Japan? I'm not, we also have 3G here.
hmm..I read somewhere that the only foreign phones that work in Japan are some 3G models, specifically UMTS/WCDMA 2100Mhz.
ReplyDeleteGSM only or CDMA won't work.
It must be 3G/UMTS/WCDMA 2100 (not all need to be there, but one must see either 3G, UMTS or WCDMA + 2100Mhz).
I've been reading about 3G on Wikipedia and did see that info. The frequency 2100 MHz is the importent part but you'd need a SIM for the channels, maybe purchasable as Talk time cards with SIM. If the phone you take is using 3G at home you'll have to ring home in order to ring back to a number in Japan. Same with my GSM in Thailand, I could use it but to ring home it simply cost an arm and a leg, that was the reason that both Thomas and I baught our new Nokias in BKK.
ReplyDeletealthough my SIM is ok for use in Japan (international roaming is on, and I used it in my firs trip), personally using my own SIM there would be expensive if I call out or get called (I get charged too if I answer calls or even *oh no* if I don't answer).
ReplyDeletemight be better to buy SIM in Japan if i use it to call out.
however, as long as the pay phone doesn't abandon me, I feel its much cheaper to just use it and have a bunch of coins :-)
I remember I brought my prepaid card w/ me and just loaded enough and rented a phone here in the Phils...when I arrived in Japan, my prepaid card didn't work, so I ended up adding to my bill for my postpaid card....*tsk.tsk*..oh well...lesson learned?
A very good solution for calls to Japanese numbers as phone call prices in Japan are very cheap compared to what we get stung for.
ReplyDeleteyes, better..though I got stung myself by the ghosts of problematic pay phones - once in Osaka, and once in Tokyo...my coins just slipped through and I felt like a scientist trying to find out the answer to a complicated formula in trying to operate the pay phone...finally had luck in a Kyoto station...
ReplyDeleteI long for a time when I am still alive when the world brings communication costs down to virtually free calls for everybody :-)
Yes, tho' that's better than here, first you're lucky if you can even find a pay phone, even luckier if it hasn't been vandalised. Dream on my friend.
ReplyDeletehugs.
oh? are pay phones rare there then?
ReplyDeleteYes, very, the only one remaining is in the railway station, sometimes it even works. All others in town have been dismantled as the Telephone company got tired of mending them.
ReplyDeleteYes, ver, the only one remaining is in the railway station, sometimes it even works. All others in town have been dismantled as the Telephone company got tired of mending them.
ReplyDeletefor some reason, your post was amusing...hehe..sorry...
ReplyDeleteI should have more sympathy actually for the telephone company...and shaking my head at the people who destroy property (such as payphones)...
Yes, one can only hope that those idiots never need to call an ambulance from the street tho' it would serve them right if it happened.
ReplyDeleteare pay phones the usual victims? or like any public property they just destroy?
ReplyDeleteI can just imagine, like if in Japan, there are a lot of vending machines and it gets vandalized...that would be sad...
No, not only pay phones, not only public property, but any or everything can be targeted. Graffiti on any fence, wall or even trains, inside and out etc, windows smashed, cars vandalised wth deep scratches etc, vending machines are a thing of the past like the phone boxes.
ReplyDeletethen I definitely need to update my image of Denmark...for some reason or another I thought for Denmark and Sweden...things were peaceful and...well..calm...
ReplyDeleteYes, "Once upon a time ...." When I came here in 66 it was like that, in England things were already quite bad, so I felt happy about my new home country, alas, it was to change. Of course there are places less wrecked. tourists do still come, but I wonder whether they return again.
ReplyDeleteActually Europe in general has gone the same way.
I hope they don't deface historical monuments or buildings (probably not if they have guards)...
ReplyDeleteso, in your travels in Europe, what would be the top 3 countries you would think would have that old world charm and that "once upon a time" flavor?
There have been a few but fortunately not bad.
ReplyDeleteI have not travelled in Europe since 1980 so I have no idea really appart from some photos published on Multiply by friends in Hungary, etc. There are a lot in some cities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece etc, even in Scandanavia and UK. It depends a lot on what you may want to see.