What is a traditional Japanese ryokan? Hoshi Ryokan - the beauty of immortal traditions in an ancient Japanese hotel. Frozen time of tradition


Inside, on the ground floor, there is a hall where tourists can relax and talk, as well as watch TV, if available:

Many ryokans lock the door at 11 pm.

You cannot enter the front of the hotel until the owner appears.

The rooms also have a traditional look, with tatami floors and balcony doors made of shoji (fine paper). The door leading into the room can also be made of shoji, but recently, for security purposes, interior doors made of more durable materials have been used.

In each room there is a small table with tea accessories, at which guests can dine, as many prefer to eat in their rooms.

The rooms do not have bathrooms, except in hotels built in last years for foreigners. There is a shared bath. Two meals a day consists of breakfast and dinner, often served in the room.

Furniture includes a small mirror on a stand, clothes hangers, a low table and, as a rule, a TV.

As soon as tourists arrive at the hotel, they are immediately shown to their room, and the maid brings some local food and green tea. The Japanese, as well as in other countries, have a custom of giving tips to servants, but with a slight difference: here they are given only once, and must be wrapped in an envelope.

The ryokan staff is predominantly women, dressed in kimonos. The attitude of ryokan employees towards visitors is somewhat different than in modern hotels, since all services are provided only upon request of the client, and in general the level of service is considered to be very high.

In a ryokan, you can wear a special kimono called a yukata, which is located in each guest's room. You can wear a kimono both in the hotel and outside:

So, for example, we went to the store. The people around did not react at all:

As for food in the ryokan, the cuisine here is also traditional, it is called “kaiseki”. Meals are usually served twice a day and are included in the room price. The food served at a ryokan varies small size, but nevertheless their number is quite large. Most of the dishes are made from a variety of seafood - fish, squid, shrimp, etc.

After dinner, returning to your room, you can find the following picture: mattresses and bed linen are already lying on the tatami. Sleeping is a bit rough, but over time you get used to it:

Many ryokans not located in tourist centers, will cost tourists quite inexpensively. For a night spent in such a hotel, you can pay about $40. But most ryokans, especially in Kyoto, are located in beautiful scenic locations, and for one night in these hotels you will have to pay much more, about $400. This ryokan costs $200 per night.

And so, you get up in the morning, open the window... And there is complete serenity and silence:

Expensive ryokans are often surrounded by famous Japanese gardens, many are located on the sea coast, and some are located in mountainous areas. Beautiful nature The area around the hotel plays a very important role when choosing a ryokan, and greatly influences the price.

For many centuries, Japan was closed from the rest of the world. Foreigners were not allowed in, and those who miraculously arrived on the islands rarely had the opportunity to leave them. Therefore, the life of the Land of the Rising Sun was shrouded in a veil of mystery until the beginning of the 20th century.

Mikawaya, Hakone
Rich history has left its mark on modern life, to specific rules and traditions that exist only in this country. National Japanese hotels also came from centuries ago. In Russian, their name sounds like ryokan. What was inaccessible to our ancestors in the Middle Ages can now very well bring pleasure to tourists, allowing them to plunge into the world of ancient Japanese customs and live the life of ancient aristocrats.

Hot spring at the Takefue ryokan, Kumamoto Prefecture
In the Middle Ages, feudal lords traveling to the city of Edo, as present-day Tokyo was called in those distant times, stopped at inns called honjin. They were located along the roads and served as a haven only for passing nobles, since spending the night there, service and food required a lot of money. Poorer people stayed in hatagos, which provided only overnight accommodation. True, in some, visitors could buy inexpensive food or cook it themselves, paying the owner for the firewood necessary for this. The Japanese believe that it is from honjin and hatago that modern national ryokan hotels draw their features. Japanese islands are of volcanic origin and therefore rich thermal waters, having medicinal properties. In areas abounding in such sources, along with modern hotels, the best hotels, decorated in national style, offer their services. Although ryokans in Japan can be found in other picturesque places, it is still better to visit them in such places.
To enjoy all the delights of onsen filled with warm healing mineral water, natural bodies of water, you must visit Hakone. This one is small resort village, located at extinct volcano, is known throughout the world thanks to its thermal springs. Millions of people come here to get rid of many diseases, or just relax, relax against the backdrop of the most beautiful mountain landscapes. The most famous of the local inns is Mikawaya, one of the oldest in Hakone. It should be noted that a traditional hotel in Japan is not only and not so much a place of residence, but first of all a tribute to national traditions. Therefore, every Japanese considers it his duty to spend at least one night a year there. Most foreign tourists The ryokan hotel also helps to get a deeper understanding of Japanese culture and customs of the mysterious island state. A traditional place of tourist pilgrimage in Japan is the ancient capital of Kyoto. It is not surprising that this is where the best hotels, including those decorated in national style. The city is famous for such ryokans as “Tawaraya”, “Hiiragiya” and others - famous all over the world.

Room at Ryokan Tawaraya, Kyoto
Typically, these are small, colorfully decorated wooden buildings located in picturesque places. Typically, a ryokan has a large hall-like space where guests are greeted. In it they can then while away the evenings together, including watching TV. When the necessary formalities have been completed, a Japanese woman in national dress takes the guests directly to the room, which is a relatively small room lined with mats. In the tiny hallway, you should take off your shoes before continuing to explore the place of your future residence. If you do not take into account the low table, cushions or small chairs around it, niches in the walls painted and hung with national symbols, one of which can accommodate a refrigerator, then, in our concept, there is no furniture. Even a TV is an optional attribute, although some rooms have it. When the room is divided into several parts, the role of walls is played by thin partitions made of bamboo and paper. The doors are made of the same material.

In ryokans, guests sleep on tatami directly on the floor.
There are special slippers for visiting the toilet, and a traditional Japanese robe is worn in the room and on the hotel premises. Japanese room attendants are polite and courteous, always ready to immediately fulfill the guest's wishes.
Almost every ryokan hotel in Kyoto, as well as in Hakone, has an ofuro - a communal bathhouse heated and filled with thermal springs. You can visit the bathhouse only after thoroughly washing yourself in the shower, completely naked, since it serves for relaxation and not for washing. And indeed, after spending an hour in the miraculous water, you feel fresh and invigorated, as if all ailments and fatigue were relieved by hand.

Typical breakfast at a ryokan
No matter what city the ryokans in Japan are located in, they are famous not only for the courtesy of the staff, mostly female, but also for the excellent national cuisine. The price includes a light breakfast and dinner of many small but varied and tasty dishes. An obligatory part of the menu is fish, including raw fish, edible roots and leaves of plants, many of which are obtained in wildlife. In a high-class ryokan hotel, it is customary to serve dinner directly to your room. In the rest, guests eat in the restaurant. Sometimes there is a choice. Polite, courteous staff will definitely teach you how to use specific equipment and tell you what to eat with what. If you would like to spend the night in a traditional Japanese hotel, you can take a tour to the Hakone area, where you can stay at any ryokan you like. And here is a video about the famous “Shibu Onsen” ryokan throughout Japan, which, according to rumors, became the prototype of the very ryokan where the events in the cartoon “Spirited Away” (directed by Hayao Miyazaki) unfold:

The best ryokans are located at onsen hot springs, of which Japan has a pleasant abundance. And if you are already staying in a ryokan, then be sure to stay in a place with hot springs. Japanese onsen hotels close to cities popular with foreign tourists include:
- near Tokyo: Hakone (region near Mount Fuji), Nikko/Kinugawa, and Izu;
- near Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto: in the Arima region.
There are also good ryokans on Miyajima, a picturesque island near Hiroshima famous for its cultural heritage, but unfortunately without any known hot springs.
Tokyo also has Japanese-style hotels that may cost less per night than hot spring ryokans. True, among them there are rarely hotels that convey all the variety of pleasures that real ryokans, located in the lap of beautiful, peaceful nature, conceal. In Kyoto, a city that carefully preserves centuries-old traditions There are also many ryokans of varying levels and prices. Therefore, Western-style hotels are cheaper, more familiar and more comfortable in Tokyo and Kyoto. One room can accommodate almost any number of people from 2 to... This figure is limited only by the capacity of the rooms that the ryokan has.
Check-in usually starts at 15:00, check-out: from 10:00 or 11:00. If you wish to check in earlier or check out later, you may be asked to pay an additional night. This is due to the fact that the room will not have time to be prepared for you or other visitors, therefore, the previous night or the next room will be empty, and this is a significant loss for the ryokan. (And then, between us, in some regions there are so many people who want to stay in a ryokan, despite the cost of the rooms, that the establishment begins to “pick and choose” and select the most convenient visitors for itself. And foreigners may not be included in this category of people. Why? Everyone It’s simple. The Japanese love order and standard. And nothing, including increased pay, can affect this. With foreigners, misunderstandings can come and, as a result, dissatisfaction with guests, plus lack of knowledge of foreign languages, individual wishes that simply baffle the staff. hotel: not because of the strangeness of the wishes, but because of the non-standard behavior.)
But, in any case, as soon as you cross the threshold of the ryokan, you will be enveloped in maternal care by the hotel staff, because now you are under their care, and visitors in Japan, like perhaps nowhere else in the world, are treated like royalty. Do not rush to pick up the key and go to your room, as most likely a special employee will be assigned to you who will escort you to your room, help you bring in your things, and introduce you to the interior decoration of your new temporary housing. You will be seated to relax at a low table and offered tea and sweets. The time for dinner and breakfast will be agreed upon with you. As a rule, this is done even in not particularly expensive places, but if you are staying for a long time, you can even specify the menu for the following days (for example, we want meat or fish in this and that form). If you are a cultured and polite guest, the staff will always meet you halfway, even if your wishes seem strange to the Japanese, especially if you are traveling with children.
When entering the room you must take off your shoes. This is done not in the corridor, but in a specially designated part at the entrance already inside the room, which is separated from the main part by a small step. You must cross this step barefoot. This is due to the fact that the Japanese under no circumstances wear shoes, even slippers, on the tatami. And the floors in the ryokan rooms are made of them. It is worth noting that tatami are not rice mats, but full-fledged mats that line the floor. Also, suitcases are not carried on the tatami. Therefore, if you have a suitcase on wheels and want to bring it into the main room of the room, you will have to carry it in your hands over the tatami.
You will most likely find slippers on the shoe rack near the entrance. But this is not for in-room use. As already mentioned, people walk on tatami exclusively barefoot. You can use these slippers while moving around the hotel, including going to dinner in a restaurant or going to the bathhouse. Continuing the theme of slippers, let us draw your attention to the fact that most likely you will find another pair in the toilet. These slippers are exclusively for use inside the restroom. Probably to avoid carrying toilet odors and bacteria from the toilet floor into the main living area. If you decide to walk down the corridor in these slippers, you will look quite strange in the eyes of the surrounding Japanese - both hotel guests and staff.
But let's go back to the room. The main room will definitely have a low table and matching low chairs or special zabuton pillows. There will most likely be a TV and a refrigerator. The partitions between parts of the rooms, if you have a spacious room, are Japanese sliding walls shoji: a wooden frame with paper instead of glass.
As sleeping place Japanese futon mattresses are featured, which are traditionally laid directly on the tatami. They are stored in the closet until evening. You don't have to worry about unfolding futons; the hotel staff will do it for you while you enjoy dinner. If you are staying at a ryokan for several days, the staff will remove the futons during breakfast or during the day when your room is cleaned. Beds familiar to Europeans can usually be found in rooms " increased comfort“, but even there it is often not a double bed, but two single beds, which is due to the peculiarities of Japanese married life. Beds can be small and low even in expensive rooms. Do not be surprised. This is an attempt to adapt European furniture into a traditional Japanese interior.
If you decide to choose a room in a ryokan yourself, be sure to pay attention that the room has both a bathroom and a toilet, as often, especially in budget options In traditional Japanese hotels, it is assumed that the visitor will definitely wash himself and enjoy himself in a public onsen (bath), so a bathroom in the room is not very necessary.
Hot spring ryokans offer rooms with private outdoor rotenburo baths (in addition to a traditional bathroom or in-room shower). In some hotels, the water in such baths is regular from the tap, more often it is from a source, diluted with tap water (undiluted water from a source may be too hot). Sometimes it happens that the shower in which it is customary to wash before diving into rotenburo is also located in the open air, which can be an unpleasant surprise in the cold season. And this shower is the only place where you can wash yourself in your room, despite the considerable price for an overnight stay.
In any ryokan room, regardless of its status, you will find a yukata - a light kimono that you can wear not only in your room, when going to a restaurant or bathhouse, but even outside the hotel (if it is located in a town famous for hot springs ). To avoid incidents, pay attention to how to put on a yukata correctly. This is not difficult to do - you just need to remember one rule: first the right hem of the robe is wrapped, then the left (this applies to both men and women). On the contrary, in Japan only the dead are buried. So, be careful! An obi belt is usually provided with a yukata, as well as a special insulated cape if your arrival falls during the cold season.
Each ryokan has public baths with separate rooms for men and women. Often good ryokans offer small bath rooms that can be rented for a family or for one person, but usually for no more than an hour.
Dinner is usually served at 18:00-19:00. Exact time You will be informed about dinner at check-in at the hotel and will be asked to choose the time period that is most convenient for you. Even at a very expensive ryokan, rescheduling dinner may not be possible.
Dinner can be brought directly to your room, or can be served traditionally in the hotel restaurant. The higher the class of the ryokan, the more likely it is that food will be delivered to your room. The hotel staff will explain, if necessary, how and with what you should eat this or that dish.
Dinner at a ryokan is usually a kaiseki-style dinner - a rich variety of dishes, always prepared from local products and always taking into account the season. Each dish is served in a separate plate (often also locally produced) of various shapes and sizes. You will be served fresh sashimi fish, marinated, boiled, fried and steamed dishes prepared from fresh ingredients: these will be dishes from vegetables, fish, meat; at the end of dinner there is rice and miso soup, and finally dessert (usually a fruit that grows in the area where the ryokan is located, or sherbet). A kaiseki-style dinner is a unique opportunity to experience all the diversity of Japanese traditional cuisine in one evening and understand that real Japanese cuisine is not only a feast for the stomach, but also for the eyes: the presentation is so beautiful and original.
As a rule, dinner is included in the room rate, but drinks, including non-alcoholic ones, are paid separately. Water and Japanese tea are served free of charge. You can skip dinner at the hotel, but this is unlikely to affect the cost of your stay.
Let us immediately make a reservation that by the word “bath” in relation to Japanese onsen we do not mean a Russian or Turkish bath with a sauna and steam room, but a special traditional place in Japan where they wash and relax, taking water treatments (you can read more about Japanese baths - onsen in our other articles). Each ryokan has separate public baths for men and separate for women. Some traditional Japanese-style inns offer a variety of indoor and outdoor baths, which may even be located in different parts of the ryokan. Sometimes you can find bathhouses for joint (male and female) use. There are also bathhouses aimed at families or couples who want to take water procedures together, without the participation of strangers. Check with the ryokan website or your tour operator to see if there is a similar alternative at your chosen hotel if you prefer an exclusively individual way of enjoying water treatments. And don’t forget to ask the hotel staff if advance reservations are required. If necessary, just in case, do it as early as possible, since then there may not be a free window for you.
As a rule, ryokan visitors take a bath before dinner/breakfast or after dinner. Most bathhouses in hotels are open during the day, in the evening and in the morning, some can work around the clock.
How to recognize an onsen in a ryokan? It can be identified by the multi-colored curtains separating the locker room from the hotel corridor. Blue curtains usually hang in front of the entrance to the men's department, red ones - to the women's department. Be careful: sometimes the curtains are swapped to allow visitors to take different types bath
The sauna room has a place for undressing, a low shower, taps and
a bathtub that looks more like a shallow pool (approximately knee-deep) filled with hot water.
In Japanese onsens, everyone must bathe without any clothing: swimsuits, swimming trunks and underwear on you in a shared bath are in no way welcome, despite the fact that on advertising posters you can often see a relaxing visitor in a bathing suit or wrapped in a towel.
First, you should wash thoroughly in the shower (shampoo, conditioner and shower gel, as a rule, ryokans kindly offer their guests in onsens). And only after you have washed can you go into the hot water in the shared bathroom. All hotel guests use the same water, and contaminating it with an unwashed body, shampoo or soap is considered extremely uncivil behavior. An onsen is a place for rest and relaxation not only for you, but also for those around you, so try not to make noise or speak loudly.
When checking in, you will most likely be asked what style of breakfast you prefer: European or Japanese. As a rule, breakfast is served separately for each person, and not as a buffet, therefore, if you are traveling in a group, then you need to clearly tell the ryokan staff in advance (at least in the evening) how many people will have a Japanese-style breakfast and how many will have a European-style breakfast.
A Japanese breakfast usually includes: rice, miso soup, salad, fried fish, tofu soy cheese, fermented natto soybeans, an egg in one form or another, pickled vegetables, salad and, of course, tea. A European breakfast consists of yoghurt, toast, ham, scrambled eggs, jam or preserves, coffee or juice.
Some ryokans offer massage services. In some places, massage therapists work in separate rooms on a permanent basis according to a schedule, in others they come to your room at the appointed time. Many tourists who are not familiar with Japanese realities believe that by paying an additional amount they can call such a massage therapist at any time convenient for them. This is not true: massage therapists have a strict work schedule, perhaps not even in one ryokan per evening.
Typically, a night at a ryokan in a regular Japanese-style room for one person ranges from $100 to $200. A night in a room with rotenburo will cost more: from $200 and an average of about $300 per person. The cost of a night in the best ryokans can reach $1000 - $1200 per person. The price usually includes breakfast and dinner. You can refuse them, but in this case the money will not be returned to you. A ryokan means that at least two people can stay in one room. One person can check in with the condition of paying for the room as for two people.

No other hotel in the world can boast of such a duration of service to people: Hoshi Ryokan was founded in 717. At this time to Buddhist monk is a mountain spirit who says that near the village of Avazu there is a hidden underground source of hot water that can heal all kinds of diseases.

Taicho Daishi not an egoist - after waiting for spring, the monk goes to the village to dig in the indicated place healing spring. And indeed, a miracle happens: local residents, unaware of the natural treasure that was under their noses, heal their ailments.

Then the monk gives instructions to his best student Gario Hoshi to establish a hospital in this place, which time will turn into a good hotel. Only one single family will possess this treasury of a healthy spirit throughout all the past centuries. Today the 46th generation is running things! In all 13 centuries there is not a single year when the inn was not open.

As the catchphrase says, everything is afraid of time, and time is afraid Egyptian pyramids. But perhaps there will not be too much humor in addition to this catchphrase: time is afraid of the sacred hotel Hoshi Ryokan. It’s no joke: when a holy person blesses a building.

Frozen time of tradition

Today's hotel, bowing to traditions, does not want to keep up with the times. The Japanese can be understood: exactly cultural tradition will allow the self-identification of the people to be preserved for many centuries. And without it, slide into counterculture, which so clearly demonstrates to us western civilization. The rooms, for example, have woven straw rugs on the floor.

Can you imagine woven straw on the floors of New York's concrete hotels? Or – sliding bamboo doors? How about a Japanese mattress or futon for bed? It is unlikely that imagination will be enough. They even wash themselves in this Japanese place the old fashioned way, as they have done for many centuries, in a bathhouse, not in a bathtub. Don't look for her in your room.

But here almost everything is the same as many centuries ago. Except, of course, for the Internet and flat screen TV. In addition to a picturesque garden with exotic plants surrounding the hotel, there is even a museum and a theater where guests can sing karaoke if the blissful mood suddenly strikes.

But it is not the sauna or the SPA center that are the highlights of this exotic space, but those very famous baths under open air where healing hot waters circulate.

The resident receives a particularly strong, unforgettable impression in winter, when, being in warm water, he turns his face to the falling snowflakes. Comments, as they say, are unnecessary. Such an extravaganza will be remembered for the rest of your life...

The cost of a stay is high: about $580, but the location is so attractive that the hotel is never empty. Therefore, rooms need to be booked, especially since there are not too many of them - about a hundred.

Traditional rich Japanese cuisine does not bother anyone. For respect for traditions appears here automatically, no matter what, and the place is sacred: the hotel is located at the foot of the sacred Mount Haku, which the holy monk climbed 13 centuries ago.

Perhaps some guests will also be blessed by the spirit of this mountain if they approach the sacred heights.

If an amateur Unusual Hotels one day he wants to be among the delights of this blessed place, he will have to get to the Japanese village of Tsuwano. But remember: the Japanese have strange villages - Tsuwano, for example, is located on 309 square kilometers. Not a bad site for 7,700 residents.

Let me remind you that Moscow occupies approximately 1000 square meters. kilometers. Hoshi Ryokan separated from civilization by a thin partition: a few minutes walk to the railway station and 60 kilometers from the nearest airport, Hiroshima.

Rooms at Hoshi Ryokan feature simple Japanese décor and a flat-screen TV. Just a minute's walk away is Train Station Tsuwano. Guests can try on traditional Japanese yukata attire and attend bamboo crafting courses at the hotel (request must be made at the time of booking).

Air-conditioned rooms feature tatami (woven-straw) flooring and Japanese futon bedding. All guests are also provided with a set of toothbrushes. Bathrooms and toilets are shared.

Other facilities include a front desk with luggage storage. A set menu of Japanese cuisine is served for breakfast and dinner in the dining room.

Ryokan Hoshi is a 10-minute drive from Taikodani Inari Shrine and a 5-minute walk from St. Mary's Chapel. Tonomachi Street is also a 10-minute walk away.

This accommodation option is a ryokan, a type of traditional Japanese inn.

Even though tattoos are becoming increasingly popular among young people in Japan, many Japanese still associate them with criminals and organized crime. Not all establishments currently ban customers with tattoos, but you may still be denied entry to public baths and swimming pools. Small tattoos can be covered with a waterproof tape, but keep in mind that each placement option determines what is acceptable about it.

The location of this option is one of the best in Tsuwano city! Guests are happier with it than other options in the area. 9,3 .

Couples especially like the location - they rated accommodations in the area for a couple's trip

This is the best value for money in Tsuwano! Compared to other options in this city, guests get more for their money.
Your booking includes: Free Wi-Fi

Flat screen TV A ryokan is not just a type of hotel, it is the history and traditions of Japan, reflected in the culture of life of the establishment. Classic architecture, location in picturesque place

and the almost complete absence of modern technology make staying in a ryokan incredibly peaceful. Perhaps only here can a traveler truly escape the hectic and stress-filled life of the metropolis, spend time in peace and quiet and listen to his desires.

The history of ryokans began in 713, during the flourishing of Zen teachings. In that era, pilgrimages to holy places were very popular. During the journey, aristocrats did not want to spend the night on the street, and ordinary people often died along the road from cold and hunger. The monks were very concerned about this state of affairs, so they decided to build special places for rest and overnight stay, which were the predecessors of the modern ryokan. Most ryokan, due to frequent occurrences volcanic activity

in Japan, located on hot springs - onsen, which have long been famous for their healing and relaxing properties.

  • Typically, the price of staying at a ryokan includes breakfast, and less often lunch and dinner. The food is a traditional multi-course menu - kaiseki.
  • The most famous ryokans are located in: Tawariya, Sumiya and Hiiragiya.
  • During your stay at the ryokan, guests are provided with slippers and a yukata - a traditional light kimono.
  • In ryokans, it is customary to sleep on the floor on special mattresses - futons. But for the convenience of foreign guests, some modern ryokans are equipped with beds.

Special attention:

  • Most ryokans close at night and only open in the morning. It is impossible to leave the ryokan or get inside at night. We recommend checking the ryokan's schedule in advance so you don't have to spend the night on the street.
  • If you decide to relax at a ryokan that has hot springs, remember that onsen and public baths are not allowed for people with tattoos. Exceptions are extremely rare.
  • In a traditional ryokan, you don't pay for a room, but for a seat on a futon.

 

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