"Ryokan" (Japanese Inn) Etiquette

A "ryokan" is a Japanese-style inn and there are a wide variety of inns found in many areas all over Japan.

Inside a Ryokan Guest Room
A guest room in a ryokan may contain the following, depending on the style, design, and expense of the ryokan: 

• agari-kamachi: after opening the door guests step into this small area and take off their shoes
• shoji: sliding Japanese doors that separate the agari-kamachi from the room
• tatami: reed flooring 
• zataku: low wooden table
• zabuton: sitting cushions
• futon: sleeping quilts
• tokonoma: an ornamental alcove built into the wall, used for placing flower vases and hanging scrolls
• oshiire: a closet for futon sleeping quilts
• engawa: enclosed sitting area separated from the room by shoji

• Entering the room
  After you check in, follow your host to your room. When you get to your room, take off your slippers before you walk on the tatami (reed mat flooring).
• Settling in the room
  Your room may have a tokonoma (an alcove built into the wall used for placing flower vases and hanging scrolls), a enclosed sitting area separated by a shoji (sliding paper door), and several cushions for sitting. Your hostess will show you where to place your luggage. If it rains at night, please be sure to close the outside glass window. Sometimes a maid will bring tea for you, and you can sit on the cushions, relax and enjoy your tea. The maids may enter your room either unannounced or after quickly knocking during your stay. This is a normal practice at some ryokans.
• Ryokan Clothing (may be provided)
  During your stay, a yukata or cotton robe may be provided for you to wear in your room, around the ryokan, and if you want, you can wear it together with your geta if you want to take a short walk near the ryokan. If it is cold outside, a tanzen (outer robe) may be provided to keep you warm (wear the tanzen over the yukata). Please look at our guide for putting on a yukata.
• Bathing
  Before dinner is a good time to take a bath. You may use the bath in your room if one is available, or else you can use the public bath in the ryokan. When you arrive at the public bath, take off your clothes and leave them with your drying towel in the changing room. Take a small towel and go into the bathing room. The public bath is only for soaking your body, while cleaning your body is done in the area outside the bath. Depending on the ryokan, there may be small stools, soap, shampoo, and a mirror provided for the guests. When you have finished cleaning yourself and there is no soap left on your body, step into the public bath. Be careful, sometime these baths can be very hot! If the bath is too hot for you, try to enter it slowly and move as little as possible (the more you move, the more the water is stirred and the hotter it gets). If you have heart trouble or high blood pressure, do not stay in the water for more than a few minutes (please consult your doctor).
• Dinner
  In the evening, the maid will either serve your dinner in your room or else you will be served in the ryokan's dining room. When you have finished eating, the maid may clean your room and prepare the futon (quilt bedding) for you to sleep on.
• Front Desk
  Front desks at ryokans generally closes early. If you are planning to stay out late, please confirm the curfew time (if there is one).
• Breakfast
  You will be served breakfast in either your room or the dining area.

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