A ryokan is not a hotel with tatami floors. The structure of the stay. The meal times, the bathing schedule, the room customs. Is different enough that first-time visitors sometimes feel uncertain about what they're supposed to do. This guide covers the practical details that most travel articles skip.

Check-in time and the first hour

Most ryokan check-in between 3pm and 5pm, and dinner is served at a fixed time. Usually 6pm or 6:30pm. This means the first hour of your stay is structured: you arrive, a staff member shows you the room, explains the meal schedule, and points you toward the onsen. The yukata (cotton robe) in the room is for wearing to dinner and to the baths. It's not a pajama, though you can sleep in it.

Onsen etiquette: the short version

Wash thoroughly at the shower stations before entering the communal bath. Tattoos are still prohibited at many traditional onsen, though this is changing at some properties. Towels stay outside the water. The small hand towel can be folded on your head. Most onsen have separate baths for men and women; some have mixed baths (konyoku) which are usually outdoor. The water temperature at most ryokan baths runs between 40 and 43 degrees Celsius, which is hotter than most Western baths.

The meal schedule

Dinner (kaiseki, a multi-course meal) is served at a fixed time, either in your room or in a communal dining room. Breakfast the following morning is also included and also at a fixed time, usually 7:30am or 8am. If you have dietary restrictions, notify the ryokan at least 48 hours in advance. Most can accommodate vegetarian and some can accommodate vegan, but they need time to adjust the menu. We handle all dietary communication with ryokan on behalf of our clients.

Which ryokan we recommend and why

We've stayed personally at every property we recommend. In Kinosaki Onsen, we use a mid-sized inn on the willow-lined canal street that has both indoor and outdoor baths and a kaiseki menu that changes monthly. In Arima Onsen, we use a smaller property above the main street with access to both the gold (iron-rich) and silver (carbonated) springs that Arima is known for. In Yunomine on the Kumano Kodo, there's only one real option. A small inn that has been operating for several generations. And it's the right one.

The most common feedback we get after a ryokan stay is that guests wish they'd had more time. Two nights at the same property is almost always better than one night each at two different ones. We build our onsen routes around this.