A ryokan is not accommodation with dinner attached. It is an evening with a schedule, and the room is where the evening happens. Arrive at seven, as you would at a hotel, and you will have missed the bath, the light, and the hour the whole thing is arranged around.
Check in at three. That is not early; that is the start.
Outside, briefly, between the first bath and dinner. Photo: Satoshi.
The shape of it
- 15:00 — arrive, tea and a sweet in the room, change into the yukata.
- 15:30 — first bath, which is the quiet one. Most guests go after dinner.
- 17:00 — walk, if there is anywhere to walk to. There usually is.
- 18:00 — dinner, in the room or in a dining room, many courses, no menu.
- 20:00 — the futon appears while you are out of the room.
- 21:00 — second bath. Outdoors if there is one, and in winter especially.
The bath is the reason, not the meal. People remember the meal because it is photographable, and remember how they slept because of the bath.
Manners, briefly
Wash before getting in, not in. No swimwear, no towel in the water. Tattoos are still a problem at some places and not at others, and the ones that mind say so on the booking page. Ask about breakfast: it is enormous and at eight, and a ryokan does not really do a lie-in.
