Over the last few weeks I’ve documented some of the older accommodation that can be found in Japan, from a massive and unique looking public housing complex, to a narrow street of mostly wooden, post-war Tokyo homes. With those photos in mind, the incredibly dated ryokan below is in many’s ways quite comparable, and yet at the same time it’s also markedly different.
Ryokan, or traditional Japanese inns, have an image of large rooms, fancy food and relaxing hot baths — aspects that are generally true in tourist spots such as Kyoto and Hakone. On the other hand, ryokan can also be a cheap and cheerful option catering to the likes of traveling salesman and construction workers. The latter being lodgings where you get exactly what you pay for, which generally isn’t very much.
This ryokan, however, is cheaper still, with long-term stays welcome, and where prices start at just ¥1,200 a night. Considering the number of shoes stowed by the entrance, and the time of day I took the photos, it would appear that people staying for extended periods is very much the norm as well. A predicament that’s about as far from the usual image of life in Tokyo as this ryokan is in regards traditional Japanese accommodation.
YesterdaysHero says
The statue. The phone, The man. The price?! I have so many questions………..
Lee says
Yeah, there’s a lot to take in that’s for sure. Goodness knows what other surprises it contains, although considering the price, there’s no doubt a few unwelcome ones as well..
Günter says
Very interesting photographs but I can not imagine how it is to stay there.
Lee says
Thanks. Basic that’s for sure. I dare so very cold as well.
Richard says
With only a kotatsu COLD 🥶 is the operative word this time of year. Cannot imagine getting ready for bed at night or getting out of bed in the am!
HOW did you come across this place?!?
Lee says
Yeah, I know that feeling all too well, and this place, with its age and ill-fitting windows will be even worse.
I found it a while ago on a walk. Took a photo of the exterior then but knew it needed someone in the frame as well, so went back and decided to wait. Nearly gave up a few times, but finally got the photo I wanted.
john says
A bigger than the average altar, a phone, a map and a whole lot of notices. I can’t make out the mudra hand gestures but maybe the man arrived before you got around to that.
Lee says
The alter is the thing that really surprised me. Definitely not the norm in a ryokan. But the entrance is as far as I dared go. Would have been pretty much trespassing otherwise, and with shoes off a requirement, a quick getaway would have been impossible. Well, that or head home in my socks!
john says
Not being a tourist, I thought you might have decided on an altar-native break. In retrospect, the prime lens and shoe rack obviously limited the mudra closeups.
Lee says
Haha, very good. I like that one. But yeah, definitely. The fella in the last frame was absolutely not impressed when he saw me standing there, so if I had stepped inside it could have have got quite unpleasant to say the least…
cdilla says
Wow. Just wow. You don’t half spoil us.
I could stay there for two and a half years for the price of my current 3 week hotel booking.
And what a lovely phone.
Sorry, but I have to include a link to a pic of my very own such payphone, taken just now after seeing your post.
https://www.rainbowsharpsleep.com/pink_payphone.png
Still in daily use 🙂
I suspect you have been kind to the ryokan in selecting black and white as the presentation medium.
Lee says
Glad you liked it. And that did make me laugh. A long stay and then some!
Knew you’d appreciate the phone. Nice to know yours is still in use as well. Such a lovely design, isn’t it?
Black and white was more for practical reasons to be honest. With the bright winter sun coming from behind the building, I wasn’t happy with how the colours came out, so monochrome felt like the right way to go. Nicely matches the feel of the place as well I think.
Solveig says
I learn something new everytime I visit your site – I thought ryokan always had the baths/meals etc as you described (and were the fancy places as seen in films!). Never imagined them being in a huge city like Tokyo either.
Do you think this accommodation is popular with students/backpackers, or do you think it’s mostly construction workers as you said?
Lee says
Thank you. That’s really nice to hear.
Yeah, the small ones can be very different indeed. Still a good few in Tokyo as well, although this one is particularly special.
To be honest, I think that on the whole it’ll be used by workers who are in the area temporarily, and also (perhaps mostly) by people who basically live there. Such accommodation is common in Sanya (https://www.tokyotimes.org/sanya-a-window-into-a-very-different-tokyo-world), Tokyo’s day labourer area, and I’m pretty sure this is very similar.
scruffy says
With all the shoes and the. map on the wall reminds me of a hostel.
Lee says
That’s a good call. I imagine the rooms are very hostel-like as well. Some of the reviews aren’t exactly glowing…