The traditional Japanese ryokan, or inn, is usually portrayed as a place of minimalist charm and old school tranquility. An ideal location to escape the stress of the modern world and luxuriate in beautiful surroundings, hot baths and elaborate meals.
Now, no matter how romanticised some aspects of Japanese culture can be, there’s a lot of truth in that image, and they genuinely are lovely places to stay. Just as common and far less expensive, however, is the similarly timeless but much less exclusive variety of ryokan frequented by the likes of travelling salesman and construction workers. Cheap and cheerful lodgings that are there to serve a practical purpose rather than pander. And just like when it comes to bars, it’s the grubby, back to basics variety of inn that I purposely seek out, as at the end of the day, they are simply more interesting. So the rougher looking the better, and the worse the reviews, the more tempting they become, although invariably it’s the exterior on Street View that turns out to be the deciding factor, as websites for such places are few and far between. In fact mostly it’s just a simple listing with the address, price and a telephone/fax number for bookings.
Below then is one such business. Accommodation that may well have ample reading material, a genuinely varied array of stuffed animals, and clutter one can do little more than marvel at, yet it’s still unlikely to get much coverage in any of the ‘best places to stay in Japan’ articles.
Coli says
Wow! You have much more courage than I do:) if you don’t mind me asking, how much was one night? I’m curious about how the prices differ from business hotels. Shizuoka?
Lee says
Haha, this one wasn’t so bad. We did visit one place though that really was my limit. A funny memory, and fortunately plenty of booze made it funny at the time, but bloody hell it was grim!
Nah, this one was in Hokkaido. Generally we pay somewhere between about ¥4-6,000. More often than not it includes breakfast, although in this case we had a very early local train to catch, and a 30 minute or so walk to the station. So we bid out goodbyes to the zebra, and left early doors!
Coli says
That’s not a bad price at all! I was going to say somewhere around ¥5000. I suppose you don’t have any pictures of that other place worth posting? I’d love to see it:)!
Lee says
I don’t, no. Only iPhone photos sadly. The owner was there all the time, so I didn’t really have the chance, but the smell in the reception where he basically lived with his dog was something else. As were the stains on the wallpaper and the carpet. And that was the place where we endured breakfast, with said stinky dog sat next to me! A dog whose toilet was the corridor near the bath…
Talking of which, it was the the bath that probably provided the funniest/worst memory. We had to walk through some stagnant looking water as we went in, and despite a massive pile of shampoo and body soap bottles in the corner, none of them had anything in them. All completely empty. So after finally waiting in the freezing cold for the water to sufficiently warm up, I had to wash an absolutely filthy bar of soap and use that. What it was covered in I don’t even want to think about, but there was no other choice.
Happy days!
Coli says
OMG:)! You could definitely write an amazing book with your adventures here
Lee says
Haha, quite possibly. There was a fair bit more to it than that as well. If we ever get the chance to meet here, or in kansai, I look forward to telling you more!
DavidT says
I’m diggin the retro foyer (?) but man that toilet……….. 😮
Lee says
That little area is great, isn’t it? But yeah, the toilet really wasn’t the best…
cdilla says
Oh my, what a wonderful find. The owner must have taken advantage of a wildlife museum clearance or something.
The foyer reminds me of the time my now wife but then girlfriend and I unexpectedly needed a hotel for the nightin London. The first place we looked in had a probably worse look foyer than this one, with a guy in a string vest manning the reception counter and a wannabe spiv loitering near the payphone. It was £25 a night back in the late 80s. But, with a rush of blood to the wallet and a modicum of common decency I moonwalked out of that place and instead got a room at a nice nearby spotless Scandinavian hotel where the foyer had a walk-in pool up against a well-stocked bar. It was ten times the cost but was more than worth it 🙂
Lee says
Haha, that’s as good as an explanation as any. I’ve seen numerous stuffed animals in such places, but the zebra was very unexpected to say the least.
Sounds like the right decision. You’d have had stories to tell, but maybe not the best of ones. I certainly don’t go to these places with my better half. She’d have not of it. Fortunately though a good mate enjoys them as much as I do, so it works out perfectly.
john says
Either red algae or that fish bites fingers. Any idea what it is?
There seems to be an electrical wire heading towards the rear of the toilet but I don’t think the owner must have seen Jun Togawa’s Toto toilet ad.
(which I have just had to revisit!)
Lee says
No idea what’s going on there. To be honest, I didn’t even notice the fish at the time. Or indeed the weird red colour. There was so much other stuff going on that didn’t make sense, or that caught my eye!
Haha, never seen that before. Brilliant. But no, Toto are a long way away from making an impact at this place…
john says
Maybe it is something in the water..
https://www.discogs.com/%E5%A4%A7%E6%A3%AE%E9%9D%96%E5%AD%90-Pink/master/730665
I was wondering if it was a baby arowana. One false move and the guy could have it on his lap. They can be skittish.
Some amazing details caught in those photos!
Lee says
Now that would have been something. A fish out of its tank and in the lap of the unsuspecting guest would have been photographic gold!
Thanks. Yeah, just so much going on. A lot I didn’t really notice til I looked at the results on my screen. The スイッチ sticker on the TV being a particular favourite.
john says
Gold for sure! but that would need a new category surely!
that’s a gem too – rubarii suitchi – thanks for the vocab. update :O)
john says
As this is not a Ryokan as we know it…rather, it is loosely from a Basho.
Ah! summer veldt schoen!
all that remains
of the ungulates’ dreams.
Lee says
Wonderful. Thanks! I like that a lot. A nice accompaniment to a truly unique ryokan.
Marc says
I once stayed at a nearly dreadful place in Yudanaka. We somewhat affectionately renamed it the Dog Piss Inn.
Lee says
Blimey, sounds like quite a place. Still, if nothing else it was memorable, even if the reasons weren’t exactly positive!