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A ryokan (旅館) is a type of traditional Japanese inn dating from the Edo Era (1603-1868). Catering to travellers, they typically feature tatami rooms, a communal bath, and other shared areas where visitors can wear yukata and talk with the owner.
A prototypical ryokan might feature a relatively large entrance hall, with couches and chair where guests can sit and talk; modernized ryokan would probably have a television in the hall as well. A room in a ryokan is constructed using traditional Japanese materials; flooring is tatami, and doors are sliding rice-paper (washi) doors. Even if a ryokan uses Western style doors for security, they usually open into a small entranceway where guests can take off their shoes before stepping onto the tatami floor, which would be separated by a sliding door. A room in a ryokan might also feature a porch or balcony, also set off with a sliding door.
A ryokan will usually also feature a bath, either an onsen, or if no hot spring water is avaliable, a sento. Typically a ryokan will also provide guests with yukata to wear; it might have games such as table tennis, and ryokan in scenic locations might have geta visitors can borrow to walk outside.
Sleeping arrangements are a futon on the tatami floor. When a guest first enters their room, there is usually a table, and frequently some supplies for making tea. While the guests are out, staff will come and move the table aside, and set out futon.
Many ryokan offer dinner and breakfast as optional meals. Typically the meals available are mostly Japanese foods, although ryokan which are likely to serve Westerners may have a selection of Western dishes.
Ryokan are difficult to find in Tokyo because they are uneconomic compared with hotels. For example, it is costly to maintain the tatami mats. Moreover, since ryokan cater mostly to travellers, most people consider ryokan located in the mountains or other scenic locations to be ideal, and these are probably the most prevalent kind.
See also: Youth hostel, List of types of lodging
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