Accommodation in Japan

International and Japanese luxury hotels are concentrated in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. Far more common are business hotels (bijinesu hoteru), practical chain hotels near stations with small, fully equipped rooms, a compact bathroom unit and often a breakfast buffet or a shared public bath. They are the backbone of domestic travel and dependable across the country.

Room sizes in cities are smaller than in Europe or North America. A 'double' may be a single wide bed, and twin rooms or larger rooms need to be requested explicitly.

A ryokan is a traditional inn with tatami rooms, futon bedding, yukata robes and usually dinner and breakfast included, often in a hot spring town. A minshuku is its simpler, family-run counterpart, closer to a guest house, with shared facilities and home-style meals. Pensions (penshon) are small Western-style lodges in resort areas.

In all of these, the rhythm of the stay is set by the house: arrival in the afternoon, fixed meal times and an early breakfast.

Shukubō are guest quarters at Buddhist temples and some Shinto shrines, originally for pilgrims. Guests sleep in tatami rooms, eat vegetarian temple cuisine (shōjin ryōri) and are welcome to join morning prayers. The best-known concentration is on Koyasan in Wakayama, where dozens of temples take in visitors; others are found at Mount Haguro in Yamagata and along pilgrimage routes.

Capsule hotels, invented in Osaka in 1979, offer sleeping pods stacked in rows, with lockers, shared bathrooms and lounges. Many are traditionally men-only, while newer ones have women's floors or are designed with more comfort for tourists. Hostels, from basic to design-led, have multiplied in the main tourist cities.

Internet and manga cafés (manga kissa) with private booths are sometimes used for an overnight stay, but they are not intended as accommodation for travellers.

Private rentals (minpaku), such as apartments listed on booking platforms, are regulated by the Private Lodging Business Act (Jūtaku Shukuhaku Jigyō-hō) of 2018. Hosts must register and display a registration number, and residential rentals are limited to 180 nights a year; many municipalities, including Kyoto, add further restrictions on location or season. Listings without a registration or hotel licence number are not legal.

Under the rules for lodging businesses, guests who do not have an address in Japan must show their passport at check-in, and the hotel keeps a copy. Check-in is typically from mid-afternoon and check-out by mid-morning; most places will store luggage before and after.

In ryokan, minshuku and temple lodgings, shoes are removed at the entrance and slippers are worn indoors, but never on tatami. Several cities and prefectures levy a per-night accommodation tax, which is added to the bill. Tipping is not expected.