We stayed in a variety of accommodations all over Japan. In Hiroshima,
for example, we stayed in a typical business hotel, the Hotel Silk Plaza, where
you can see Tony sleeping in the photo at left. It was one of three hotels
that we booked through the tourist
office in Kyoto when we got there. This was an extremely helpful (and
free) service where the reservation agent, who spoke excellent English, found
interesting and inexpensive places to stay at our destinations (we had already
booked our train reservations before we booked our accommodations).
Besides calling ahead and making reservations for us in Japanese, the tourist
office gave
us printed directions in English to our hotel. These directions were
invaluable. Of the three reservations we made, I only have my reservation
form and map to the Hotel Silk Plaza in Hiroshima (for some reason the
innkeepers made a point of keeping these reservations forms when we
arrived). Click on the two small thumbnails on the right to
see enlarged copies of the front and back of this reservations forms.
The most interesting and fun place we stayed was outside of Matsue
in a place called Tamatsukuri-Onsen (or Tamatsukuri Springs) at
a Kokuminshukusha or so-called
"People's Lodge" - essentially a government-subsidized
Japanese-style Inn. We did not stay at a Ryokan per se, though we did stay
at this 'People's Lodge' and also a Minshiku (equivalent to a bed-and-breakfast)
in Hagi.
I was somewhat intimidated by all the
instructions I had read before going to Japan about how to stay at a Japanese
Inn. To the left of this paragraph are two thumbnails of typical
"ryokan instructions." My advice to first-time travelers to
Japan is not to be put-off by all the procedures; it really isn't that
overwhelming, nor are you likely to cause a national disgrace if you fail to
obey them to the letter (of course perhaps I did disgrace the American people by
wearing my fukata backwards but there's nothing I can do about it now).
Staying in a Japanese-style Inn is a lot of fun, and something that I recommend
highly to anyone traveling with children. One thing I have since come to
realize (perhaps from reading Cathy
Davidson's book) is that staying in a Japanese-style Inn is a nostalgia trip
for the Japanese themselves; it is not exactly how Japanese people expect to
live when they travel today except that they have chosen
"Japanese-style" accomodations.
Accommodations
