Traditional Japanese Inns Put Out the Welcome Mat
TOKYO -- Traditional Japanese inns, known as ryokan, are opening their doors to foreign guests -- and offering tips on the myriad unspoken rules that made them inhospitable to many non-Japanese in the past.
For decades, many ryokan were wary of accepting foreign guests. Many owners didn't speak English and worried that non-Japanese guests wouldn't adapt to the inns' traditions, which native Japanese know and expect others to follow. All guests, for instance, are expected to wear slippers in the hallways of the old-fashioned inns but not in the guest rooms covered with tatami, or floor mats made of tightly woven rush. At the big communal baths, they are expected to fold their clothes in a basket and scrub clean before taking a dip -- gently, without splashing.
Ebisuya, in Kamakura, is a 350-year-old inn.
Now, many ryokan are changing course, helped by a new generation of more open-minded owners and a more competitive business environment. That means more choices for foreign leisure travelers thinking of visiting Japan.
Ebisuya, a 350-year-old inn near the ancient capital of Kamakura, an hour south of Tokyo, started accepting foreign guests four years ago, when Junko Nagano became proprietress. Ms. Nagano, the 30-year-old wife of the inn's 20th-generation owner, felt it was a shame to exclude foreigners from the inn, known for a miniature shrine by the entrance. She also felt the guests would add to business, and has hired an American staff member to help foreign guests.
Homeikan, a traditional Tokyo inn that regularly used to turn away foreign guests, now has an English-language Web site that accepts reservations. While many ryokan have had a rigid package that included two meals -- dinner and breakfast -- some have become more flexible. The Atami Seaside Spa & Resort in a famous hot-spring resort southwest of Tokyo, offers a "tatami and breakfast" package -- similar to a bed and breakfast -- for $50 a person a night. Previously, the inn charged $130 to $180 a head for a night and two meals, and skipping dinner wasn't an option.
Japan's decade-long economic slump and a flurry of big new hotel-chain openings have heightened competition for the traditional ryokan. Despite the recent economic recovery, about half the ryokan still post losses, says the Japan Ryokan Association, an industry trade group. What is more, big corporate groups that used to frequent the ryokan have vanished, as Japanese companies restructured their businesses.
Jeff Aasgaard, an American who has lived in Japan for 11 years, runs a Web site offering information on ryokan to foreign tourists. The site, called Japanese Guest Houses, lists about 400 foreigner-friendly ryokan, complete with pictures of the tatami-mat rooms, often with shoji paper screens instead of curtains. Mr. Aasgaard says he makes about 400 reservations each month on behalf of foreign travelers and receives a fee from the inns.
To be sure, a ryokan isn't for everyone. Guests sleep on futon mattresses on the tatami mats and eat on low tables while sitting on a flat cushion. Rates can range from an average $136 a person to as high as $1,000 for a night and two meals; some ryokan don't accept credit cards.
Still, many ryokan offer an authentic experience that Western hotels just can't match. In Kamakura's Ebisuya ryokan, where rates start at $105 a person including two meals, guests can admire a Japanese garden of sand, rocks and bamboo in the lobby while listening to the tranquil music of a Japanese three-string banjo. They can soak in the communal baths that look straight out into the ocean -- or, for the bashful, take a bath attached to the room.
"It's a cautious adventure," says Ariel Dorfman, a 62-year-old university literature professor who recently had his first ryokan experience at Ebisuya after a business trip. While he noticed some limitations to the service -- there was no decaffeinated coffee -- Prof. Dorfman says he enjoyed sitting and sleeping on the floor and taking a shared bath. His wife preferred the private-bath option.
"It's no danger," he says. "It's not like going to a jungle or something."
日本传统旅馆向外国人敞开大门
传统日本式旅馆(Ryokan)向外国游客敞开了大门－－并提供关于旅馆内众多不成文规定的信息，正是这些不成文的规定使得这些旅店在过去将外国游客拒之门外。
数十年来，许多日式旅馆对接待外国游客怀有戒心。许多店主不会说英文，他们担心这些外国游客可能不适应旅馆的传统，日本人希望外国人同样遵循他们所熟知的传统习俗。比如，所有客人在传统旅馆的走廊都要穿拖鞋，但是在铺著塌塌米（即用灯芯草密织成的草席）的客房则不然。在大公共浴室，客人应该将衣服放在一个篮子里，在泡澡前应先冲洗干净，并且泡澡时不要把水溅得四处都是。
现在，由于新一代店主的思想变得更加开放以及竞争的加剧，许多传统日式旅馆发生了改变。这意味著考虑来日本度假的外国人有了更多的选择。
从东京向南驱车一个小时即可到达日本古都镰仓，在这个城市附近有一家名为Ebisuya的旅馆，自Junko Nagano四年前成为旅馆老板之后，这家有著350年历史的旅馆便开始向外国人敞开大门。现年30岁的Nagano是这家旅馆第20代传人的妻子，她觉得将外国人拒之门外是一件很遗憾的事情。这家旅馆入口处的一个微型神龛是该店的标志。她还觉得接待外国客人将令业务变得繁忙，因此雇佣了一个美国人为外国游客提供帮助。
东京的一家传统旅馆Homeikan过去对外国游客紧闭大门，现在它通过一个英文网站提供预定服务。尽管许多旅馆只提供包含一顿正餐和一顿早餐的固定服务套餐，但是一些旅馆变得更加灵活。位于东京西南一个著名温泉胜地的Atami Seaside Spa & Resort提供每人住宿一晚50美元的“塌塌米和早餐“服务套餐。而以前，这家旅馆一晚住宿加两餐的价格是每人130美元至180美元，并且正餐不能取消。
日本长达10年之久的经济低迷和新的大型连锁酒店相继开张使传统旅馆面临著更加激烈的竞争。日本国际观光旅馆联盟(Japan Ryokan Association)称，尽管近期日本经济复苏，但是有大约一半的日式旅馆仍然处于亏损境地。而且，过去是旅馆常客的大公司集团由于日本公司的业务重组而不复存在。
Jeff Aasgaard是一位在日本已经生活了11年的美国人，他经营著一个向外国游客提供旅店信息的网站。这个名为日本旅馆(Japanese Guest Houses)的网站列出了大约400家对外国人开放的旅馆，并且有铺著塌塌米－草席的房间的照片，这些房间常常悬挂著障子而不是窗廉。Aasgaard称，每月大约400个外国游客向他预定房间，他向这些旅馆收取一定费用。
当然，并不是人人都合适住旅馆。客人躺在塌塌米上的蒲团垫上睡觉，盘腿坐在垫子上面对著低矮的桌子吃饭。一晚住宿加两餐的平均价格从每位136美元到1,000美元不等；一些旅馆不接受信用卡刷卡。
但是许多旅馆仍提供了西式酒店不能相比的原汁原味的体验。在镰仓的Ebisuya旅馆，包括两次就餐的每人每晚住宿价格从105美元起，客人在大厅里可以欣赏一个有沙、有石、有竹子的日本式花园，听著日本三弦琴弹奏的幽雅音乐。他们可以泡在正对著大海的公共温泉里－－害羞的人也可以在房间内泡温泉。
62岁的大学文学教授阿列尔?多尔夫曼(Ariel Dorfman)说，“那是一个谨慎小心的冒险历程。”多尔夫曼最近在一次公差结束后在Ebisuya第一次体验了住旅馆的感觉。尽管他明白旅馆有这样或那样的局限－－没有脱咖啡因的咖啡－－多尔夫曼教授说，他喜欢坐在和睡在地板上，喜欢泡公共温泉。他的妻子则宁愿在房间里泡温泉。
他说，“这不存在危险。你并不是去丛林或是什么别的地方。”
