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ACCOMMODATION

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BOOK YOUR STAY ONLINE

For more accommodation reviews and recommendations by Lonely Planet authors, check out the online booking service at www.lonelyplanet.com/hotels. You’ll find the true, insider low-down on the best places to stay. Reviews are thorough and independent. Best of all, you can book online.

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Japan offers a wide range of accommodation, from cheap guest houses to first-class hotels. In addition to the Western-style accommodation, you’ll also find distinctive Japanese-style places, such as ryokan (traditional Japanese inns; Click here) and minshuku (inexpensive Japanese-style guest houses; Click here).

In this guide, accommodation listings have been organised by neighbourhood and price. Budget options cost ¥6000 or less; midrange rooms cost between ¥6000 and ¥15,000; and top-end rooms will cost more than ¥15,000 (per double). Room rates listed in this book include tax (ie the national 5% consumption tax is figured into the rates).

Of course, there are some regional and seasonal variations. Accommodation tends to be more expensive in big cities than in rural areas. Likewise, in resort areas like the Izu-hantō, accommodation is more expensive during the warm months. In ski areas like Hakuba and Niseko, needless to say, accommodation prices go up in winter and down in summer.

Since air conditioning is basically ubiquitous in Japan (due to its hot summers), we do not list air-con icons for accommodation options in this guide. We only note places that do not have air-con. If nothing is mentioned about air-con, you can assume a place has it.

Reservations

It can be hard to find accommodation during the following holiday periods: Shōgatsu (New Year) – 31 December to 3 January; Golden Week – 29 April to 5 May; and O-Bon – mid-August. If you plan to be in Japan during these periods, you should make reservations as far in advance as possible.

Tourist information offices at main train stations can usually help with reservations, and are often open until about 6.30pm or later. Even if you are travelling by car, the train station is a good first stop in town for information, reservations and cheap car parking.

Making phone reservations in English is usually possible at larger hotels and foreigner-friendly ryokan. Providing you speak clearly and simply, there will usually be someone around who can get the gist of what you want. For more information on making accommodation reservations in Japan, see Japanese Accommodation Made Easy (opposite).

The International Tourism Center of Japan (formerly Welcome Inn Reservation Center; www.itcj.jp/) operates five Welcome Inn Reservation Centers in Japan as well as an online booking system. It’s free service includes hundreds of minshuku, ryokan, inns and pensions in Japan. It operates counters in the main tourist information offices in Tokyo (Click here) and Kyoto (Click here), and at the main tourist information counters in Narita and Kansai airports. You can also make reservations online through its website (which is also an excellent source of information on member hotels and inns).

The Japanese Inn Group (www.jpinn.com/index.html) is a collection of foreigner-friendly ryokan and guest houses. You can book member inns via its website or phone/fax. Pick up a copy of its excellent miniguide to member inns at major tourist information centres in Japan.

It is common courtesy to cancel a reservation if you change your plans and it makes things easier for those who come after you. (One reason foreigners occasionally have a hard time with accommodation is because others who have gone before them have made reservations and then pulled no-shows.)

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PRACTICALITIES

Newspapers & Magazines There are three main English-language daily newspapers in Japan: the Japan Times, Daily Yomiuri and Asahi Shimbun/International Herald Tribune. In the bigger cities, these are available at bookstores, convenience stores, train station kiosks