Journal
What to pack for a ryokan (less than you think)
Nearly everything you would normally pack for one night is already in the room. The useful list is much shorter than travellers expect — and the suitcase should probably stay in the city.
Photo: Pexels
What the inn already gives you
This is the part that surprises people. A ryokan is not a hotel that hands you a bar of soap and wishes you luck. Nearly everything you would normally pack for one night is waiting in the room.
| Item | What you get |
|---|---|
| Yukata | A cotton robe to wear all evening, in the inn and often in the town |
| Towels | A bath towel in the room and a small towel to take into the bath |
| Toothbrush | Almost always, individually wrapped |
| Soap and shampoo | At the washing stations in the bath, not usually in your room |
| Slippers | For corridors. Separate ones wait outside the toilet |
| Tea | A set in the room, often with a sweet, refreshed daily |
| Hairdryer | In the changing room, sometimes in the room |
You could genuinely arrive with nothing but a change of underwear and be fine. Many Japanese guests do exactly that.
What to actually bring
- Socks. The single most useful thing on this list. Floors are tatami and wood, slippers come off at the room door, and bare feet in a cold corridor in February is a rookie experience.
- A hair tie, if your hair is long. It has to stay out of the bath water.
- Your own skincare. What the bath provides is basic and often unfamiliar.
- Cash. Most inns take cards now, but rural ones sometimes do not, and rural cash machines keep short hours.
- A small bag for the walk to the bath: room key, towel, phone left behind.
- Cover stickers, if you have small tattoos and are unsure of the policy. Our etiquette guide covers the rest.
- Any medication, obviously, but also note that country inns are a long way from a pharmacy.
Clothes for dinner are not a thing. You will be in the yukata, and so will everyone else. One outfit for arriving and one for leaving covers a two-night stay.
What to leave at home
Swimwear. It is not allowed in a traditional bath, and packing it suggests a misunderstanding of what the bath is.
A hairdryer, adapters for four devices, a travel towel, shower gel. All either provided or unnecessary.
Anything valuable you cannot lock up. Theft is vanishingly rare, but rooms in older buildings often have no lock at all during the day, because the staff are in and out laying futon.
The suitcase problem
Country inns are reached by mountain railways with steps, gravel lanes, and staircases built before anyone owned wheeled luggage. A large case is a genuine problem, not a minor inconvenience.
The answer is luggage forwarding. Send the big case from your city hotel to the next city hotel, and travel to the inn with an overnight bag. It costs about the same as a short taxi ride, and it is completely routine here. Our arrival guide explains where to do it from the airport.
Questions people actually ask
- Can I wear the yukata outside?
- In a hot spring town, yes, and half the street will be doing the same. In a city inn, no.
- Do I need pyjamas?
- No. The yukata is what you sleep in.
- What about a towel for the bath?
- Provided. Take the small one with you and leave the large one in the room.
- Is there anywhere to do laundry?
- Larger inns have coin laundry; small ones do not. Plan on it being a city task.
- Will there be Wi-Fi?
- Usually, though deep in the mountains it can be poor or absent. At Kurama, north of Kyoto, the lack of signal is arguably the product.
Ready to pick an inn?
Kyoto is finished; the other regions are being verified now.