This is based on information from public agencies and accommodation companies as of October 2026 (it is not legal or medical advice).
For now, just this
The next two have the same answer.
・The room next door is noisy
・I broke something in the room
At a hotel, let the front desk know right away.
If you’re worried about the language, try showing the screen of a translation app as you explain. If you tell them right away, the hotel staff can see what’s happening at that moment.
The next two also have the same answer.
・I was told “We don’t have a reservation for you”
・My confirmation email didn’t arrive
Keep your booking record with you.
Once you’ve booked, take one screenshot of the booking screen. That becomes the record you can show at your accommodation.
The next two also have the same answer.
・I want to sleep in a bed
・I have tattoos
Ask the place before you book.
A list of things to ask your accommodation is also at the end of the article “Ryokan (旅館) Etiquette: A Night at a Ryokan, Step by Step — From Arrival to the Next Morning.” If you ask ahead, once you arrive, all that’s left is to relax.
Booking and before you arrive
I’m worried I won’t sleep well on a futon. I’d prefer a bed
More and more ryokan offer rooms with beds. Try contacting the place before you book.
At some places where you sleep on futons, the staff will lay out your futon while you’re at dinner. When you come back, your room has turned into a bedroom.
→ “Ryokan (旅館) Etiquette: A Night at a Ryokan, Step by Step — From Arrival to the Next Morning“
There are foods I can’t eat
Tell the place when you book.
At a ryokan, dinner is prepared ahead and waiting for you when you arrive. When you tell them, one option is to show a card written in Japanese.
→ “A Night at a Ryokan (旅館)“／”Allergy Card for Japan (Allergies, Vegetarian, Halal): Show It, Don’t Say It”
I have tattoos. What about the baths?
It differs from place to place, so check with them before you book.
There’s no single rule for all of Japan; each place decides for itself. If you also tell them roughly how big your tattoo is, it’ll be easier for them to answer. If your tattoo is small, some onsen (温泉, hot spring baths) and hotels let you in if you cover it with a sticker.
At a ryokan where you can use a private bath or the bath in your room, you can take your time soaking with just your own group, without worrying about anyone watching.
→ “Onsen Etiquette: The Large Bath and Hot Springs | How to Bathe, and What to Do If You Can’t Go In“／”Business Hotels | Traveling Light, One Night by the Station“
I’ll be arriving late. I can’t make it (a canceled flight, illness)
As soon as you know, contact the place.
Ryokan dinners often have set times, and if you arrive too late, you may not be able to eat. If you haven’t contacted them and still haven’t arrived after the set time, your booking may be treated as canceled.
If you can’t make it, the cancellation fee depends on the place’s terms and conditions or the booking site’s rules. Even when illness or injury keeps you from going, it’s treated as a cancellation for personal reasons, and a cancellation fee may apply.
Even when your flight is canceled, if there’s a set cancellation fee, it’s hard to ask them to waive it. Still, some places will take your situation into account when a flight is canceled. So as soon as you know a canceled flight means you can’t make it, get in touch.
→ “A Night at a Ryokan (旅館)“／”Paying for Your Stay | Accommodation Tax, Bathing Tax and Tipping — The Numbers on the Booking Screen, and What You Pay at the Front Desk“
Traveling with kids. I’m worried the place I booked is a hotel for adults
Check the place’s name and description on the booking site, and its price list.
Japan has hotels for adults called love hotels (ラブホテル). There are clues that can help you tell.
・The price list shows short-time rates with names like “休憩” (kyukei, “rest”) or “サービスタイム” (“service time”)
・On the booking site, the place’s name includes “大人専用” (adults only) (on Japanese sites) or “Adult Only” (on English sites)
However, some places have nothing like this in their names. How booking sites show this isn’t consistent from place to place. If you’d rather avoid places that aren’t suited to children, steer clear of any that seem questionable and look for another one.
When you arrive
I got there before check-in. Can I leave my luggage? Can I get into my room early?
At almost every ryokan, the front desk will keep your luggage for you. You can usually get into your room from check-in time.
At small family-run places, there may be no one in. If you think you’ll arrive early, let them know in advance. Some hotels and capsule hotels, too, will keep your luggage before check-in.
Once you’ve left your luggage, head out and explore the town, traveling light, until you can get into your room.
→ “A Night at a Ryokan (旅館)“／”Business Hotels“／”Capsule Hotels | Leave Your Bags, Travel Light for the Night“
How do I check in? Can it be done by machine, too?
At the front desk. Some hotels let you check in at an automatic check-in machine.
At a vacation rental (minpaku, 民泊), use the method you were given when you booked. Your face and passport are checked either in person or on a tablet or similar device left in the home.
At a ryokan, you usually decide your dinner and breakfast times when you check in. This is also when they’ll tell you where the baths are and what hours they’re open.
→ “Business Hotels“／”Vacation Rentals (Minpaku) | Airbnb and More: Stay Like You Live in a Home in Town“／”A Night at a Ryokan (旅館)“
Will they ask to see my passport? Is it normal for them to take a copy?
It’s normal.
When foreign nationals without an address in Japan stay somewhere, writing their nationality and passport number in the accommodation’s guest register is required by law. The Japanese government also asks that the passport be shown and copied.
On a family trip, keep everyone’s passports together in one place so you can hand them over right away.
I was told to pay Accommodation Tax (宿泊税) separately. And bathing tax (入湯税) too, even though I’m not going in the hot springs?
Accommodation Tax is a tax set by each city, and in cities that charge it, you have to pay it. First, check on the booking screen whether it’s included.
If it isn’t included, you pay it at the place you stay. The amount differs depending on the city and the price of your stay.
Bathing tax is generally charged to people staying at an onsen ryokan (a hot spring ryokan), even if they don’t go in the hot springs. Guests are considered to use the hot springs every day, so it’s charged per person, per night. If you won’t be bathing because of illness or injury, try talking to the staff about it.
The Accommodation Tax you pay goes to support the city that welcomes travelers.
In your room
The room next door is so noisy I can’t sleep
At a hotel, contact the front desk right away.
Ask them to check what’s going on and to ask the guests to keep it down. Depending on the situation, also ask whether you could change rooms.
If you put up with it and only mention it the next day, the hotel can’t check what was happening at the time, and it’s harder for them to do anything about it.
Something about my room bothers me. I can’t stand the smell of cigarettes
At a hotel, tell the hotel staff right away, as soon as you get to your room.
Touch as little in the room as you can, and have them take a look. First, talk about whether they can clean it or whether you can change rooms.
You can ask about cigarette smell before you book. In Japan, smoking is banned in principle inside buildings used by many people, but hotel guest rooms fall outside this rule. Some hotels have both smoking and non-smoking rooms, and a smoking room may still smell of cigarettes.
If cigarette smoke bothers you, check with the hotel before you book whether your room is non-smoking.
I lost my room key
Tell the hotel’s front desk. The cost varies a lot depending on the type of key, so check the breakdown and talk it over.
Whether it’s a card key or a metal key (a cylinder key) makes a big difference to the cost of losing it. It may be written in the accommodation’s terms and conditions. Under Toyoko Inn’s rules of use, if you lose a cylinder key to a guest room, the cost of replacing the key is 10,000 yen. If you have travel insurance, also check whether losing a key is covered.
Within the same chain, at hotels with cylinder keys you leave your key at the front desk when you go out, and at hotels with card keys you take it with you. If you leave it at the desk, you can walk around town without carrying the key.
I broke something in the room. I let the bath overflow
At a hotel, tell the front desk right away.
Depending on the damage, you may be asked to pay for repairs or other costs. Check the amount and the breakdown carefully. With the accommodation’s permission, take photos of how things look now.
If bathwater overflows and leaks down into the room below, the compensation can be a large amount. Travel insurance, or insurance that comes with a credit card, may cover it, so check what insurance you have.
If you can’t settle it during your trip, continuing the conversation after you get home is one option.
Where should I keep my valuables? What if they’re stolen?
In the place your accommodation has set aside for them. If you’re not sure, ask at the front desk.
At a capsule hotel, the entrance to your capsule often doesn’t lock, so put valuables in a locker or another place the accommodation has set aside. If something is stolen, first tell the accommodation, and also talk to the police.
Once they’re in the locker, you can head to the bath or the lounge empty-handed.
→ “Capsule Hotels“
Nobody’s come to clean. I’d like fresh towels
How towels are changed differs from hotel to hotel, so check the information in your room.
When you stay several nights in a row, some hotels don’t fully clean the room every day. Some hotels do a regular cleaning once every 3 days.
→ “Business Hotels“
What do I do with trash at a vacation rental?
Throw it out the way the place tells you to.
In sample guides from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and elsewhere, trash goes into bins inside the home and isn’t put out at the outdoor collection point. Sort it to match the guide inside the home and the labels on the bins.
In that case, you don’t need to remember which day is trash day or where the collection point is. You just sort it into the bins inside the home, following the labels.
→ “Vacation Rentals (Minpaku)“
Baths, yukata and night
Did the men’s and women’s baths switch? How late can I bathe?
Every time you go in, look at the characters “男” (men) and “女” (women) on the noren (のれん, a fabric curtain hung in the doorway).
Some places switch the men’s and women’s baths at set times. A sign that says “男女入替” means this switch (the men’s and women’s baths swap). The color of the noren isn’t fixed, so remember the shape of the characters. Ask about the switch times and the bath hours when you check in.
At ryokan, many places keep the large bath open late at night and early in the morning, except during cleaning times. If your place switches them, a different bath from the night before is waiting for you in the morning.
→ “The Large Bath and Hot Springs“
How far can I go in my yukata and slippers?
Inside a ryokan, you can walk around in your yukata and slippers. Whether you can go outside in them differs from place to place.
At hotels, the in-house loungewear differs from hotel to hotel. Some hotels ask in their terms that you not leave your guest room in sleepwear or slippers, while at others you can go to the large bath or the restaurant in the loungewear.
If you’d like to go out in your yukata, ask when you check in. In some onsen towns, like Kinosaki Onsen in Hyogo Prefecture, walking around town in yukata and geta (下駄, wooden clogs) is part of the fun in itself.
→ “Shoes Off, Slippers and Yukata | House Rules Inside a Ryokan“／”Business Hotels“
I want to come back late at night. Is there a curfew?
Many ryokan have a curfew (門限).
At places with a curfew, you can’t go in or out after a late hour (midnight, 0:00, for example). Some places have no curfew, or give a key to guests coming back late, so if it matters to you, try asking the place.
Some hotels have no curfew. Toyoko Inn, for example, has no curfew for going out. Some capsule hotels let you come and go 24 hours a day. On days you want to enjoy the town at night, one option is to choose a place with no curfew.
→ “A Night at a Ryokan (旅館)“／”Capsule Hotels“
Will I be able to sleep in a capsule hotel?
You may hear noise around you. So, earplugs.
The entrance to each capsule is closed off with a door or a curtain, and it isn’t soundproof. Some places give out earplugs for free at the front desk. Use headphones for TV or music, and keep your own sounds low, too.
If you think of it as simply a place to sleep, you can stay near the station at a reasonable price.
→ “Capsule Hotels“
Checking out and after
I might go past check-out time. Can I extend?
It differs from place to place. First, check the check-out time.
Whether you can extend, and how much it costs, is decided by each place. Toyoko Inn, for example, lets you extend until 14:00 at 1,000 yen per hour (tax included) only when rooms are available, and may say no when it’s full. Some capsule hotels don’t allow extensions.
At a ryokan, you have enough time before check-out to take a morning bath and enjoy breakfast at your leisure.
→ “Business Hotels“／”Capsule Hotels“
I want to leave my luggage after check-out, too
Some places will keep it for you. Check ahead of time.
While some hotels say they’ll keep luggage after check-out, other places don’t. If you leave it beyond a certain time or number of days, there’s usually a storage fee, and if you’re asked, you pay it. Some hotels don’t keep valuables or cash after check-out.
If you can leave your luggage, you can walk around town traveling light until your train home, too.
→ “Business Hotels“／”Capsule Hotels“
I left something behind. Will the hotel contact me?
Not necessarily.
Under Japanese law, a person who finds a lost item is supposed to return it to the owner promptly or hand it in to the police. So some hotels contact the owner if they know who it is, while others hand it in to the police without contacting them.
Under a model set of accommodation terms, in cases such as when the owner isn’t known, the accommodation keeps the item for 7 days and then hands it in to the police station.
Take one look around the room before you leave. That’s all it takes to head to the next town with all your belongings.
Can I take the yukata, towels and slippers home?
Leave the yukata at the accommodation.
Yukata and loungewear belong to the accommodation, and usually can’t be taken home. On the other hand, individually wrapped items prepared for each guest, like tabi-style socks (足袋型), towels, toothbrushes and slippers, can often be taken home. Bath towels are meant to be left behind.
If you take something home by mistake, you may be asked to pay for it later. If you’re not sure, ask the staff. Some ryokan say you’re welcome to take the tenugui (手ぬぐい, a thin cotton hand towel) home. If you ask, you might end up with one more small souvenir of your trip.
Should I tip?
Usually, there’s no need. Tipping is not common at places to stay in Japan.
Some very high-end ryokan are said to be an exception, but you won’t run into trouble by not tipping. What you pay is just what’s on the itemized bill.
If you want to show your thanks, say 「ありがとうございました」 (arigato gozaimashita, “thank you very much”) with a smile.
→ “Paying for Your Stay“／”A Night at a Ryokan (旅館)“
Just in case
I was told “We don’t have a reservation for you.” And the confirmation email never came, either
Show the screen from when you booked, or your confirmation email, and talk to the person in charge at the accommodation.
If you booked a vacation rental through a booking site, look over the site’s terms of use again, and report it to the site as well. When an accommodation can’t provide the room it promised, under the model set of accommodation terms, it refers the guest, with their agreement, to another place with conditions as similar as possible.
If no confirmation email arrives, before booking another place, check whether your first booking actually went through. If it did, you could end up paying both places. Look for the confirmation email, and if the booking site has a page showing your booking status, check there. If you still can’t tell, contact the place directly by email or phone.
Once you’ve booked, take one screenshot of the booking screen. That becomes the record you can show at your accommodation.
At a vacation rental, I can’t get the key. I can’t reach the host
Check the key pickup place and time again in your booking confirmation, and get in touch using the contact details given there.
If you booked through a booking site, also check whether the site’s terms say how problems are handled. Even if a place has “Hotel” in its name, it may actually be a vacation rental or a guesthouse, with no front desk, where the key is handed over in a key box by the door.
If you still can’t get in, keep a record of how the day went, such as the time you arrived, the times you made contact, and photos of the entrance. You can use it later when you discuss paying for the stay and other matters with the accommodation.
If you check how to get the key and how to make contact when you book, you can get in on the day without any confusion.
→ “Vacation Rentals (Minpaku)“
I’m feeling sick. I’ve been injured
If you need an ambulance, call 119.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, anyone in Japan can use an ambulance for an urgent illness or injury. If there’s someone nearby who speaks Japanese, ask them for help.
The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)’s “Japan Visitor Hotline” (050-3816-2787) takes calls 24 hours a day, in English, Chinese and Korean, for help with accidents, illness and the like.
It’s handy to put together a note about your health condition. If you write it on the back of your food card, that one card can speak for you in an emergency, too.
→ “Allergy Card for Japan”
What if there’s an earthquake? What about a fire?
While it’s shaking, protect your head and take shelter under a sturdy table.
The Japan Tourism Agency’s safety information for travelers, “Safety tips,” describes what to do in an earthquake at your accommodation like this:
・When tremor has stopped, open the door and check for entrance/exit ways. Follow instructions given by your lodging facility.
・Indoors may be safer at times. Try not to hastily run outside.
・Regularly check for emergency exits.
If there’s a fire in a building, here’s what to do.
・Please evacuate by following any building-wide announcements or the staff’s instructions if there is one nearby.
・When evacuating through smoke, place a handkerchief or towel over your mouth and nose, and evacuate as low to the ground as possible.
・Please do not use the elevators.
・Once you have evacuated, do not return to the fire.
The number for fires and ambulances is 119. At a vacation rental, contact details for fires and earthquakes are supposed to be left in the guide inside the home. The Japan Tourism Agency’s “Safety tips” app sends you alerts such as earthquake early warnings.
Take one look at the emergency exits of the place you’re staying. Once that’s done, all that’s left is to enjoy your night there.
→ “Vacation Rentals (Minpaku)“
※ Rules, prices, times, luggage storage and so on differ from place to place, and may change. When you actually stay, check the information your accommodation provides and what the staff tell you.
