Travelling in Japan HANDBOOK OKU JAPAN belocal.jp Travel o-the-beaten-track Adventures in the Japanese countryside Travelling in Japan This handbook contains information for those travelling in Japan. You will find information about getting around, local cuisine, bathing in Japanese hotsprings, and how to navigate the world of Japanese etiquette. Travelling in Japan Handbook Contents Accommodation 2 Staying at a Japanese inn 3 Eating 4 Drinking 7 Bathing 9 Toilets 10 Japanese customs and etiquette 11 Communications 12 Trains 13 Local buses 16 Luggage delivery 17 Japanese Phrases 18 OKU JAPAN belocal.jp Travel o-the-beaten-track Adventures in the Japanese countryside 1 Travelling in Japan Accommodation Ryokan Ryokan (旅館) are traditional Japanese inns, and a visit to one is a highlight of a trip to Japan. Rooms are invariably simply but elegantly decorated, with tatami matting. Most ryokan have large, communal segregated baths, and it is common to bathe either before or after dinner. Dinner will usually be served in a dining room, but occasionally in your room. In most ryokan dinner is very elaborately prepared and presented from carefully chosen seasonal ingredients; one of the high points of travelling in Japan, particularly for the Japanese, is to try the local specialities. While you have been eating, the ryokan staff will have laid out your futon in your room, ready for sleeping. Minshuku Minshuku (民宿) are similar to ryokan, but more often than not family-run and a little simpler: the overall experience is much the same but the food is a little less elaborate, dining is communal, bathrooms are shared and guests are expected to lay out their own futon. Hotels Japanese hotels (ホテル) will always have western-style rooms, but sometimes they also have Japanese-style tatami rooms. They have the same amenities as those in other countries, although room sizes are generally smaller. Shukubo Shukubo (宿坊) are temple lodgings for pilgrims, though they welcome all travellers. Rooms are Japanese-style with tatami mats, with shared facilities. Food is served in a dining room by the monks, and is vegetarian shojin-ryori (精進料理) cuisine. Staying at shukubo is a memorable experience, and you will have the chance to rise early and attend the morning prayer. It is important to remember that they are religious institutions. PLEASE NOTE: Wearing yukata (cotton robes) or sleeping wear is not acceptable at the ‘morning service’ (morning prayer). 2 Staying at a Japanese inn When you arrive at a Japanese inn (whether ryokan, minshuku or shukubo), take off your outdoor shoes in the genkan (玄関) entrance area before stepping up onto the raised floor where shoes are not allowed. Put on the slippers provided which you will wear inside the house. Your hosts may ask you to write in the register or hand over your passport so they can take your details. You will then be shown to your room. Remember to leave your house slippers outside your room – you should only tread on the tatami mats in socks or in bare feet. Your room will be simply furnished and will probably contain a flask of hot water and utensils to make a pot of green tea while you sit and relax after your journey. After tea, you might explore outside the inn or there might be time for a pre-dinner bath. A yukata (cotton gown) will be placed in your room and you will find it more comfortable to change into this while in the inn. It is also acceptable to wear the yukata outside – wear the geta (wooden clogs) when walking outside. Place the right hand side first when closing your yukata – Hint: wear underwear underneath. After changing into your yukata gown, make your way to the bathing room. At smaller inns, the bath may be a small domestic tub used privately in turn by guests. In larger inns, the baths may be used communally, with separate rooms for men and for women. (See the chapter on bathing for more information about bathing etiquette, including how to use the small Japanese towels – much smaller than bath towels back home, but ideal for travelling once you are accustomed to them). After bathing, you can relax in your room or stroll outside until dinner time. After dinner, you can bathe again, go for a walk, or simply relax in your room until it is time to sleep on your futon. Futons are slightly harder than western mattresses, however when laid directly on tatami matting they are really quite comfortable. Your futon is stored in the cupboard in your room. Breakfast in the morning is normally served communally in a dining room at a fixed time. Please remember that the bathtub may not be available in the morning, unless the inn is located in a hot-spring area and hot water is ‘on tap’. Unless they are at a hot-spring location, Japanese guests do not expect to bathe or shower in the morning and are content with a wash at a handbasin. Some inns, especially those more familiar with western customs, may offer morning showers even if they do not fill the bathtub. 3 Eating Most meals will be Japanese cuisine, though breakfast in western-style hotels usually includes more familiar choices too. Dinner and breakfast in ryokan and minshuku are set meals, usually with a whole succession of different dishes. Dinner is usually prepared for 18:00 or 18:30. Alcoholic and soft drinks are not included with meals and you will pay for any such drinks consumed when you depart. Tipping is not customary at hotels and restaurants in Japan. They key ingredient of every Japanese meal is rice, always white and sticky. Other key ingredients are soybeans, used in miso (味噌) soup, tofu (豆腐) bean curd and soy sauce (醤油 pronounced shōyu). Seafood in its many forms features heavily, often being used in sauces or soups. Pickles are another key ingredient of the Japanese meal. Japanese food refrains from heavy sauces and spices in favour of subtle flavours coming from the freshness of the ingredients themselves. Japanese restaurants abroad reflect only a small amount of the variety of dishes available in Japan, so it is likely you will experience a whole new range of tastes if this is your first visit! Japanese meals generally consist of various small dishes served all at the same time. There is usually no specified order in which to eat. The Japanese use chopsticks (箸 pronounced hashi) to eat their food, with the exception of ‘curry rice’ and fried rice. There are two points of etiquette to be aware of with chopsticks. Never use chopsticks to pass food to another person’s chopsticks and never place your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice. These resemble Japanese funerary rites. Many Japanese dishes come with different sauces and garnishes. Japanese people never put soy sauce on their rice, though they do dip their sushi in it before eating, and they pour it on grilled fish as well. Restaurants The Japanese eat out on average several times a week and the sheer number of restaurants, eateries, canteens and hole-in-the-wall dining establishments is incredible. These restaurants can be found in stations, in underground shopping areas, the top floors of department stores, and along shopping arcades. Socialising in Japan nearly always involves eating out, as Japanese people rarely invite each other to their homes. Set lunch menus are very good value, often offering the same menu as the evening but for a reduced price. These typically consist of a meat or fish dish, with a bowl of miso soup, pickles, and rice. These can be as inexpensive as JPY600 yet ample enough even for large appetites. 4 Restaurants will present you with the check after the meal, and you are expected to pay at the counter when leaving — do not leave payment on the table and walk out. The phrase for “check” is kanjō or kaikei. If it’s getting late, a server will usually come to your table to tell you it’s time for the “last order.” Tipping is not customary in Japan. Shokudo While most restaurants in Japan specialize in a certain type of dish, each neighborhood is guaranteed to have a few shokudō (食堂), serving up simple, popular dishes and teishoku (set meals) at affordable prices (JPY600-1,000). A staple of the shokudō is donburi (丼), literally “rice bowl”, meaning a bowl of rice with a topping. Popular ones include: • oyakodon (親子丼) — “parent-and-child bowl”, usually chicken and egg (but sometimes salmon and roe) • katsudon (カツ丼) — a deep-fried pork cutlet with egg • gyūdon (牛丼) — beef and onion • chūkadon (中華丼) — “Chinese bowl”, stir-fried vegetables and meat in a thick sauce • curry rice (カレーライス) — a thick, mild, brown paste that would leave most Indians scratching their heads. Often the cheapest dish on the menu, a large portion (大盛り ōmori) is guaranteed to leave you stuffed. Noodles The alternative to rice are noodles, and the two main types are soba (そば, buckwheat) and udon (うどん , wheat). • kake soba (かけそば) — plain broth and maybe a little spring onion on top • tsukimi soba (月見そば) — soup with a raw egg dropped in named “moon- viewing” because of the resemblance to a moon behind clouds • kitsune soba (きつねそば) — soup with with sweetened thin sheets of deep- fried tofu • zaru soba (ざるそば) — chilled noodles served with a dipping sauce, shallot and wasabi, popular in summer Soba and Udon are very common, and can often be found often at train stations. Chinese egg noodles or rāmen (ラーメン) are also very popular but more expensive (JPY500+) due to the greater effort involved and the condiments, which typically include a slice of grilled pork and a variety of vegetables.