A quiet revolution is taking place at Kyoto’s ryokans, Japan’s traditional inns. Many are ditching the two meals a day that ryokans typically serve. The driver? Inbound tourists who aren’t used to authentic Japanese food.
Not the “Japanese food” people were expecting
A typical ryokan is an inn with tatami-mat floors and public areas such as communal baths. A mainstay of travel dating back to Japan’s 8th century, ryokans have been declining for a while, largely thanks to the increasing prevalence of cheaper Western-style hotels. The number of ryokans has declined since 1990, with the number of ryokans in Japan dwindling by half in the past 25 years.
Ryokans might find some saving grace in the massive influx of tourists to the country. People coming to experience Japan from abroad are more inclined than domestic travelers to choose an option with an aura of history about it.
If there’s one thing that foreign tourists don’t like about ryokans, however, it’s the food.
Traditionally, most ryokans will offer both breakfast and dinner in their rooms or in communal dining halls to guests. However, some ryokan say they’re now scaling that back. Tourists are fueling their businesses now, and most of them aren’t accustomed to kaiseki (懐石), the traditional, multi-course Japanese style meal served at ryokan for hundreds of years.
Most washoku (Japanese food)-style dishes included in kaiseki contain plain-tasting food and ingredients, such as fish and fish-derived products, konnyaku, and tofu. That betrays tourists’ expectations of Japanese food, which centers primarily around rich, internationalized dishes such as roll sushi, yakiniku, sukiyaki, and tonkatsu.
Opting for the combini instead
Toyo Keizai interviewed four Kyoto ryokans (anonymously) about their food options. One ryokan, which says 90% of its business is now overseas tourists, said it decided to stop serving food altogether once its chef retired. They report that many foreign customers, after eating a single meal, would ask the staff not to bring food the next day. Staff have witnessed many going to the combini to get breakfast instead.
The ryokan, which has been operating for 100 years, worried that not offering food would betray its tradition. However, it’s had to deal with so many people canceling food and disputing charges that the hassle became more trouble than it was worth. The facility also stopped making bento boxes for visitors for the same reason.
The other ryokan that Toyo polled are taking different tactics. One canceled its bento boxes in favor of booking restaurant reservations for customers, alleviating the language gap for foreign visitors. Another switched to offering foreign visitors a stay-only plan with no meals.
Finally, one ryokan still offers food – but switched its menu to foreigner-friendly favorites like sukiyaku and shabu-shabu. They say it’s been a huge hit.
Certainly, there’s a risk to this strategy. If tourism to Japan dries up, ryokans could have to fall back to catering to domestic tourists, who’ll generally expect full-on meal service with traditional Japanese food. With the yen gaining momentum in international currency markets again, and the United States upending global trade, some businesses may have to make a U-turn if the world economy takes a dive.
Perhaps I’m overly optimistic, but I don’t see tourism to Japan cratering anytime soon. The country is a perennial draw and “bucket list” tourist destination for many. I think that demand will only increase, especially as more businesses are more than willing to change their operations to align reality with foreign tourists’ expectations.
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Sources
京都で”1泊2食付き”をやめる旅館が続出。「素泊まり」「飲食店の予約代行」にシフトの背景には外国人観光客の≪正直な本音≫があった. Toyo Keizai
温泉旅館が２５年間ほぼ半減「泊食分離」絶品料理でニッポンの危機を救う！：ガイアの夜明け. TV Tokyo Plus
