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  Origins and History of the Japanese Ryokan (PDF)  
  The wonders of Japanese Architecture & the Japanese Garden (PDF)  
  An Invitation to the Profound Taste of Japanese Cuisine (PDF)  

Now You Stay in a Ryokan
Receiving Guests  
Prelude to Relaxation  
To Your Guestroom  
Guestrooms of the Ryokan  
After Settled Down in Guestroom  
Japanese-style Garden
Onsen, Hot Springs  
Open-air Hot Spring Bath  
Private Open-air Hot Spring Bath  
Yukata  
Dinner  
Massage & Esthetic Treatment  
Comfortable Slumber  
Breakfast  
Checking-out  
  How to use Chopsticks (PDF)  
  The four Seasons and the Seasonal Calendar of the Japanese Ryokan (PDF)  
  Glossary of Terms Related to the Japanese Ryokan (PDF)  
How to enjoy staying at a RYOKAN  
Ryokan Experience by Expatriates  

  Japanese-style Garden
A Garden So Picturesque,Making You Lose You Your Sense of Time

A garden of a Japanese ryokan

After relaxing for a while in the guestroom, slip on geta (traditional wooden clogs) or zori and step into the garden of the ryokan. The garden of a Japanese ryokan features seasonal trees and flowers, with natural stones and sand carefully arranged to produce diverse scenic expressions. In some gardens, water is incorporated ingeniously in the form of ponds with Nishikigoi carp (colored carp) swimming majestically, or gently murmuring small streams and waterfalls.

The ryokan's Japanese-style garden forms an integral part of Japanese-style architecture. Traditional architectural techniques and the art of landscape gardening are merged to create a single scenery.

Many gardens are in the 'karesansui' (dry landscape garden) style, where hills and rivers are depicted without using water. Water is expressed by the patterns made in gravel, and the garden is portrayed as a sansui-ga (landscape painting).

Traditional Japanese footwear such as geta made of wood, or zori made of straw or bamboo, are provided for the guests when walking inside the ryokan or taking strolls nearby.

The wonders of Japanese Architecture & the Japanese Garden(PDF: 0.9 MB)

'Geta' wooden clogs   Stepping stones leading to the teahouse   A guestroom and a garden
     
   
'Karesansui' style   A glimpse of the fine arts rooted in Japanese culture  

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