The Ryokan Experience: Can Vegans Really Enjoy It?
Introduction
A traditional part of Japanese culture, ryokans often come up on lists of recommendations and itineraries for any Japan trip. But for plant-based travellers, is it even possible to find a vegan friendly ryokan that gives the same authentic, kaiseki experience?
On my first trip to Japan with my husband, I found a fantastic option in Hakone that managed to accommodate our diet, and gave us a wonderful experience.
What is a Ryokan?
A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn. Typically, they’ll have tatami-matted rooms with futon to sleep with, and often an onsen to soak in at the end of a long day.
Usually they serve kaiskei, a multi-course dining experience featuring traditional Japanese dishes.
They’ve existed since the 8th century, and the oldest hotel in the world is actually a ryokan in Yamanashi, Japan.
Booking our Ryokan
When planning our trip to Japan, a friend recommended Hakone to me as a place to visit. Hakone is a small town in Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. It’s famous for its hot springs, as well as many onsen ryokan in the area. While it’s possible to do Hakone on a day trip from Tokyo, I wanted to try get the full ryokan experience.
I came across Ryokan Motoyu Kansuiro, which looked perfect: traditional lodgings, an onsen and crucially a note on their website encouraging guests with allergies and dietary requirements to get in touch. I emailed them, and they confirmed that they could adapt their menu to provide vegan alternatives. Perfect, we were good to go.
We booked one of their standard Japanese-style rooms with a river view for two nights. The total came to 146,884 JPY, about £720, which included dinner and breakfast. This was one of the priciest stays we had in Japan. While we were happy to put more of the budget towards this traditional experience, it is possible to get a cheaper ryokan stay, which I’ll discuss a little later on.
Initial Impressions
Squeezing off a crowded bus from the train station, I was incredibly relieved (and a little bit sweaty) to be standing on the patch of pavement outside the ryokan.
The entrance to the ryokan is unassuming from the road, but opens into a wide, warm wooden lobby. A member of staff relieved us of our bags and asked us to remove our shoes. There’s a communal shoe rack at the front of the lobby where guests leave their shoes while they’re in the ryokan, and you’re provided with a pair of indoor shoes or sandals to wear inside.
The lobby area had some displays about Hakone and the local area, and after check in, a member of staff walked us to our room and told us a little bit about the history of the building. While the current building is only about 100 years old, the ryokan has been in operation for over 400. Today, it’s a four story building that sprawls back into the mountainside, with the Hayakawa river rushing by below.
The Stay
Our Room
We’d booked a traditional Japanese room overlooking the river. When booking, there was an option to book a room with its own bathroom, and without. Not relishing the idea of stumbling through this cavernous ryokan in the middle of the night to brush my teeth, we went for the “with bathroom” option.
Calling the room a “room” does it a disservice, as it was really more of a suite or small apartment. From the entry way, there’s a genkan to take off your shoes and replace them with slippers, as well as a small fridge containing drinks that you can purchase. The aforementioned bathroom was just off the hall, with the toilet in its own contained room (with special toilet slippers), and a sink area.
The living room was a corner room, with windows overlooking the river on two sides. The room was large and cosy, with tatami mats on the floor and a traditional, low table and seats.
Finally, the bedroom contained two single beds with futon style bedding on them. The bedroom overlooked the river also. Falling asleep next to the white noise of the river rushing by meant that I slept like a baby.
The Onsen Experience
An onsen is one of the quintessential Japanese travel experiences, and Hakone is famous for its hot springs. Motoyu Kansuiro has a number of bathing options, both indoor and outdoor.
Like many onsens, any of the public/shared bathing spaces are a no-go for travellers with tattoos, which includes me. However, the “roten buro”, open air baths, are available for private booking between the hours of 10pm and 4am, and guests with tattoos are welcome to use them at this time.
In this ryokan, there are two open air bathrooms: one for men, one for women.
We waited until 10pm one evening (not easy with jet lag, I can tell you) and made our way along the rocky path to the outdoor bath houses. One of them had a “reserved” sign hanging outside, letting us know someone else was making use of it, but the other, thankfully was available.
The water was hot, with steam rising off the surface into the night air. Built into the side of the hills, the bath looks down on the river below, with nothing but trees overhead. It’s an incredibly peaceful, quiet relaxing place.
The Vegan Dining Experience
Dinner: Multi Course Kaiseki
As our room had a separate dining room/sitting room area, we were asked to wait in there by our room steward, Aiyu.
As soon at 6pm rolled around, Aiyu arrived with trays of food and took our drinks order. We chose to share a bottle of heated sake.
The dinner menu at Kansuiro changes monthly, focusing on seasonal and local produce.
Typically, their menu focuses heavily on seafood, but their adaptations for us leaned more on mushrooms and tofu.
It’s served in a formal, kaiseki style. This is a very traditional Japanese style of dining that’s akin to a haute cuisine tasting menu – think lots of small dishes, perfectly crafted presentation and a focus on balancing flavours, textures and style.
On the trays that Aiyu had brought into the room, we saw a bunch of small dishes, served in beautiful crockery.
We had some roast potatoes with a pink salt, a large cube of tofu in a light sauce, some veggies with a dipping sauce, a light soy sauce based soup, and some konjac and seaweed jelly.
The attention to detail was incredible, every dish came with its own garnish, like an delicately carved piece of carrot, or perfectly placed dot of wasabi.
I had thought that this tray was the full meal, but as soon as we’d finished, Aiyu whisked the dishes away and came back with more.
This time, a miso soup with a cube of tofu, wrapped in some kind of rice paper with a mushroom on top, some green tea soba noodles, some tempura, mushroom skewers, and a mushroomy soup with jelly pieces inside it. Alongside this, we were offered unlimited bowls of rice.
The second night was a similar extravaganza of dishes. They do change up the dishes, so if you stay for multiple days, you won’t get the same meal twice, but the ingredients and style will be consistent…
And this is where I’ll make a confession: I can’t eat mushrooms. I’ve tried them every different way you could think of, and they still just make me gag.
I was so appreciative of all the effort that the ryokan had gone to to adapt their menu, so rather than waste any of the food, I was surreptitiously passing my mushrooms over to my husband.
At one point, Aiyu came back into the room. She delightedly complimented us on our appetite as she laid down yet more dishes. My husband looked at me pleadingly across the table as if to say “please no more”.
So overall verdict on the dinner: Being brutally honest, some of it was not to my taste.
However, that’s entirely on me and my tastes, as the quality and culinary skill of the ryokan’s kitchen is faultless.
The flavour profile of this kind of traditional dining tends to focus on delicate flavours and subtlety, not the bold, complex spices you may find in other Asian cuisines.
You’ll find unique textures like the konjac jelly, burdock root, or jelly-like soup bases that may be unfamiliar to many visitors, including me.
Breakfast
Breakfast, like dinner, was served in the dining area of our room at 8am. While it again featured multiple small plates, it was just one tray this time yet focused on hearty, warming foods to set us up for the day.
Breakfast featured some pickes, a broth with cabbage and tofu, some blocks of fried tofu, a bowl of rice, some miso soup, a salad with pumpkin, and a small bowl of fruit.
On the second morning of our stay, the breakfast was similar. Dishes do change each day, but you can expect a similar array of variety, with a mix of tofu, mushroom and vegetable dishes.
Exploring Hakone
Getting to Hakone from Tokyo
There are a number of ways to get to Hakone from Tokyo, and which one works best for you is going to depend on how much you want to spend, and what part of Tokyo you’re coming from.
From Shinjuku, the Romancecar will take you straight to Hakone-Yumoto.
We had already bought our JR passes, so we decided to go the shinkansen route – took a train to Shinagawa from central Tokyo, and from there the bullet train to Odawara.
From Shinagawa to Odawara is about 85km, and only takes 25 minutes on the bullet train. The tradeoff is that it is more expensive if you don’t have the pass. There are also cheaper options using regular local and regional trains, which will take about an hour and a half.
From Odawara, it’s a bus onward to Hakone. If you buy the Hakone Freepass, which I’ll talk more about in the next section, the bus is included in the price of your ticket.
The bus from Odawara from Hakone is supposed to take 30 mins. On the day that we arrived, a Sunday, it took an hour and a half due to traffic into Hakone. The bus was incredibly crowded, and I spent that full hour and a half with a woman swinging off my arm, while I tried to stay upright and not crush anyone with my backpack. I’d strongly recommend any other travellers look into luggage forwarding – I wish I had!
Things to Do in Hakone
Ryokans and onsen are the bread and butter of Hakone, but there’s obviously only so much time you can spend having kaiseki and washing yourself. The Hakone Freepass is what most tourists go for to make the most of their time exploring the area.
A friend recently described it as “the circuit of transport” and that’s hilariously spot on. The freepass gives you access to 8 different modes of transport, and most tourists, including us, follow the same loop that starts and ends in Hakone.
The Itinerary
- Start: Hakone Tozan Railway
- This railway seems like a regular small train, but its both a train and a funicular in one. At one point, it actually zig-zags its way up the steep mountainside.
- Hakone Tozan Cable Car
- Getting off the train, you’ll get onto a cable car that brings you up to the ropeway.
- Hakone Ropeway
- This was the most fun part of the journey. It’s again a cable car, where you’ll get into little cabins that bring you up over Owakudani, an active volcano valley in the foothills of Mount Fuji. Fuji itself is visible in the background, and as you soar over the valley, you’ll see active sulphur vents spewing out hot, pungent steam.
- When we visited, part of the ropeway was closed, so we needed to get out at Owakudani stop to wait for a transfer bus. While I didn’t love the hour’s wait for the bus, it was quite cool to pause for a moment and appreciate the volcanic valley below us on one side, and Mount Fuji looming beautifully on the other.
- Hakone Sightseeing Cruise
- The next stop on the list is the pirate ship that will take you across Lake Ashi. The cruise itself takes about 40 minutes to cross the lake and on the way, you’ll be able to see the Hakone Shrine Torii Gate rising from the water.
- The ship gets quite busy, especially out on the deck. If it’s a clear day, wrap up warm and make your way up to the outside deck as quick as you can. Once you’ve got a spot, keep it!
- Hakone Tozan Bus
- Finally, once you disembark from the ship, there’s a bus that takes you back to the starting point, ready to settle into your ryokan for dinner or a dip in the onsen.
Is it worth it?
The Freepass, at the time of writing, is 7,100 JPY (about £35), so yes, in my opinion it is worth it. If you were to book each of these things separately, it’d add up quite quickly. For comparison, the ropeway alone is 3,000 JPY (~£15) for a return ticket.
Additionally, Hakone itself is quite a small town. While you could absolutely get yourself around with a car and a bus, and some people may opt for chilled ryokan time, or a self-guided hike, you may find yourself with a lot of free time – which is great if you want a calm, relaxing few days. The Freepass may take you on a very touristy loop, but it’s touristy for a reason. The sights are beautiful, and it really does take you through quite a few different things: views of Fuji, the volcano valley, the lake, as well as little shops and places to try different snacks along the way.
Takeaway and Verdict
The Verdict: The Reality of a Vegan Friendly Ryokan Experience
When we arrived in Hakone, we were stressed out from the delayed and crowded bus, and we were still feeling the jetlag, having only arrived in Japan two days before. As soon as we stepped through the doors of the ryokan, and took our shoes off by the door, all of that melted away.
The ryokan experience is incredibly calming. The traditional Japanese decor is graceful and calming, so the rooms feel both elegant and cosy at the same time. The service is also outstanding. Aiyu, our room steward, was the person we interacted with the most during our stay, but every member of staff that we met was polite, friendly and helpful.
There’s also something really luxurious about having a multi-course fine dining meal served directly in your room every night. While this culinary style might not be one I’d opt for as often as a bowl of ramen or a good Japanese curry, it was an incredibly cool experience. I’m still blown away by the execution and attention to detail. Finding a vegan friendly ryokan isn’t the easiest task, but Kansuiro went out of their way to make sure we had a wonderful experience and didn’t miss out on any part of it.
Additionally, the overall feeling and atmosphere of the ryokan is one of calm and stillness. Holding a cup of hojicha, hearing the sounds of the river rushing by below and looking out at the early signs of spring in the mountainside was a lovely moment of peace and quiet. The ryokan itself is also quiet, which may be because we went in March, outside of peak tourist season.
At the time we went, I was stressed and in a job I didn’t enjoy, so being cocooned from the world in this peaceful refuge in the foothills of Mount Fuji was truly a gift.
The Cost: Was the Splurge Worth It?
It’s always hard to determine what “worth it” means, because each one of us has a different budget, expectations and what we find value in.
Being real, the cost of 146,884 JPY for two nights was higher than we may have paid elsewhere, and was higher than we’d paid for other hotels and airbnbs on our stay. However, it’s also worth pointing out that this included four meals (breakfasts and dinners), access to the onsen, a large suite, and impeccable service that included thoughtful touches like a hot pot of tea ready in our room when we came back from a day of sightseeing.
This Japan trip was our honeymoon, and for us, spending the money on this unique experience was so worth it. As vegans, there are naturally going to be some traditional cuisines and experiences we can’t fully take part in, so finding a vegan friendly ryokan that let us fully enjoy the experience was really special.
However, I also feel as though this was a great experience to have as a one off. We recently went on a return visit to Japan, and we prioritised other experiences over another ryokan stay. Maybe years from now I’d like to try it again, but for now, I’m just glad to have had this experience.
As for you, if finding a safe, luxurious, and authentically Japanese plant-based experience is a bucket-list priority, then go – you won’t regret it!
Final Thoughts and Tips
If you’ve made it this far, I’m sure by now you can tell that this was a really special, calming experience for me. The last things I’ll leave you with are a couple of things that I wish I’d known or that I want to share with other travellers:
Food
- Let the ryokan know in advance that you’re vegan. They ask for minimum two weeks, but the earlier the better.
- In Japan, many veggie dishes are still cooked with dashi broth or bonito flakes, both of which are fish. It’s worth double checking if they use this in their dishes.
- Keep an open mind, especially if you’re more accustomed to Western food, or strongly spiced Asian food like Thai or Indian. This kind of traditional Japanese cooking is going to have more subtle flavours or textures that are different to what you’re used to. Go in with no expectations, and appreciate the skill and work it takes to deliver this style of cuisine.
Transport and logistics
- For the love of god, use luggage forwarding. We were idiots and dragged our suitcases with us on trains and an incredibly packed bus. Services like Yamato let you drop your luggage at one place, and collect it at another. If you’re only staying in Hakone for a night or two, pack the essentials into a daypack or backpack, and send your luggage on to your next destination.
If I could change anything about our own stay, it’d be this. - If you are coming directly from Tokyo, prioritise the Romancecar, even with the extra fee. It eliminates the transfer and avoids the crowded buses and severe traffic delays we experienced.
- Hakone is full of Ryokans and the checkout time is all around the same time. We opted for the 9am bus back to Odawara to beat the 10am checkout rush, and it was a smart move – the bus back to the station was painless.
Finding a vegan friendly ryokan was a special part of our first Japan adventure, and I hope this guide helps you find your own moment of peace.
