Ryokan

Whether you're living in Japan or coming for a trip, one thing I'd definitely recommend is a stay in a ryokan - traditional Japanese inn. They're often not especially cheap, but they give you a memorable experience. ^_^

I've stayed at ryokan five times now. ^_^ The best one was on Miyajima, where you could just walk out your door and see cute little shops, and nature, and deer, and the ocean. ^_^

So, a ryokan is like a hotel, but they are often smaller and have more personalised service. In some, you take off your shoes before you even enter the ryokan proper; you'll walk around inside the ryokan wearing slippers. But when you enter your room - which has tatami flooring - you should remove all slippers and footwear (socks are okay). Tatami feels nice underfoot. ^_^

Once you reach your room, the landlady will pour you some tea (or you can pour yourself some tea), and you can sit at the table and enjoy it. I like their chairs with floor cushions. 

Your room will come with yukata - a casual 'kimono' which in this situation is more like a bathrobe. You can wear it around the ryokan, and I always change into it right away, because it makes me feel more relaxed and comfortable. You can wear it to bed. Also, yukata are a blessing for taking communal baths, as they're easy to slip on and off.

Many ryokan provide meals, and these are often big feasts which would cost you a fortune anywhere. They come with many little dishes, and various things cooking at different times. Every ryokan dinner I've had included rice, miso soup, pickles and sashimi; I've also had little shabu-shabu (hot pot), dried fish, steak, tempura, broiled fish, croquettes, and countless things I can't even describe.

This is pickles, shabu shabu meat, tofu, sashimi and sashimi sauce.

If you get a Japanese-style breakfast, it will always include miso soup and rice, and usually natto, a raw (or semi-raw) egg, dried seaweed, fish, pickles, tofu, and so on.

You'll sleep on a futon, which will either be in the room when you check in, or will be put out for you after dinner.

Unlike regular hotels, most ryokan charge per person rather than for a room. So if you have four people in a room, it will cost the same per person as if you had two people in a room.

Two things especially you should know about ryokan:

You may have to follow more of a 'schedule' than in a regular hotel. 

You should be aware of Japanese bathing etiquette.

It's common to provide a ryokan with a reasonably accurate check-in time, and then nominate a dinner and breakfast time. Some ryokan have set meal times. (You can stay at many ryokan without meals, but the kind of food you can get at a ryokan is quite special and I recommend it ^_^). Once you have a meal time, you should be there at that time because they will have prepared it all ready to serve.

Breakfast, in particular, I often find rather earlier than is comfortable for me. I usually eat at 10 or 11am, so to get up at 8am for a huge feast can be a bit more than I feel up to.

As for bathing... you may have an ensuite bathroom, or be able to use a private bath room (with a nice big bath ^_^). But, in many ryokan, there is a large communal bath or hot spring bath you can use. This is very nice and relaxing, but you should be aware of Japanese bathing etiquette. ^_^

What you do is: leave your shoes at the entrance, take off all your clothes and put them in a basket. Leave your big towel in that basket too. Take your hand towel and go into the bathing area. Then wash yourself with the shower etc, while sitting down. Use soap. Rinse well. You can also wash your hair. 

Once you're clean - with no soap or shampoo on you - you can go into the bath itself. Tie your hair back first (if you have long hair that might get in the bath). In short, don't make the bath messy by getting soap or hair in it.

After you're done, wipe yourself a bit with the hand towel, so you don't drip all over the floor of the change room, then go back out and get dressed.

If you are interested in staying in a ryokan, I recommend Japanese Guest Houses as a good starting point. ^_^