Ryokan Sawanoya Tokyo
Yanaka, Taito, Tokyo
“Shitamachi family ryokan”
Vibe
A welcoming shitamachi inn where the family hands out hand-drawn neighborhood maps and occasionally stages lion dances in the lobby.
“Shitamachi family ryokan”
Family-run since 1949, offering personal hand-drawn maps of Yanaka workshops, sento baths, and artisan shops.
Decades of unbroken hospitality with morning green tea, tatami mats, and traditional futon bedding.
A post-war wooden inn preserved in the temple-lined lanes of historic shitamachi Tokyo.
In historic Yanaka's quiet lanes, a short stroll from Nezu Station and local artisan shops
Rooms
Woven tatami mats, folded futons, and paper shoji screens keep the compact rooms spare, quiet, and unpretentious.
Wellness
Two reservable soaking tubs on the ground floor—one hinoki cypress, one handcrafted ceramic—look out into a small inner garden.
Backstory
Facing insolvency in the 1980s, innkeeper Isao Sawa famously reinvented the 1949 boarding house by opening its doors to foreign travelers.
Eat & drink
Mornings in the dining room bring hot green tea alongside fresh onigiri and miso soup, or simple toast and eggs.
The neighborhood
Tucked along the preserved alleys of Yanaka, traditional public sento baths, craft workshops, and quiet temple grounds surround the inn.
The app
Hotel Please was drawn for the phone in your hand — and this is the flat version of it.
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