Many Hotels In This Popular Vacation Destination Provide Pajamas For Guests To Use

What kind of amenities do you expect from a hotel room? Plush towels, miniature toiletries, and a less-than-powerful hairdryer for sure. Perhaps slippers and a robe. But do you expect the hotel to provide pajamas? We guess not, but if you're heading to one East Asian country, you will likely find sleepwear in your hotel. If you're heading to Japan, you'll be able to drift off in style.

Whether you're staying in an economical business hotel, a traditional ryokan, or one of the best hotels in Tokyo, you're probably going to find pajamas laid out on your bed when you enter your room. The types of pajamas you get can vary. Traditionally, guests get a yukata, a cotton robe that looks similar to a kimono but is much more casual — kimonos are not made for lounging around! In some hotels, you may get something similar to jinbei, akin to two-piece pajamas, with a wrap top and long shorts that are made to be cool in the summer heat. Or you might receive a long nightgown. Whatever you get, you can be assured that the nightwear will be clean and perfect for relaxing after a long day of exploring Japan.

Firstly, not all accommodations in Japan will provide pajamas, so it's worth taking a backup pair. Most hotels and traditional inns will, but it's a bit of a lottery. If you're in a micro hotel or capsule hotel, hostel or private rental, you're less likely to get pajamas (though you might). Secondly, you might not want to sleep in the nightwear provided. The quality can vary, as can the thickness; if you're used to wearing a light T-shirt and shorts, you may find the pajamas in Japanese hotels a bit on the warm side.

Last but not least, here's the fine print. In Japanese hotels, pajamas are free in the sense that you don't pay to use them. But like robes and towels, they're not usually free in the sense that you can take them home. However, some accommodations sell their nightwear to guests who take a particular shine to it — it makes for a unique souvenir!

A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn where you can experience Japanese hospitality from a bygone era. One ryokan near Mount Fuji is the world's oldest hotel! If you stay in an inn in an onsen (hot spring) town, you're all but guaranteed to get a yukata. You're encouraged to wear it outside the confines of your room, so putting it on correctly is key! Make sure to cross the left side over the top of the right and then wrap the obi (belt) around your waist, starting at the front, crossing over the back, and then tying it wherever it feels most comfortable.

In an onsen town, you probably won't only wear your yukata inside the ryokan; you can wear your robe out on the street! You'll spot many people wandering from one onsen to the next in their yukata, adding to the old-world charm of these towns. In the unlikely event your ryokan doesn't provide a yukata, you can rent one in most onsen towns, as well as in touristy cities like Kyoto.