Special FeatureWelcome to the Land of Hospitality

An eye out for your needs, without your even knowing it

Interior of a guest room. The room commands an excellent view of Nanao Bay.

Kagaya looks out over the calm waters of Nanao Bay. It is the most prestigious ryokan (Japanese inn) at Wakura Hot Springs, and has 245 guest rooms spread over four buildings. "We have grown into a large ryokan, far bigger than most, but we still offer the warm welcome of times gone by," says the landlady, Oda Mayumi.

Hospitality at the Kagaya begins with the formal welcome at the entrance. Check-in starts at 2 p.m., and the guests who will stay the night arrive non-stop from then on, many coming early to enjoy the hot spring. The landlady (o-kami) and the room maids, all dressed in kimono, stand near the main door, bowing and calling out a welcome. One maid is in charge of your room, and she will make sure your stay is enjoyable and relaxing. She will take you to your room, serve tea, and bring you two meals — supper and breakfast.

After the maid takes you to your room, she will bring you green tea and a sweet snack.

Today, the maid for your room goes by the name Hanayo. After she shows you to your room, she soon returns with matcha green tea and something sweet. She comes back a little later with regular green tea, then returns with informal kimono-like yukata for each person in your party, to wear during your stay and for sleeping in at night. The size for each person is just right, even though she never asked. Actually, her eyes measured each one of you when she greeted you and took you to your room. At Kagaya, the yukata come in different lengths with only a 5-cm difference between sizes. It is these subtle touches of personalized hospitality that make Kagaya special.

While serving and conversing, your maid keeps her antenna up to learn what you want to do in the area and what you may need, things you did not or could not tell the staff when making your reservation. If she and the ryokan can help, they will.

"We once had a guest who brought a picture of his late wife with him. He said she had wanted to stay with us, but died before she could. We laid out a kage-zen (a meal in honor of an absent or dead person) for her, and that brought him a lot of comfort." Unexpected touches of kind hospitality create a strong and lasting impression.

You change into your yukata, and then set off to the hot spring to soothe away the fatigue of the journey. Then you can check out the in-house souvenir shop and do what you like until supper.

Knowing what guests want

The cuisine features ingredients unique to the area, unique to the season.

One reason to stay at a ryokan is the food. The meal, delicious and ample, is brought to your room. At Kagaya, the cuisine offers local specialties from the Noto Peninsula, chosen to give a sense of the season. Your maid brings each prepared dish separately. There are eight or nine main and side dishes, plus rice and miso soup, and it takes one-and-a-half to two hours to get through it all. Outside your room is an automatic system, the first in the area, to transport the food from the kitchen to each floor. With no need to travel the considerable distance back and forth between your room and the kitchen, the maid has more time to look after your needs. The meal will include things you like and avoid foods you dislike or are allergic to, because she will already have asked you all that. The chefs can adjust the menu to meet your wishes.

During supper, the o-kami slides open the door to your room. Throughout Japan, ryokan landladies make the rounds this way. It was apparently a former Kagaya o-kami who started the custom! She thanks you for coming, talks with you to discover if you are enjoying your stay, and asks quite candidly if you are dissatisfied about anything. If there is a problem she will talk with the maid about how to solve it. Obviously this is an important part of the o-kami's job.

The Kagaya o-kami says the essence of service at a ryokan can be summed up by the expression, age-zen sue-zen: serving tasty meals and taking away the empty dinnerware without guests having to say anything or trouble themselves at all. Ryokan offer overnight guests both supper and breakfast, and you do not have to decide what to eat — just sit back and enjoy what the maid brings. A ryokan is a place to slip away from your everyday cares and let others plan ways to satisfy your needs. Mind you, the o-kami says, as the times change, so do the needs and wants of her guests.

The landlady, Oda Mayumi (right), makes the rounds, greeting guests in their rooms.