| hoteru (ホテル) | A Western style hotel. Western-style hotels in Japan often tend to have smaller rooms and/or smaller beds than you might expect. |
| ryokan (旅館) | A type of traditional Japanese inn that typically features tatami-matted rooms, communal baths, and other public areas where visitors may wear nemaki and talk with the owner. Ryokan have existed since the eighth century A.D. during the Keiun period, which is when the oldest hotel in the world, Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, was created in 705 A.D. [Wikipedia.org] |
| minshuku (民宿) | A low-budget version of a ryokan, roughly equivalent to a British boarding house or a bed and breakfast. The facilities are similar to a hotel or may simply consist of spare rooms in a family home. Minshuku often serve as the only type of accommodation in towns or villages too small to warrant a dedicated hotel or ryokan. [Wikipedia.org] |
| kapuseru hoteru (カプセルホテル) | A Capsule hotel (aka Pod hotel). Capsule hotels are a type of hotel that features many small, bed-sized rooms known as capsules. Capsule hotels provide cheap, basic overnight accommodation for guests who do not require or who cannot afford larger, more expensive rooms offered by more conventional hotels. |
| kissaten (喫茶店) | Literally a “tea-drinking shop”, a kissaten is a Japanese-style tearoom that is also a coffee shop. They developed in the early 20th century as a distinction from a café, as cafés had become places also serving alcohol with noise and celebration. A kissaten was a quiet place to drink coffee and gathering places for writers and intellectuals. [Wikipedia.org] |
| manga café (漫画喫茶, マンガ喫茶) | (or mangakissa, “kissa” being short for “kissaten” which means café or cafeteria) is a type of café where people can read manga (comics or graphic novels originating from Japan). People pay for the amount of time they stay in the café. Most manga cafés also offer internet access like internet cafés (ネットカフェ, netto kafe) and vice versa, making the two terms mostly interchangeable in Japan. [Wikipedia.org] |
| izakaya (居酒屋) | A type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks. Izakaya are casual places for after-work drinking, similar to a pub, a Spanish tapas bar, or an American saloon or tavern. [Wikipedia.org] |
| resutoran (レストラン) | This term is used for Western-style restaurants, such as sit-down-and-order establishments. |
| kafu (カフェ) | This term is used for more modern, Western-style cafes. Cafes are more likely to have an espresso machine and offer a wider range of sweets and light meals. |
| shokudō (食堂) | A casual, mom-and-pop style restaurant or diner. These establishments typically offer a variety of inexpensive Japanese dishes, including noodles, rice dishes, and set meals (teishoku) |
| Tenpuraya, Ramenya, Sushi ya | These refer to restaurants specializing in specific types of food, like tempura, ramen, or sushi. |
