Read the room, the bath and the bill — from the tatami mat to the tattoo question.

Onsen towns are one of the few parts of travel where small mistakes cost real money or real embarrassment — and the vocabulary is small enough to learn in a few evenings.

By the end

You will be able to book a ryokan by phone or form, move through the bathhouse and dinner without freezing, and explain your own needs — tattoos, allergies, a late train — in Japanese a real innkeeper understands.

Who this is for

JLPT N4-ish learners who want to stay at a Japanese inn and use an onsen without feeling like they are guessing at every step.