One of the most popular things to do for visitors to Japan is to stay a night at a traditional Japanese ryokan hotel. The ryokan hotels hold a long history in Japan that goes back as far as the eighth century, and with all of the ryokans having their own unique style and history it is definitely one of the most extraordinary things you can experience as a foreigner in Japan. When my friend told me she wanted to visit me in Japan the first thing I did was to search for potential destinations not too far from Tokyo where I could show her the special atmosphere you only can find at an old ryokan.

Above: Jizo Matsuya Ryokan seen from the temple street

Our choice landed on Nagano, a city made known worldwide through the 1998 Winter Olympics, and more recently for the famous bathing monkeys of Jigokudani. While Nagano also offers great outdoor activities like skiing (see: Hakuba, Shiga-Kogen, and Nozawa Onsen) or hiking (Kamikochi) our trip this time was focused on getting some relaxing time in a traditional ryokan hotel.

Jizo Matsuya Ryokan immediately attracted my interest with the picture of a large Jizo statue in front of the ryokan’s main entrance. Although ryokan hotels usually have a touch of traditional Japan I found this feature highly unique. After reading a bit about the history of the ryokan I learned that the main hall of the famous Zenkoji Temple (善光寺)  now situated just down the street used to stand at the very spot of Jizo Matsuya Ryokan before it burned down 300 years ago… Needless to say, I was sold.