PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

Although this family-run, smoke-free ryokan, open since 1949, looks relatively unexciting, it's delightfully located in a wonderful residential area of old Tokyo, northwest of Ueno Park and within walking distance of the park's attractions and Nezu Shrine. Upon your arrival, the owner, English-speaking Sawa-san (usually with his 30-year-old cockatiel, Leon, perched on his shoulder), gives a short tour of the establishment before taking you to your tatami room; throughout the ryokan are written explanations to help the novice. The owner also gives you a map outlining places of interest in the vicinity. Several times a month, Sawa-san's son provides guests with a special treat -- a traditional Japanese lion dance, free of charge. His daughter-in-law sometimes gives demonstrations of the tea ceremony. The nice public bath has a view of a small garden. This is a great place to stay thanks to Sawa-san's enthusiastic devotion to his neighborhood, which he readily imparts to his guests (he's even written a book about his years as an innkeeper). Highly recommended.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Tokyo, 10th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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