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Ryokan name: Gion Fukuzumi
Opened for Business: 1960
Location: In the world famous Gion district of Kyoto, across the
street from Maruyama Park
Size: 23 Japanese-style rooms, large baths for women and men
Price Range: 13,500 - 24,500 yen per guest (dinner and breakfast
included)
Web page:
http://www.JapaneseGuestHouses.com/db/kyoto/gionfukuzumi.htm
Could you give us a bit of background on your ryokan?
In a small town called Tanba in Kyoto Prefecture, my father operated a
Japanese ryotei or teahouse. The government was planning to build a road
right through our teahouse so, unfortunately, we were forced to move! We
decided to open up a ryokan because my mother had previously operated a
ryokan in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture. My fathers fine cuisine which
he served in his ryotei has continued at Gion Fukuzumi. We specialize in
serving a wide variety of Kyoto-style vegetable dishes, and we are
particularly proud of our yuba which is a hot Japanese tofu dish. We are
located in the Gion district of Kyoto which is a very famous and popular
district for tourists. In the Gion, our guests can sometimes see the
"maiko" (apprentice geisha) going to work in the early evening. Although
we do not have a hot spring here, we have a large bath on the top of our
building which is surrounded by glass. In the bath our guests can relax
and soak up the view of the Higashiyama mountains and the famous Daimonji
Mountain.
Tell us about your experiences with foreign guests
Our first foreign guests were sent to us from travel agencies, and we
hosted relatively few of them. These days, however, everything has
changed. During the past two or three years, the number of foreign guests
has increased tremendously and we host on average 200 to 300 foreign
guests per year. The foreign guests we host love Japan and really seem to
have a good time staying at our ryokan. Our most popular foreign guests
are the Americans but recently we have been getting a lot of Asian guests.
From Taiwan and Hong Kong we receive a lot of young travelers and they are
very interested in shopping for electronic items rather than sightseeing.
With our Western guests, we receive a lot of families and they are much
more interested in Kyotos history and culture.
What are the main differences between your Japanese guests and
your foreign guests?
While our Japanese guests stay only one or a few nights, our foreign
guests stay much longer. Some stay a week and we even have guests who stay
for a month! The Japanese who stay here often go sightseeing just in Kyoto
but our foreign guests use our ryokan as a base to explore other parts of
Japan. With their JR Rail Pass they frequently take day trips to places
like Hiroshima or Shikoku Island and other parts of the country. Our
Japanese guests never do this. Japanese travel only during certain times
of the year mostly during the holiday seasons and we do not host many
during the so-called off-season. With foreigners, however, there is no
holiday season; they stay at our ryokan throughout the entire year.
Have you had any difficulties or problems dealing with foreign
guests?
Foreign guests are very kind to us, often much kinder than our Japanese
guests it seems! Sometimes they show up at our ryokan without a
reservation but we try to find them a room just the same. With regard to
Japanese food, we notice there are many very strict vegetarians and they
will not eat fish so we have to change our dinner menu to accommodate
them. This is not a problem for us if we are told in advance. They really
appreciate the things we often take for granted too. For example, when we
are expecting guests to arrive we will put their name on a large plaque
and place it in the entrance to the lobby. This is common in Japan but for
foreigners this is something very special. Many guests get a real kick out
of seeing their name written in English on the plaque and they will even
take a photo of it! Communication is not much of a problem for us.
Although we cannot speak much English, we try to answer all of their
questions about places to visit, Japanese food, and so on as best as we
can.
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