About & Methodology
How OKU researches, scores and translates what Japanese guests say about Japan's ryokan.
Why this site exists
Japanese travellers write remarkably detailed stay reports — room by room, meal by meal, bath by bath. Almost none of it is read outside Japan. We read those reports and translate where they agree, and where they don't.
How a report is made
For each property we read Japanese-language stay blogs, travelogues and booking-site reviews, and use only what is actually written in them. When sources agree, we call it consensus; when they disagree, we say so. If something — a tattoo policy, for example — is not confirmed by any source we read, we say that rather than guess. Reports built this way list their sources at the bottom of the page.
What the scores mean
Scores out of 5 are our editorial reading of those sources, not an average of star ratings. They reflect how Japanese guests describe the cuisine, the privacy of the baths, the tranquillity and the hospitality.
Independence
Hotels do not pay to be covered and do not see reports before publication. Some booking links earn us a commission; that never affects which hotels we cover, how we score them or what we write.