Heading back to the room for dinner and a hot soak may sound like the act of a defeated tourist, but in a traditional Japanese inn those activities can be as intriguing as anything along the sightseeing trail.

"People going looking for a sort of old-fashioned, traditional view of Japanese life will find it most easily in a Japanese inn," said Peter Grilli, president of Japan Society of Boston, Massachusetts.

Many Japanese inns sprang up in the 17th century to accommodate feudal lords traveling along the Tokaido highway to Edo. Today tourists looking for a taste of the country’s historic lifestyle find varying levels of understated elegance in Japanese inns throughout the country.

赶回住所吃饭，泡个热水澡听起来好像只有受挫的旅行者才会这样做，然而在一家传统的日式客栈里，这些行为如同观光途中的见闻一样有趣。

美国马萨诸塞州波士顿市日本社团的会长彼得·格理利说："想要寻找日式生活中老式、传统的一面，去这样的日式客栈最好不过了。"

早在17世纪，日本就涌现出大量日式客栈，建造这些日式客栈是为当时那些沿着东海道公路到东京旅行的封建王族们提供住处而修建的。如今，那些来感受日本传统生活方式的游客们，在遍及该国的日式客栈中不难发现各种不张扬的高贵和典雅。

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