Rules and membership
It is possible to stay in a youth hostel even if you are not a member, but it will cost you about 600 yen more per night in private hostels (government-run youth hostels charge the same regardless of whether you are a member or not). In private youth hostels, if you stay more than 5 days, you’d better become a member because as a non-member, it will cost you 3600 yen for 6 days. In fact, if you stay 6 nights as a non-member, you automatically receive a member card. Membership prices vary by age. If you are over 19 years old, it costs 2,500 yen with an annual renewal fee of 2,000 yen. If you are under 19 years old, it costs 1,500 yen and an annual renewal fee of 1,000 yen. You must be over 4 years old to use the Youth Hostels. Becoming a member is quite easy to do by going to one of the youth hostel prefectural offices. If you are already a member of a youth hostel in your own country, you can use that membership. There are 60 locations in Tokyo and 800 in Japan where you can register. When you go there, you must have a license or something that identifies you, such as a health insurance card. Once you become a member, it entitles you to discounts (usually 10-20%) on rail travel, air fares, museums, and other public facilities. You can also get cheap car rental from Orix (10%) or Nissan rent-a-car (5%).
Bedrooms
Most of the bunk rooms are western style, but there are some tatami rooms. Although youth hostels are separated by gender, private rooms may also be available for families or groups.
Prices The average price of accommodation in a youth hostel with 2 full meals is about 4,500 yen per day, although the price varies between 3,000 yen and 5,000 yen per night. If you pay 5,000 yen, you can often get a room with a bathroom.
Rules
When you stay in a youth hostel in Japan, you have to clean your own table and put the sheets on the bed. Although the food is quite good, the prices are comparatively low.
Bookings
You can reserve a room 90 days in advance by phone. In general, cancellation fees are waived if you cancel at least 4-6 days in advance. If you cancel one day before your stay, it has a cost of 50% of the accommodation fee.
Alternatives to youth hostels
In addition to youth hostels, there are youth guesthouses that are a notch higher than youth hostels which are explained in a separate article. Youth Guest Houses are an excellent alternative for people who don’t want to “have a bad time” and for those traveling in groups looking for decent accommodation. According to some industry experts, one of the reasons youth guest houses have emerged is that the number of people using youth hostels has dropped in recent years. According to one of the youth hostel owners, there used to be more than 600 youth hostels with more than 600,000 members, but now there are only about 350 youth hostels with 100,000 members. This drop is possibly due to the poor condition of the facilities and the comparatively low level of service.