Traveling Japan without booking hotel

Im going to Japan for 6 weeks this summer. From the June 24 to 11 of August. I was thinking of spending 2 weeks in the northern and southern regions above and below Tokyo. Just want to travel where ever i want to. So here is the big Q: Do you need to book rooms in advance everywhere? Or can you just travel as you like, and find something cheap where ever i go?

Thanks in advance :)

Kjell

Do you need to book rooms in advance everywhere?

No, most hotels do not require advance reservations. Many ryokan and minshuku, however, may not be able to accommodated you on-site, especially the smaller ones and the ones that include meals.

Or can you just travel as you like, and find something cheap where ever i go?

There is no guarantee that you will find something cheap. Flexibility comes with its obvious risks. In the worst case, you will be spending a considerable part of your day on looking for a suitable hotel room, or not find a room at your budget, at all.

You could book hotels that allow you to cancel until the day of arrival without any cancellation fee!

Not booking anything might be difficult. Especially from end of July to August it can get crowded as summer vacation has started then.

As the previous post pointed out a lot of hotels don't charge you unless you cancel on the day but it's not ideal.

Business hotel chains like toyoko inn have lots of hotels all over and unless it's a holiday period there's usually rooms spare, if you need twins or double rooms you will probably struggle though.

I did it about 10 years ago when i backpacked and hitchhiked around the country.
If you have limited time I would recommend pre-booking where possible so you don't waste valuable time looking for places to stay when you could be out doing fun stuff. Having said that, I don't think I was ever stuck for a hotel room. Just make sure there are no big public holidays at the time or you could be scr@wed.

I would say you could do it.

At tourism cities and towns, they have trourist information centers at like the train stations, city centers, tourist spots, etc, where they can find you a room for the night. Question would be if you can find any that your budget allows to stay or not. Otherwise, I am pretty much sure you will find some. You may need to avoid locations with big events/festivals going on.

You should check in advance and get the lists of locations for Toyoko Inn and Super Hotel that would cover most of the cities and areas.

I did this on my first trip to Japan and I honestly wouldn't reccomend it to anyone who doesn;t speak a reasonable amount of Japanese.

Some Hotels will not accomidate you if you do not speak Japanese as they are unable to communicate with you in case of an emergency. It can be frustrating and it can mean spending hours to find a hotel with free rooms that also accomidates you. Also there were times we had to pay more then we wanted to just to find a place to sleep. This wasn;t summer either so it wasn't as busy as it will be when you go.

Habing said that, I guess it wouldn't be as bad if you plan on spending 4+ days in each place as you won;t be searching as often as we did (We traveled every two nights or so)..

TL:DR
You can do it if you have th etime and money.

I prefer to know where I am going and book somewhere near a JR station so I spend more time enjoying th trip rather then trying to find a hotel.

Japan is the worst place for just winging it due to the sheer number of people, and their organised tendencies. I am searching for hotels for Nagasaki in August and a lot of them are completely booked out...some 3 months in advance. It's the same when cheap airfares are released, concert tickets, etc.

Lots of hotels are booked...but these are on internet sites with an English version.
Not all hotels in Japan and Europe are on the internet.
My experience in Japan has been that quite a few people are helpful, even if we don't speak each other's language.
One can write basic stuff or mime it..silly but it works..
Let's face it, if one shows up in a hotel with a suitcase, the staff already know what you want.. many hotels have a price list by the desk..etc.

One summer we drove "footloose" from Nagoya to Hokkaido then back to Kyushu. We didn't book any hotel ahead of time. Several times we bounced from hotel to hotel looking for an empty room, even in non-busy areas such as Naoetsu, but having a car made it easier.

The only problem was that we almost always found places that were more expensive than if we booked them ahead of time. We liked to find places that were about Y4000 per person or less, but we probably averaged Y6000 per person or more per night just pulling into a town and asking about. When we found a minshuku it was usually Y7000 per person because it came with meals, sometimes with no choice for "sudomari," a room without meals.

In the larger places or tourist destinations, make your way to the tourist office which is usually somewhere near the main train station. They can often find a room, but sometimes for a fee. Some will actually call the hotel but others will only give you the phone number of a place that has vacancies. In some of the bigger areas we drove to the station and asked there. We were also able to find rooms at some of the rest areas on the toll highways by asking the at the info booth.

In general, we found that if we stopped early in the evening, it was easier to find a room.

Thanks for all the answers guys. TY

Seems like i have to modify my plans a bit. Since my Japanese is as good as none, ill be booking in advance. Ill rather spend my time looking at things i want to see, rather than running around to find a place to sleep :)

Thanks again:)

Torist offices (generally to be found at or very near train stations) can be very helpful, as has been said.

Also, don't forget thatin most towns (especially smaller towns), you come out of the station and can generally see a some business hotels.

When we've done it, usually a 2 week trip, we generally book "special" places (ryokans) and book places to stay over any holiday dates (when hotels are busy), and then wing it on the nights in between. That way you can change plans slightly, make a diversion to visit something you become aware of only when you're out there, or stay longer/shorter at a place you like/don't like.

I did that years ago with night trains but with proper itinerary just not to waste time. I think it is still a good idea to adventure around the country. I suggest using the night trains, using train stations and some overnight bath places. Search for these informations to make sure you can fully enjoying yourself there. overnight bath place is more fun than hotel (business ones). But i am over that already, I am now searching for great onsen hotel or pension to have my two meals there.