milk availability

I start every day with coffee, so will be brining my preferred instant blend with me for my two week trip, but there's the matter of adding milk to it.

I'm happy to bring UHT from New Zealand, enough to suffice, rather than have to bother to head into stores, and try and locate fresh milk to get it on a daily basis, when my feet will be tired and all I'll want to do is rest up; as I'm presuming none of the hotels will actually supply it, as they do in NZ and Australia etc?

But, is there likely to even be coffee~whitening in hotel rooms? They all mention "tea making" which I assumes is a method of boiling hot water, and a cup to drink it from at least… but what of western tastes ~ uncatered for?

Thanks

milk are sold everywhere in japan whether in supermarket or convenience store(24hrs)..1 ltr pack will cost you from as little as 105yen(108yen when april come) to 2++yen, so take your pick and use the hotel inroom fridge to keep the milk..
else buy a pack of coffee creamer liquid(in 10s or 20s) at supermarket or convenience store..
best yet,convenience store 7-11 or Family Mart have fresh brew coffee(not instant) for 100yen(regular) or 150yen(Large)..

Thanks for the advice, but *brewed coffee* from a store is not going to be available to me at the time I require it… BEFORE ablutions and getting dressed ~ hence my desire to make it myself. It's the one routine I have to live by when travelling!

I searched fruitlessly in China for milk, despite the plethora of stores in my hotels' vicinity. Once a cab has brought me home from a day's outing… I won't want to go walking again to find the local. If it's not provided in the rooms as a matter of course… I'll bring my own!

But, is there likely to even be coffee~whitening in hotel rooms?

No, that is highly unlikely. Maybe at some 5-star hotels or high-end international hotel chains.

but what of western tastes ~ uncatered for?

Most Japanese hotels mainly cater to a Japanese clientele. If you need Western standards, make sure to stay at a high end international chain hotel. Or bring your own milk.

I searched fruitlessly in China for milk

Comparing Japanese standards to Chinese standards will not make you many friends. Again, milk is ubiquitous across Japan thanks to convenience stores. If you don't want to make the trip to a nearby shop or you visit the remote countryside, you better bring your own milk.

When I traveled to Australia on business, I noticed a pack of milk/creamer in the hotel fridge, that was a surprise for me (I'm used to US and UK). I guess this "milk in hotel fridge" is an Australia/New Zealand thing, where many people drink black tea.

Milk is not available that way in hotels in Japan, but as Uji said, you can get a small pack of milk in any convenience store nearby, or even a bag of small packs (cups) of coffee creamer too.

What will be available in Japanese hotel rooms tend to be an electric pot and a few tea bags, which come free. Some hotels provide a coffee set (coffee powder usually in a "coffee drip set," filter that you can set on a coffee cup and pour hot water to brew) including coffee creamer, but those are usually part of mini bar (at a charge).

Thanks for the extra information. I've opted to bring my own, (250 ml cartons) as it looks like that is going to work best for me.

I pour myself out of bed, and pour coffee. I've never been much of a tea drinker and couldn't face it first thing in the morning!

I may learn to love the convenience stores, but I'm certainly not used to them being where I need them to be, on all my other travels ~ except in the centre of Sydney!

Why ask a question if you don't listen to the answers?
Combinis are everywhere: hotel rooms generally have fridges.

Ummm, maybe because the advice was not about the question, per se ~ as grateful as I am for it, I wanted to know if milk (or creamer) would be likely to be provided in my hotel room?

For \530 I have bought sufficient to last me, through all five hotels over 12 days, without having to go look for five different convenience store at the end of long days of travelling.

But, thanks for you input.

Going several convenient stores to find milk? I've never seen a single convenient store without any milk.

I'm sure you could request it from the reception in your booking or when you first arrive, particularly if they're a hotel that serves breakfast in the morning ("gyuunyuu wa arimasuka?" - do you have any milk? In case you need to ask in Japanese. If they say yes just ask them to leave some in your mini fridge). It might come as a bit of a charge but at least it'll be fresh and not having been sitting in your luggage for however many hours...

Thanks… that could have been an idea, although… with five hotels to deal with, there'd be no surety. UHT milk is designed to not be affected by heat, so it'll be fine in my suitcase (unopened).

Once opened it should be kept at 4 degrees and consumed within three days. It's very little weight for me to carry any opened contents in a very small collapsable chill bag (esky) which fits inside my cabin luggage, and which I'll add some ice to on the mornings I d have an open one. (I think I've worked out, that will happen twice in the 12 days!)

The bonus is… I'll know it tastes right for me, and has no additives. Pure New Zealand farmed milk! The best the world has to offer. LOL!

Glad to hear that you'll have good milk to go with your instant coffee.

I always enjoy posts by Umami Dearest.

Anyway, I hope the OP realises that almost all hotels in Japan that have restaurants inside can bring glasses of milk as room service.

As for hotels that are too small to have restaurants, it would be small enough so that the walking distance to your nearest convenience store would be literally less than 1 minute. Commonly, local travelers buy their snacks and drinks at these stores, because they're much cheaper than the ones provided at hotels.

As far as I know, all convenience stores in Japan carry 250ml packs of milk of the following kinds. Look for the word 常温保存可能 to make sure they can be kept fresh in room temprature.
https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=%E7%89%9B%E4%B9%B3%E3%80%80%E6%97%A5...

Otherwise, milk that needs to be refrigerated are available at those convenience stores from 500ml packs or larger.

Oh, of course you can buy milk at your arrival airport, just as you can in many countries throughout Asia.

Thanks, Uco!

*shrugs* totally up to you what you decide to do. My only other suggestion would be to just make sure you have your UHT milk reeeeally well sealed and in lots of drip safe containers in your luggage. I can see things going really bad if you have a turbulent flight...

Also double check with Japanese customs. You never know.

The only thing I would double check is that your airline permits liquids in 250ml containers in carry-on luggage. A lot of airlines still restrict liquids to 100ml containers.

It won't be in my carry on luggage!

Each 250ml carton has been placed into a zip lock plastic bag with an absorbent paper towel, and a series of three of those is inside another plastic bag and that should prevent any leaks from affecting anything else in my luggage.

Are you seriously worrying about the milk in your coffee? Like others have pointed out, you can buy milk everywhere in Japan. And i'm sure your hotelrestaurant will have it (be it fresh milk or coffee creamer)

Dear Lord…
~ it was a simple enough question. "Is milk provided *in the hotel room*?", to which the answer is "no".

So, as a result of that, I have taken steps to simplify the process *for me*, not for anyone else.

I shouldn't need to continually justify why I do not want to have to deal with five different hotels/ryokans, or five different locations of convenience stores, nor try and understand the contents of the milk I might find therein, and the juggling of the money or the gesticulations involved in asking for milk to be sent to my room… and etc. etc.

I don't know what you all drink first thing in the morning, but for me, it's water, a dozen life~saving and necessary pills, and a cup of milky coffee (with a cereal bar, for some of those pills that require food).

I'm grateful for the right answers, (thank you) and some of the suggestions… but give it a break. I'm bringing my own… end of problem!

Coffee made fresh in my hotel room every morning is something I always look forward to on my trips to Japan. In fact, it actually tastes better than the coffee I drink when I'm at home. Partly this is because of the coffee itself (fresh-ground specialty beans that are better than anything I can buy in my home town), but partly this is because when I'm on vacation I splurge and allow myself whole milk instead of the low-fat variety I drink at home (for health reasons).

Everyone has certain things they need in order to feel sane and comfortable, and when you are traveling to a country you've never been to before, it's natural to worry about how you will be able to supply yourself with those things. For me, I wouldn't leave home without my travel kit of drip coffee-making supplies. I even have a way to heat the milk! I don't bring my own milk, but I will admit that there have been times when procuring a new supply with each hotel change has been at least a minor nuisance. (On the other hand, sometimes I've stayed in hotels that had milk in the vending machines, and on my last trip, they even had fresh local dairy milk for sale--in old fashioned glass mini bottles--in the lobby in the morning at one ryokan. Delicious!)