Laundry while travelling?

We will be touring Japan, staying at mid-level hotels. I realize at most hotels we can probably pay for them to do laundry, but at least in America, they charge quite a lot for such services. Are laundro-mats common in major cities? I've heard they are, but can't seem to find online info about how to find such places. I tried Google maps without success.

I'm expecting that I will be able to ask the hotel's front desk for assistance in finding such places, but I'd like to know before the trip if we'll have to worry about it. When I went to Taiwan, it became a kind of major ordeal, heh.

Yep, laundromats are pretty common. I don't know how much they cost but if you ask where the nearest "Coin Laundry" is at the hotel or at a convenience store you should be able to find one.

Brent, thanks for the info, one less thing to worry about on the trip!

Most cities will have laundrymats in the area you can use. In Tokyo, eg. next to Tokyo University in Bunkyo-ku, there's a handful of them available for use if you're staying locally in the nearby hotels/ryokans.

Most are found by asking - they're often tiny 2-3 machine deals that won't have much room for much more - most people would normally have a machine at home, then hang out their clothes to dry.

Hotel service isn't bad at all - at OzMall Ginza Mercure, it was very efficient, and they really did a good job at packaging all of the shirts nicely! Service and level of will depend on the hotel, so better hotels will tend to do better.

Ryokans usually have machines for guests as well in big cities. Usually in the basement or somewhere for the guests to use - but call ahead and ask to be sure. Usually cheap, just a few coins, and you can even buy your own detergent at the local shops.