Coin Laundry in TYO and OSA

Hi

I will be in TYO and OSA for 12 days and hoping to find at least 1 coin laundry near the hotels which we might be staying so that the luggage will not be too heavy for our family.

Following is a list of hotels which we might be staying(according to the tour itinerary we are given, some are not confirmed), if anyone know whether these hotels provide coin laundry or any such service near the hotel, pls advise.

1. Keio Plaza
2. Sunshine City Prince
3. Shinagawa Prince Hotel
4. Lake Kawaguchi Hotel
5. Toyohashi Nikko Hotel
6. New Hankyu Hotel
7. Kansai Nikko Hotel

Also, I have not use a coin laundry before and would appreciate if someone can advise the following:
„X Approximately how much would it cost?
„X Usually how much clothing can we put in for 1 round of washing?
„X I assume dryer is included?
„X Do we have to bring our own powder detergent? How much usually is needed for 1 round of washing?
„X How long will the washing and drying takes?
I am assuming there is no attendant for such self-service laundry, so thought I better ask before I go.

Thank you very much!

Sorry, don't know of any coin laundry places near the hotels that you have listed, or if they have a coin laundry in the hotel. Best is to ask the front desk and most times they will have a map, maybe even in English of one near the hotel, if they don't have one. Another idea is to find a Toyoko-Inn hotel near your hotel and use their coin laundry. I have seen non-guest use the coin laundry before, but don't know if they allow it. They seem to be very friendly and always helpful, even to non-guest.

As for cost, washing will be in the 200-300 yen range and to dry about 100yen for 30 mins. Most of the electric driers are slow in drying clothes, 1 or 2 hours. If there is a gas drier, they are much faster(50% faster?) and they will cost more, about 15 mins for 100 yen. Most coin laundries have a small box of detergent for sale from a machine, but will not always be stocked, so maybe better to buy some at a store. A small box of detergent will be in the 30-50yen range.

Most washing machines I have seem are on the small side, so about 3 days of clothes for a person is about right for a washing load. But the problem will be the driers, they are slow. If there are many driers, split the load to save time. At Toyoko-Inn, the coin laundry will get busy from about 2030 to about mid-night.

Thanks a lot for the info!

I am quite surprised that the load is so small...anyway dats a good pre-alert, probably will will have to bring more clothings.

If the washer doesn't have an agitator (front loaders usually don't have an agitator) you must load them at least 3/4 full as it is the weight and motion of the clothes that replace the agitator and help remove the soil. We have heavy duty front loader washers at work and all my European relatives have home size front loaders. They ALWAYS work better when they are full of clothes. Wet clothes take 1/4 to 1/3 less space than when dry so you can cram the dry clothes without fear.

We went to a coin laundry near the Tsukiji Fish Market today. It's only two blocks from a subway station, so it's pretty easy to get to if your hotel is near a subway stop (but you may have to transfer to get to the right line).

Get off at Tsukiji (which is the stop for the fish market). It's only two blocks from the Tsukiji station. The fare was 260 yen each. Washing was 300 yen per small machine, and drying was 100 yen per 10 minutes in the smaller (10kg) dryers. We used two small washers, and one small dryer. It took 20 minutes for most of the clothes to dry, and an extra 10 for the jeans.

It's in the Tsukiji 7 district. It's on the other side of a building from the park near St. Luke's hospital. The address is 17-14-2, but I can't type the street name.

There are probably coin laundries that are easier to get to, for example, there might be one that is at a station. I think that's more important than being close to the hotel, but it's hard to find one if you don't read Japanese web sites.