Japan Ryokan

My husband and I would love to stay in and experience a ryokan during our stay in Tokyo. Could anyone please recommend a good one, reasonably priced. Thank you.

A good start for researching ryokans is the site www.japaneseguesthouses.com. They have lots of information, photos, and can make the reservation for you.

The word "ryokan" now seems to be used to refer to either (1) real traditional Japanese inn, with good atmosphere, good service, food served in your room (normally), etc., which is the original meaning of the word, OR (2) budget inn, with minimum services.

I assume you are thinking about the first one, real traditional Japanese style inn. They are not located in central Tokyo - you will want to look at areas such as Nikko (one hour to the north from Tokyo on Shinkansen train) or Hakone (one hour to the west), in a nature/mountain-surrounded areas, where they have hot springs :)

Yes we were looking at the traditional Japanese stay. Thank you for your suggestions.

I've stayed here 3 times. The neighborhood is safe and quiet, the owners are very friendly. It's near the Chiyoda subway line and Ueno station. They don't serve food in your room but do serve breakfast in the dining room and there are lots of restaurants nearby.

http://www.tctv.ne.jp/sawanoya/

I recommend you to go to an Information center around that area you going to,and tell them your budget for your stay .it's not really necessary to book in before your travel,I do this way sometimes,am Japanese by the way,because you never know whether or not you like that area especially before the travell.Also there are a lot of option on the web site for early booking which might be cheaper than getting it at the day you arrive,that's up to you,just keep searching on web sites so you might get lucky!

Sawanoya suggested by Steve is a typical budget "ryokan," not the real traditional Japanese inn with in-room dinner served and wonderful natural hot springs and everything that goes with it.

If you are going for a budget place in Tokyo, I also recommend Sawanoya, but I don't think that's what the original poster is looking for.

Thanks for your opinions much appreciated. I think we will just look around and see what there is. We would like the traditional hot springs, food etc so will just keep looking.