Photo/Illutration Guests spend leisure time in the courtyard of the Utano Youth Hostel in Kyoto’s Ukyo Ward. (Provided by the Utano Youth Hostel)

Youth hostels are making a roaring comeback in Japan thanks largely to renovations and tweaked rules for the shared accommodations.

Young travelers from abroad and students continue to be the main guests. But older people are increasingly using the low-priced lodgings.

The annual number of hostel guests exceeded 3 million during the 1970s, according to Tokyo-based Japan Youth Hostels Inc. (JYH).

The figure decreased to roughly one-tenth by 2019.

However, guests started coming back to hostels in droves last year.

RESURGENCE AFTER PANDEMIC

The Utano Youth Hostel in Kyoto’s Ukyo Ward was remodeled about 15 years ago to feature modern Japanese designs. The two-story building with 41 rooms can accommodate up to 170 guests.

Offering the ambience of the surrounding historic areas of Arashiyama and Sagano, the hostel received about 33,000 guests in 2023, the most among hostels in Japan.

Foreign tourists accounted for more than 30 percent of the guests, while many students stayed there for their studies in the ancient capital.

The hostel encourages foreign guests to visit elementary and junior high schools in the neighborhood to give children a chance to experience international exchanges without having to travel abroad.

The Utano Youth Hostel also asks overseas guests to participate in local events to learn about Japanese culture.

A father pushed his junior high school child in Tokyo to stay alone at the Kyoto hostel.

“I think the father sent the student to us because he trusted hostels. I was impressed by how the student looked different and confident when going back home,” said Takayoshi Sato, the 51-year-old manager. “We want to help guests enjoy their travel destination with their five senses while they learn things and gain knowledge.”

According to JYH, traditional hostels have shared rooms where drinking is prohibited. It had also been a common rule for guests to wash the dishes and clean up their spaces themselves.

But faced with a decreasing number of guests, more hostels are adjusting to give visitors greater flexibility.

While the Utano Youth Hostel retains old traditions, such as shared rooms and a curfew, it allows alcohol consumption.
“What comes first is letting guests deepen interactions with each other in a fun way,” Sato said. “An appropriate amount of alcohol can stimulate conversations.”

About 322,000 guests stayed in hostels in 2019, including about 52,000 non-Japanese people.

The figure dropped to less than half due to the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic, but it rebounded to around 243,000 in 2023.

Of them, about 55,000 were non-Japanese travelers, surpassing the pre-pandemic figure.

NON-YOUTH GUESTS

More seniors are also using hostels, possibly because they have nostalgic memories or because they feel comfortable about how they are managed under certain rules.

Hiroyuki Kamo, 66, remodeled his house to open the Uerukamo Funaoka Youth Hostel in Shibata, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2022.

He became fond of hostels while he was traveling alone as a senior high school student.

About 70 percent of his guests are in their 50s or older.

“You can hear many stories from people from different generations and with different jobs,” he said. “I want my guests to learn about the charms of trips with hostel stays.”

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