A 60-Minute Adventure from 500 Yen

On the following point, everyone probably agrees: It’s best to travel light. But how do you manage on a three-week trip with just that?

The good news is: You don’t have to pack your suitcase to the brim to have clean clothes throughout your entire journey. Japanese hotels almost always offer you the opportunity to wash your clothes in machines provided for that purpose. Hooray, more space for souvenirs!

Nevertheless, the initial washing results in Japan left much to be desired.

The laundry often wasn’t properly cleaned and didn’t smell fresh afterwards. Despite some noticeable results: Public washing machines in Japan can deliver usable washing results if certain guidelines are followed. Learn how to do it here.

The Japanese Washing Machine

For operating the machine, it is recommended to use Google Translate with image translation. With this, you can understand the control panel and adjust the washing machine as desired. Don’t be surprised, Japanese washing machines don’t have a temperature control, as they all wash in cold water.

The machines offered in hotels are often a 2-in-1 washer-dryer combination. This means that the laundry is first washed in the same machine. Then, the device switches to the drying mode. Both programs together take about an hour. Or longer. Depending on how many coins you’ve inserted beforehand. There it is again, our beloved cash!

Washing machines in Japan sometimes have a pre-cleaning function. According to the description, the drum is rinsed with silver ion water before you put your laundry in. Whether there’s anything to it and whether you want to use this function is up to you. Unfortunately, it hasn’t changed the washing results.

Costs

A wash cycle with drying costs, depending on the selected program, starting from 500 yen upwards. If you use the dryer function, it is better to insert at least an extra 300 yen, as the laundry is not really dry after the standard program.

You can only use the machines with 100 yen coins. If you don’t have enough coins, you will usually find a change machine in the hotel or the laundromat where you can feed bills. Alternatively, just ask at the reception.

Detergent – Yes or No?

You’ll find a note on the machines stating that additional detergent is not necessary as the machine provides the detergent during the washing process. Convenient, isn’t it?

Being naturally curious, I watched the machine while it was washing. What can I say: There was no foam formation, which made me doubt the attached note. I got confirmation after removing the laundry from the drum. It wasn’t clean, and it didn’t smell fresh either. And the smell from the washing drum…

My recommendation: Definitely get laundry pods at the nearest Konbini. With those, the laundry is guaranteed to be clean and smell much better.

What to do if the machine breaks down

Even a machine can have a bad day. In my case, the spin cycle couldn’t be initiated because apparently one of the sensors was defective. In this case, contact the hotel reception and be a little patient. This small incident was enough to bring a little chaos into the organized day of the Japanese staff. But in the end, everything was fine again.

And now, happy washing!

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