I HATE TO ADMIT IT, BUT THIS PLACE IS HIGHLY OVER-RATED....VERY EXPENSIVE FOR WHAT YOU GET....ALTHOUGH THIS PLACE HAS A HISTORY IN THE KARATSU AREA, I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR YOU TO VISIT THIS RYOKAN, TAKE PICTURES, HAVE A TEA AND FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO STAY.... AND IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE KIND HOSPITALITY OF MR. OGOCHI (4TH GENERATION FAMILY MEMBER WHO IS RETIRED, BUT STILL CARES ABOUT THE GUESTS...HE GAVE US A BRIEF, BUT INFORMATIVE TALK ABOUT THE POTTERY DISPLAY AND POTTER'S WORKS THEY HAVE IN A COUPLE OF THE ROOMS ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF THE RYOKAN AND THE ARCHITECTURE AND FAMILY HISTORY OF THE RYOKAN) I WOULD BE RATING THIS RYOKAN EVEN LOWER.....DON'T GET ME WRONG...IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND EVEN IF YOU GET BOTH BREAKFAST AND DINNER INCLUDED, IT MIGHT BE WORTH IT FOR NO MORE THAN 10,000 YEN A NIGHT...NOT FOR 20,000 TO 40,000 YEN.....MOST OF THE WORKING STAFF CANNOT SPEAK ENGLISH NOR KOREAN.....EXCEPT FOR ERIKA WHO WAS TRAINING FOR THE SUMMER... AND MR. AND MRS. OGOCHI'S LANGUAGE SKILLS ARE WONDERFUL, BUT WE NEVER SAW MRS. OGOCHI UNTIL WE LEFT (SHE IS A VERY BUSY LADY UNDERSTOOD, BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO VISIT WITH HER AND IN MY OPINION MORE PROFESSIONAL ( AFTER-ALL,SHE APPARENTLY IS THE MATRIARCH OF THE RYOKAN)...OUR CHECK-IN WAS GOOD, BUT FELT THE FRONT DESK STAFF LACKED SINCERITY AND KINDNESS....IT WAS A NICE TOUCH TO HAVE OUR BAGS TAKEN TO OUR ROOM...THE RYOKAN PROVIDES BICYCLES TO TOUR THE AREA (MAY I STRONGLY SUGGEST TO THE OWNERS,FOR THE MONEY PEOPLE ARE PAYIN