doing laundry in Japan
 

Here's a great "nuts and bolts" question.

I'm taking my family to Japan for 10 days and will need to do some laundry. We'll be at the Seagaia resort outside Miyazaki during the mid-point of our trip, which would be the logical place to get it done. I suspect the Sheraton Grande would charge us two arms and three legs to do the wash, so I guess we'll need to do it ourselves. Amazingly, somebody previously posted the website of the local launderette association. http://www.claj.net/coin_navi/ The list, obviously, is in Japanese. Anything in Miyazaki? I guess I can also ask the hotel conceirge for a recommendation, but I might not get one. Once I find a place, are there any local laundry customs I should be aware of? Is there a way to just drop off the clothes and pick them up the next day (without it costing a fortune)?

Thanks!

While that site has Kyushu on the map, I can't seem to click on it or on Okinawa--I suspect they may not have any listings for those areas.

Coin laundries are pretty ubiquitous. I usually visit one at least once per trip. Just take a pocket full of 100 yen coins. Most have vending machines selling single-load detergent and such, so you don't even need to carry the stuff. Your hotel can probably send you in the right direction for the closest one. I don't know about availability of "drop-off" type laundries.

Some business hotels have washers and dryers available for guest use, but I rather doubt that will be the case at the SG. :D

JR

Hi, I found these two for you:

http://www.miyazaki-town.com/mypage/mz020239/
3-16-15 Higashi-Omiya
Miyazaki-shi

&

http://www.miyazaki-town.com/mypage/mz020161/
2-2-14 Segashira
Miyazaki-shi

On a side note, I think that japanese coin laundries are far below what I'm used with from Europe (at least all the ones I've tried in Tokyo).

deleted -- because I got 2 other responses while I was typing!

I'm using family run serviced laundry shops in Kyoto and Tokyo. They're slower than elsewhere so it will normally take two working days to get everything done in my experience but prices and service are OK. So if you hand in your stuff on Monday morning it should be ready by Wed afternoon or so.

There are many coin laundry(three with-in 1 KM of my house).
They all have different sized (made in Europe)washing machines and gas dryers. If you are going to use them please be aware that the ones I have visited all have detergent included so you don't need to put any in. It will be about 1200 yen to wash a families laundry and about 100 YEN per 8 minutes to dry it......YMMV. I have found the coin laundries out here in "the country" to be quite clean. As an aside , I would bring a few sheets of bounce/cling-free :) !

Thanks, everyone. Looks doable -- hardest part might be LOCATING the launderette!

With very few exceptions, doing laundry overseas is always "an experience." But it usually gets you off the tourist route, which can be a good thing.

In case you need to learn a bit of Japanese, the Japanese word for "coin laundry" is "coin randri." No fooling. One of the few Japanese phrases I can use confidently is "Coin randri des ka?" or "Where is the coin laundry?"

The problem pccurs when they reply in Japanese, but usually I can finesse that and you can too.

Actually , Coin randri wa doko desu ka?

Above you have asked "Are you a coin laundry?"

And to pick apart a point, shouldn't it be "randori?" ;)

JR

This doesn’t answer the OP’s question, but thought it might help someone else.

Apart from the time I lived above a coin laundery (sure it isn’t ra-ndori? ;) ) my experience with launderettes is tied in with Sento (public bath) visits as they often have them attached, or even inside the changing room – certainly in many women’s changing areas. So I wash myself and my clothes at the same time.

Wonderful arrangement!

That would be cool! I'm guessing that many Japanese don't have the space for a laundry room, in which case coin laundries would be more prevalent than in the US. Maybe a bar/laundry combo would also work!

I hope you have a car, because SeaGaia is a rather large resort complex some distance from Miyazaki City, and the Sheraton is smack-dab in the middle of SeaGaia. Strikes me as trying to find a laundromat in the middle of DisneyWorld.

I think your best bet might be the Luxze Hitotsuba condominium hotel (for longterm guests) or the Cottage Himuka (resort cottages complex) to see if they have laundry facilities for their guests. These two properties are part of the SeaGaia complex (at the southern end) and are about a 10-minute or so walk from the Sheraton. You can rent bicycles at the Sheraton that would get you there more quickly.

If not, then, as there is little else in the vicinity of SeaGaia, you'll have to make the 10-15 minute drive to Miyazaki City to try and locate a coin laundry.

Yeah, we have a car, which should be interesting (it will be my first time driving in Japan). Public transport at Seagaia -- actually public transport in and out of Seagaia -- seemed mediocre to poor.