The decision to use Airbnb for the first time in Japan was easy, at least for me. My husband and I decided last minute that we just had to see the Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori. Of course right after we purchased the non-refundable flights, we realized that every hotel that cost under 40,000yen in a 30 km radius of the festival was completely booked.
I suggested Airbnb.
As an avid traveler, I have been using the service for years (along with the free, but slightly more sketchy Couchsurfing). I showed him the website and he shot it down immediately because, in his words, “staying with someone you don’t know is creepy.”
After another hour of unsuccessfully finding a “real” hotel room, he took another look at the website. We both liked the idea that every experience was different – which can be categorized by their unique Youtube trailer.
When we plugged in our dates and location, there was one house remaining, in the neighboring city of Hirosaki. It was a private room on the second floor of a very large house, owned by a former Olympic gymnastics trainer, Mr. Fusao. He spoke both Japanese and English and had a series of wonderful reviews.
With Airbnb, everyone’s experience is different. Some pick the cheapest of the cheap, sleeping on a blow up mattress in someone’s living room for a night… and others elect for a more grand and authentic abode, renting an entire house or villa for the week.
Like most things, I try to stay in the middle. I always stay in a private room and, if possible, I like to have my own bathroom. I do like to share the house with the host, though. It’s fun to meet new and interesting people when you travel.
I prefer Airbnb over a hotel or hostel because it’s the easiest way to experience a slice of life in that country. It’s also nice to bounce ideas off a local, so you don’t waste too much time a tourist traps.
When we stayed in Aomori, Mr. Fusao picked us up at the station and drove us to a nearby supermarket, so we could get food for dinner and breakfast the next morning. He also looked over our itinerary and suggested the best spots to see the Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori, as well as the much smaller (but somehow much more fun) Neputa Masturi in Hirosaki.
We stayed with him and his wife for three days and each morning, he told us entertaining stories of his time as an Olympic gymnastics coach, in a mix of broken English and Japanese. We’re still friends on Facebook and he’s invited my husband and I to stay with his family next year for the festival.
I’ve used the service a couple times in Japan now, and haven’t had a bad experience (yet). In fact, right now I’m looking at spots in Hokkaido, for a much-deserved snowboarding vacation.
Post sponsored by Airbnb.
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Thanks so much for this post!! It´s very useful 😀
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