Green Hospitality, Japanese Style: How the New Generation of Hotels is Transforming Sustainability

In Europe, we're used to simply hanging a small card on the door if we don't want cleaning, or throwing towels on the floor to signal we want them changed. In Japan, this process is much more organised and rewarding. If a guest decides to forgo daily room cleaning – saving the hotel significant amounts of water, chemicals, and energy – the cleaners do not enter the room. Instead, fresh towels are neatly placed in an attractive bag outside the door, and used ones are collected from the same spot. To make this eco-conscious decision even more rewarding, hotels often thank guests for their participation in the eco-program with small gestures, such as local spring water or small gifts.

At Japanese accommodations, a conscious approach begins with preserving human health, the key to which is restful sleep. In the lobby of Super Hotels, a special “pillow bar” awaits guests, where everyone can choose the pillow with the perfect firmness and height for them. Special attention is given to female travellers: pillows designed specifically for women are lower, ergonomically support the neck, and are made from natural, breathable materials that protect the skin and hair throughout the night. This solution also radically reduces unnecessary laundry, as guests only use the pillow in the room that is perfectly comfortable for them.

The bathrooms at Super Hotels are a complete environmental and wellness system. The taps and showerheads provide special ionised MICA water, which softens the water without chemicals, requiring much less shower gel or soap for washing. At KOKO Hotels, intelligent water-saving technology used in sinks and showers reduces water usage without compromising the comfort of water pressure for guests. The cosmetics offered at check-in for women and the organic shampoos provided in the rooms are all biodegradable and made from organic ingredients, ensuring they do not harm the environment when they go down the drain.

Sustainability even extends to the choice of toilet paper – at KOKO Hotels, guests are specifically informed about which SDGs they are contributing to by using eco-friendly toilet paper. 

Sustainable gastronomy is also a cornerstone of Super Hotels. The vegetables and ingredients on the breakfast tables almost exclusively come from local farms, minimising the environmental impact of transportation. The selection prominently features chemical-free, organic products, traditional Japanese fermented foods, and locally baked, additive-free pastries. Any organic waste left over from breakfast is selectively collected and composted by the hotel, returning as nutrients to local agriculture, completing the cycle.

Another widespread Japanese approach is conscious minimalism, which is particularly characteristic of Koko Hotels and is also based on the principles of the SDGs. The hotel's services focus on essential, truly necessary comfort. When designing rooms, they avoid unnecessary, dust-collecting decorations and an abundance of single-use plastics – in Koko Hotels, small items like toothbrushes or combs are not automatically placed in the rooms but can be picked up at the reception from a communal counter by guests who actually need them. Wherever possible, durable, recycled, or locally sourced materials are used. At Super Hotels, toothbrushes are provided in the rooms, but if you don't use them and return them to the reception upon checkout, you receive a small gift as a reward for your sustainable thinking. 

The chain has also linked a unique sustainability funding model to its daily operations. If a guest decides not to request daily towel changes, the hotel calculates exactly how much washing cost, water, and energy has been saved. This saved amount is not kept as profit but is directly invested in local environmental projects and sustainability initiatives. This transparency and community involvement turn simplicity into a tangible green programme while the accommodation works closely with local communities and suppliers.

The designers of Koko Hotels understand that a sustainable mindset doesn't end at the hotel walls; travellers need support in making green choices during their daily activities within the city. In Japan, plastic bags in convenience stores and supermarkets also come with a fee, and to avoid unnecessary waste, the hotel has come up with an extremely simple yet highly effective solution. At the entrance, clearly visible, reusable textile and shopping bags are provided, which guests can freely take and use for their daily shopping or city walks. This small, thoughtful gesture drastically reduces the purchase of single-use plastic bags in nearby shops while offering maximum convenience to tourists, as they don't need to carry their own bags from home in their luggage.

Sustainable tourism and achieving the UN's SDG goals go beyond environmental protection or supporting female travellers; one of the most important pillars of social sustainability is supporting families and creating intergenerational equality. In Japan, hotels understand that quality and affordable relaxation require tangible discounts and well-thought-out services for families.

At the Super Hotels chain, this approach is reflected in the radical reduction of accommodation costs: children under the age of seven stay completely free if they share a bed with their parents. The chain also eases family budgets not just on rooms but also on meals, as little ones can enjoy healthy eco-breakfasts made from local, organic ingredients for free.

The Koko Hotels, with its clean, minimalist style, also pays special attention to group travel. Here, accommodation is designed to offer significant discounts for children when booking spacious, interconnected, or multi-person family rooms, avoiding the need for families to pay for two separate full-price rooms. Additionally, the hotel provides eco-friendly comfort items, toys, and child-sized accessories at the entrance, similar to the reusable textile bags, so that even the youngest generation can naturally adopt a conscious and sustainable lifestyle from their first trips.

The designers of Koko Hotels also recognise that rigid schedules are the biggest source of stress during travel with young children, so they complement family discounts with an extremely practical service. The hotel chain offers families flexible late check-out options. This extra time allows parents to avoid the morning rush of packing, lets children sleep peacefully, or gives the family a relaxed, unhurried start before departure. This seemingly small allowance of extra time is actually a huge relief for parents and perfectly demonstrates how the principle of social sustainability translates into tangible, supportive care in practice.

Behind the boarding gates of Kyoto's Shichijō Station stands a modest little box that, at first glance, simply prints a 100-yen discount ticket – but in reality, it represents a condensed version of an elegant sustainability model. The nearby hotel and the Keihan railway company have a simple agreement: hotel guests travel to the city centre for 100 yen instead of the usual 230 yen, with the hotel covering the difference. This seemingly small gesture is actually a miniature model of a much larger shift. For the guest, the previously "more expensive but eco-conscious" choice suddenly becomes the cheapest option: instead of a taxi, rental car, or private driver, rail transport becomes the obvious choice – and every such decision means less emissions, reduced city centre traffic, and a more liveable streetscape. The hotel takes responsibility for how the guest moves around the city not in an ESG report, but in its daily operations, in real yen. And all this is embodied in a vending machine shaped like a train, decorated with autumn maple leaves – even the nudge aligns with the local character, the season, and Japanese visual culture. Perhaps it's worth rethinking where sustainable destination management begins: not necessarily with strategic documents, but with the very practical question of who benefits from paying to ensure visitors make the right choice.

The true strength of Japanese hotels' sustainability programmes lies in their incredibly clear and educational communication. Walking through the spaces of Super Hotels and Koko Hotels, guests never feel lost or uncertain: from the lobby to the lifts and into the rooms, aesthetic, easy-to-understand signs and pictograms showcase the green initiatives. Visitors can clearly see how each of their daily decisions – whether it's choosing a pillow, requesting eco-cleaning, or using the reusable bag at the entrance – directly supports specific UN SDG goals (such as clean water, responsible consumption, or protecting life on land). This transparency not only makes it easier to follow the rules but also gives travellers a genuine sense of achievement, knowing that their comfortable stay actively contributes to the future of the planet and the local community.