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A ryokan is a type of traditional Japanese inn that originated in the Edo period (1603–1868), when such inns served travelers along Japan's highways. They typically feature tatami-matted rooms, communal baths, reception halls, and other public areas.

A typical ryokan has a relatively large entrance hall, with couches and chairs where guests can sit and talk. Guest rooms are constructed using traditional Japanese methods: flooring is tatami, and doors are sliding doors. Even if the inn uses hinged doors for security, it usually opens into a small entrance way where guests can take off their shoes before stepping onto the tatami floor . Many ryokan rooms also feature a porch or balcony, also set off with a sliding door.

Almost all ryokan feature common bathing areas or ofuro, usually segregated by gender, using the water from a hot spring (onsen) if any are nearby. High-end ryokan may provide private bathing facilities as well. Typically ryokan provide guests with a yukata to wear, and possibly geta that visitors can borrow for strolls outside.

Bedding is a futon spread out on the tatami floor. When guests first enter their room, they usually find a table and some supplies for making tea. The table is also used for meals when guests take them in their room. While guests are out, staff (usually called nakai) will move the table aside and set out the futon.

Most ryokan offer dinner and breakfast, which are often included in the price of the room. Most visitors take their meals at the ryokan, which often promote themselves on the quality of their food. Meals consist of traditional Japanese cuisine known as kaiseki, which features seasonal and regional specialties. (Kaiseki originally referred to light meals served during a tea ceremony, and today refers to a meal consisting of a number of small, varied dishes.)

Ryokan are difficult to find in Tokyo and other large cities because many are expensive compared to hotels, and Japanese people increasingly use hotels for urban tourism. Kyoto, a city many people visit for its ryokan, is a notable exception.

Matsue, he capital city of Shimane Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan, sits between Lake Shinji and Nakaumi, along the banks of the Ohashi river connecting the two. Due to the prominence of the lakes, the river and canals in the city-scape and scenery it is sometimes called the "water city". Author Lafcadio Hearn taught in Matsue from 1890-1891. His house is now a museum about his life, and a popular tourist attraction in Matsue.

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Galle Fort, in the Bay of Galle on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, was built first in 1588 by the Portuguese, then extensively fortified by the Dutch from 1649 onwards.

The fort has a colourful history, and today has a multi-ethnic and multi-religious population. The heritage value of the fort has been recognized by the UNESCO and the site has been inscribed as a cultural heritage UNESCO World Heritage Site for its unique exposition of "an urban ensemble which illustrates the interaction of European architecture and South Asian traditions from the 16th to the 19th centuries."

Galle Fort withstood the Boxing Day tsunami which damaged part of coastal area Galle town. It has been since restored.

Galle’s earliest historical existence is traced to Ptolemy’s world map of 125–150 AD when it was a busy port, trading with Greece, Arab countries, China and others. This is the harbour where the Portuguese, under the leadership of Lourenço de Almeida, made their first landing in 1505 and caused a notable change in development on the island.

Before the Portuguese arrived, Ibn Batuta had touched base at this port.

In 1640, the events took a turn in 1640 with the Dutch capture of Galle Fort. Fortifications were added up to the early 18th century. The Dutch establishment consisted of public administration buildings, warehouses and business houses and residential quarters. A Protestant church was built in baroque style in 1775 to cater to the colonists and the local people who had converted to Christianity. The most prominent buildings in the fort complex were the Commandant's residence, the arsenal and the gun house. Other buildings erected in the fort catered to trade and defense requirements such as workshops for carpentry, smithy, rope making and so forth. They also built an elaborate system of sewers that were flooded at high tide, taking the sewage away to sea.

The British took over the fort on 23 February 1796, one week after Colombo was captured. Sri Lanka remained a British colony formally from 1815 till it became an independent island nation in 1948. The importance of Galle declined after the British developed Colombo as their capital and main port in the mid nineteenth century.

The fort area is now mostly occupied by artists, writers, photographers, designers and poets of foreign origin and is a mixed bag of boutiques, hotels and restaurants.

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The Muslibegovics are a noble lineage in Hercegovina, where its members were governors for many centuries. Members of this noble family established themselves in Mostar, following the fall of Herceg-Novi the to the Venetians in 1687. At that time, the Muslibegovics owned property throughout Herzegovinia (the southern portion of today's Bosnia Hercegovina) and exerted substantial influence over social and political affairs in the region.

The Muslibegovic House provides an ideal example of Mostar's grand houses of the Ottoman period, built for merchants and landowners in a highly sophisticated blending of Turkish and regional styles. Where many such traditional residencies once graced the streets of Mostar, now only a handful remain. The Muslibegovic House is also noteworthy because it has remained in the hands of a single family since its construction, throughout the city's glorious periods of economic prosperity and dark days of war.

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