Carrying a backpack will make your back stronger, you don't "save" it by using a wheeled suitcase unless you already have a health condition. Ideally the backpack will have a strap to go along your chest for stability.
Pretty much every hotel in Japan has a laundry machine, although I don't know of any suites that include one, unless you're going for a managed apartment.
Hmm, I thought students could develop back problems from carrying textbook laden backpacks? Is that just an old wives tale?
The Holiday Inn Shin Osaka has a washing machine in the suites. Not sure why, but that was just my experience. You’re right that hostels and ”budget” chains like Dormy Inn will also have them.
I’ve also stayed at a resort on Sentosa Island that only had 1 self service washer/dryer machine, and I had to set a 2AM alarm clock to put our clothes in because it was busy otherwise. Usually hotels with self service laundry machines have a whole row of them. Probably by design so I’d give up and pay $10 per shirt washed.
> Pretty much every hotel in Japan has a laundry machine, although I don't know of any suites that include one, unless you're going for a managed apartment.
Which is insanely expensive compared to just going down the street to a normal coin laundromat. They are pretty much anywhere (at least in most big cities) and very quick and cheap. You can pay 500 yen at a laundromat, or 5000 yen at your hotel laundry room.
You may be thinking of a hotel's laundry service at those prices. The most I've ever paid to do my own laundry is 600¥ and I've had as low as 200¥, all at 3-4 star hotels.
Pretty much every hotel in Japan has a laundry machine, although I don't know of any suites that include one, unless you're going for a managed apartment.