Japan offers accommodation options found nowhere else in the world. Businesspeople and travellers seek style, tradition, low price, convenience or ‘extra service’, and there’s accommodation to match all needs.
So while travelling here for two weeks, I felt the need to vary my beds. Although I neglected to sample an infamous ‘Love Hotel’, here are rundowns of four places I did find for kip;
1 – CAPSULE HOTEL – New Japan Capsule and Spa, Osaka
Lodown:
Probably the most famous of Japanese wacky accommodation, these city crashpads are actually highly practical. I was surprised to find a whole range of facilities (all coin operated) leading up to the actual capsules. It truly is like ‘2001: Space Odyssey’.
Location:
City centre, placed perfectly for stragglers who miss the last train.
Facilities:
Bed, Free Yakuta robe, laundry, vending machines galore, locker, tv, sofas, showers, sauna (although Everything costs extra!)
Schedule:
Check in after 5pm, Check out before 10am
Price:
2300Y
2 – TRADITIONAL RYOKAN – Fujiwara Ryokan, Nagasaki
Lodown:
The opposite extreme, Ryokans provide the traditional Japanese experience. An immaculate room with green tea and attached bath help you drift off to floor-level slumber.
Location:
Often central, but cheaper ones like mine are further out.
Facilities:
TV, bath, shower, free yakuta and towel, green tea on arrival, friendly welcome, maps and advice, breakfast (extra but excellent)
Schedule:
Check in after 4pm, Check out before 10am
Price:
4400Y
3 – HOSTEL – J-Hoppers, Takayama and Hiroshima
Lodown:
Hostels aren’t as plentiful in Japan as elsewhere, but many like J-Hoppers are newly popping up. I stayed at this clean and colourful chain between my more experimental nights. As with most Youth Hostels, you have to endure smarmy photos of people having more fun that yourself mounted on all Walls.
Location:
Generally a little way out of town, but clearly directed.
Facilities:
Cosy duvet, free tea and coffee, kitchen, friendly welcome and advice, bike rental, free DVDs, Internet and wifi, friend-making-opportunities.
Schedule:
Check in 3pm-10pm, Check out 8am-11am
Price:
2300Y
4 – INTERNET CAFE – Media Cafe Popeye, Fukuoka
Lodown:
Forget ‘internet cafe’. Imagine a geeky lair of dark walls, shelves upon shelves of manga and pornography, and countless cubicles containing massage chairs and teenagers discretely massaging themselves. It sounds awful, but once in your cubicle, you enjoy Internet access, a PS2, TV and free beverages all night.
Location:
All over the place. Advertised by hilariously-costume touts standing near busy bars.
Facilities:
Internet, TV, PS2, Massage chair (or full flat chair if you pay more), extensive media library, unlimited free beverages, (no shower)
Schedule:
Buy a 5hr or 10hr package. Whenever you fancy.
Price:
2100Y (10hr Recliner chair)
VERDICT
Aside from the hostels, all these options offer a nice niche for Japanese residents, but more a novelty for travellers. The Media Cafe and Capsule are bizarrely enjoyable, but not hugely relaxing, while Ryokan’s are bumper-priced and daunting for those ignorant of Japanese etiquette.
But hostels are roughly the same across the Globe. Bunk bed, three to six Aussies and a sign reminding you to turn out the light. Sleeping somewhere strange in Japan is all part of the experience.
