A night in a ka-pu-se-ru ho-te-ru.
When looking into where the venue for the Suzanne Vega concert was going to be I had noticed that their was a ka-pu-se-ru ho-te-ru (capsule hotel) about two minutes, so I made plans to spend the night in there. Capsule hotels basically exist so those poor salary men who, after a big night of Sake, or Karoke, or just plain old work have missed the last train will have a place to crash. The capsules are like catacombs where each guest has there own small cell to sleep in.
Casule hotles are meant to be a cheap place to sleep as an alternative to the very expensive cab ride home, although when comparing it to the price of a dorm bed in a hostel it is slightly more expensive. I was paying about 3500 yen for my dorm bed at the Sakura Hotel in Jimobocho while my night at the ka-pu-se-ru ho-te-ru cost 3700 yen. It was certainly worth it for the experience, but due to its price and the particular rules, it is not practical for travellers who are planning a long stay in the city. Check-in is at 5pm and check-out is at 10am, so there is no chance of catching a midday nap after a long flight, bus trip or stint on the Shinkensen (the bullet train). Most capsule hotels are also men-only which makes things it for any female travellers wanting to cross it off their "To do" list. I did meet two girls from Germany however, who managed to find one that allowed women somewhere in Osaka.
On arrival you enter what seems like any other average hotel lobby, with a front desk and the attendant standing behind it. I approached the desk and asked if the attendant spoke English. He said "Yes, a little." which was a refreshing change from the usual paniciked run around which ensues as the person tries to find someone who I can communicate in English with. I said that I wanted to book a capsule for the night, at which point I was directed to a vending machine to the side of the desk which looked like something out of a 1960's sci-fi movie. I was told in polite but broken english, that I needed to select what sort of accomodation I wanted for the night from the massive panel of butons. The basic option was a single capsule at 3700 yen, while the other option was the deluxe which was called the Business Man; however, apart from the price - which was almost double - I couldn't read what the differences might be.
I fed my cash into the machine and with a much WRRRR-ing it spewed forth a ticket which I then turned and presented to the waiting attendant. He then presented me with a key marked 710, and proceeded to explain the rules of check-in and check-out, where the bathroom and the lockers and what were and floor my capsule was on. Reading that it all sounds quite easy but there was much to-ing an frow-ing and most of what he conveyed did not make sense until later when I was actually confronted with the item.
At first I pressumed that the key he had given me was for my capsule so I, noticing the shoes lined up at the edge of the carpet, went to continue on upstairs inmy socks.
"Sir!"
I turned back to the attendants as there were now two who where pointing to my shoes, to this I thought that they were asking if they were mine. I responded, "Yes." But there insistence and confused and bemused giggling told me there was more afoot here. After much dancing on the spot as I was not sure if they wanted me to move them, put on one of the pairs of slippers that lay next to them or just confirm ownership I managed to catch the words "shoe" and "locker" and looked to where they indicated noticing a series of small lockers next to the lift. I collected my shoes and went to the lockers with a collective sigh of relief from both the attendants and myself. I stowed my smell footware away eager to go upstairs and check out where I would be sleeping later that night.
I stepped out from the lockers ready to head up stairs when yet again I was called back to the front desk. Here through more confusion and bemused giggling by the attendants my shoe locker key was swapped for another key which comes securely attached to strap which looks like a mix between a watch band and those tags patients get in hospital. I guess there was no loosing this key.
Okay, now I was set to explore the rest of the establishment. I went up to the second floor where the lockers were located, and was glad that I had only brought my small day pack as the lockers, while being tall so that you may hang a suit are extremely narrow; so much so that I thought that if I put both my arms in there at once I would need the jaws of life to get free again. As it was, later that night when I got back from the concert I would have to unpack my day pack in order to have everything fit in the locker.
Next proceeded up to the floor where my capusle was. When you arrive it all feels very space age, glowing with a yellowish light to make it seem as warm and inviting as possible. My capsule was near the end of the corridor and looking in it actually looked quite spacious.
I guess this is how the series of capsules might look like through a space helmet?
My little hole in the wall for the night.
Happy with cleaniness of the place I went out for night. On leaving the hotel I had to swap my locker key (you don't need a key for the actualy capsule) for my shoe locker key - got my shoes and then had to return this key to the front desk as well. They made sure that I had my receipt so that I would be allowed back later that evening, and I was off to the Suzanne Vega gig.
Upon my return there was more bemused giggling and I was greeted warmly with a "Welcome home!" I said thank you and went through the ritual of swapping collecting and swapping once again. I went up to where the lockers and bath room was, packed my stuff away and then went to try and work out how the bath thing worked. There was a small foyer type area where a series of beige towels were stacked up on the shelves along with a collection of beige elastic waisted shorts. Still not overly sure what the deal was I poked my head through the door to the bathroom and realised it was a traditional communal Japanese kind of set up, where you have a number of seats set around the room in front of an extenable shower head. This set up in part explains why these establishments are primarily men-only. In the bath room are expected to soap and rinse your self first before hopping into the huge square bath tub. The tub is quite hot, but your body adjusts to it quite quickly. After a short sit in the tub I went to dry off and get dressed. At this point the purpose of the shorts became apparent; they were to put on over your regular shorts in a bid to maintain the cleaniness of the capsules.
I went up to capsule, and as it was already around 11pm the main lights were turned low. I clambered into my capsule, crashed head first into the back of the TV and then stupidly let down the heavy roller curtain which acts as your door which meant that I was fumbling around for the light switch in almost complete darkness. The plethora of switches on the wall far inside the unit meant that eventually I had to give into logic and draw up the curtain once more so that I had at least some light to make out what I was dealing with.
Major Tom to ground control... Err? Where is the ignition again?
I finally managed to find the light switch and could settle into my cosy unit for the night. I let down the curtain and started to take noticemy surroundings. The structral components of the capsule is almost entirely plastic which gave it a look that reminded me of 2001: A Space Odssesy. Even the TV was encased in plastic. Overall the space was not as cramped as I had imagined, but I was a bit dissappointed that the door to the capsule was not like the doors that you get on washing dryers, as I had thought. It is probably jus as well that they are not however, as in the event of a fire or earthquake these cells would become sarcophiguy.
Casule hotles are meant to be a cheap place to sleep as an alternative to the very expensive cab ride home, although when comparing it to the price of a dorm bed in a hostel it is slightly more expensive. I was paying about 3500 yen for my dorm bed at the Sakura Hotel in Jimobocho while my night at the ka-pu-se-ru ho-te-ru cost 3700 yen. It was certainly worth it for the experience, but due to its price and the particular rules, it is not practical for travellers who are planning a long stay in the city. Check-in is at 5pm and check-out is at 10am, so there is no chance of catching a midday nap after a long flight, bus trip or stint on the Shinkensen (the bullet train). Most capsule hotels are also men-only which makes things it for any female travellers wanting to cross it off their "To do" list. I did meet two girls from Germany however, who managed to find one that allowed women somewhere in Osaka.
On arrival you enter what seems like any other average hotel lobby, with a front desk and the attendant standing behind it. I approached the desk and asked if the attendant spoke English. He said "Yes, a little." which was a refreshing change from the usual paniciked run around which ensues as the person tries to find someone who I can communicate in English with. I said that I wanted to book a capsule for the night, at which point I was directed to a vending machine to the side of the desk which looked like something out of a 1960's sci-fi movie. I was told in polite but broken english, that I needed to select what sort of accomodation I wanted for the night from the massive panel of butons. The basic option was a single capsule at 3700 yen, while the other option was the deluxe which was called the Business Man; however, apart from the price - which was almost double - I couldn't read what the differences might be.
I fed my cash into the machine and with a much WRRRR-ing it spewed forth a ticket which I then turned and presented to the waiting attendant. He then presented me with a key marked 710, and proceeded to explain the rules of check-in and check-out, where the bathroom and the lockers and what were and floor my capsule was on. Reading that it all sounds quite easy but there was much to-ing an frow-ing and most of what he conveyed did not make sense until later when I was actually confronted with the item.
At first I pressumed that the key he had given me was for my capsule so I, noticing the shoes lined up at the edge of the carpet, went to continue on upstairs inmy socks.
"Sir!"
I turned back to the attendants as there were now two who where pointing to my shoes, to this I thought that they were asking if they were mine. I responded, "Yes." But there insistence and confused and bemused giggling told me there was more afoot here. After much dancing on the spot as I was not sure if they wanted me to move them, put on one of the pairs of slippers that lay next to them or just confirm ownership I managed to catch the words "shoe" and "locker" and looked to where they indicated noticing a series of small lockers next to the lift. I collected my shoes and went to the lockers with a collective sigh of relief from both the attendants and myself. I stowed my smell footware away eager to go upstairs and check out where I would be sleeping later that night.
I stepped out from the lockers ready to head up stairs when yet again I was called back to the front desk. Here through more confusion and bemused giggling by the attendants my shoe locker key was swapped for another key which comes securely attached to strap which looks like a mix between a watch band and those tags patients get in hospital. I guess there was no loosing this key.
Okay, now I was set to explore the rest of the establishment. I went up to the second floor where the lockers were located, and was glad that I had only brought my small day pack as the lockers, while being tall so that you may hang a suit are extremely narrow; so much so that I thought that if I put both my arms in there at once I would need the jaws of life to get free again. As it was, later that night when I got back from the concert I would have to unpack my day pack in order to have everything fit in the locker.
Next proceeded up to the floor where my capusle was. When you arrive it all feels very space age, glowing with a yellowish light to make it seem as warm and inviting as possible. My capsule was near the end of the corridor and looking in it actually looked quite spacious.
I guess this is how the series of capsules might look like through a space helmet?
My little hole in the wall for the night.
Happy with cleaniness of the place I went out for night. On leaving the hotel I had to swap my locker key (you don't need a key for the actualy capsule) for my shoe locker key - got my shoes and then had to return this key to the front desk as well. They made sure that I had my receipt so that I would be allowed back later that evening, and I was off to the Suzanne Vega gig.
Upon my return there was more bemused giggling and I was greeted warmly with a "Welcome home!" I said thank you and went through the ritual of swapping collecting and swapping once again. I went up to where the lockers and bath room was, packed my stuff away and then went to try and work out how the bath thing worked. There was a small foyer type area where a series of beige towels were stacked up on the shelves along with a collection of beige elastic waisted shorts. Still not overly sure what the deal was I poked my head through the door to the bathroom and realised it was a traditional communal Japanese kind of set up, where you have a number of seats set around the room in front of an extenable shower head. This set up in part explains why these establishments are primarily men-only. In the bath room are expected to soap and rinse your self first before hopping into the huge square bath tub. The tub is quite hot, but your body adjusts to it quite quickly. After a short sit in the tub I went to dry off and get dressed. At this point the purpose of the shorts became apparent; they were to put on over your regular shorts in a bid to maintain the cleaniness of the capsules.
I went up to capsule, and as it was already around 11pm the main lights were turned low. I clambered into my capsule, crashed head first into the back of the TV and then stupidly let down the heavy roller curtain which acts as your door which meant that I was fumbling around for the light switch in almost complete darkness. The plethora of switches on the wall far inside the unit meant that eventually I had to give into logic and draw up the curtain once more so that I had at least some light to make out what I was dealing with.
Major Tom to ground control... Err? Where is the ignition again?
For here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do.
I finally managed to find the light switch and could settle into my cosy unit for the night. I let down the curtain and started to take noticemy surroundings. The structral components of the capsule is almost entirely plastic which gave it a look that reminded me of 2001: A Space Odssesy. Even the TV was encased in plastic. Overall the space was not as cramped as I had imagined, but I was a bit dissappointed that the door to the capsule was not like the doors that you get on washing dryers, as I had thought. It is probably jus as well that they are not however, as in the event of a fire or earthquake these cells would become sarcophiguy.
From examining my capsule I gathered that every capsule came with:
- 1 x Matteress (resonably comfortable)
- 1 x Pillow (filled with bean bag beans, not quite sure of the logic here but most pillows in Japan are of this sort.)
- 1 x Blanket covered in a sheet
- 1 x Light
- 1 x Television
- 1 x Radio / Alarm Clock with glowing green digital display
- 1 x Ear bud head phones
- 1 x Mirror
I began to try out the various switches and thought I'd check out what was on TV expecting a direct link to CNN Business news as I imagined that the salary men who used these hotels would probably want to check the market activity before going to bed and first thing when they woke up, instead I found that there was only one channel which carried Japanese porn. A bit of a shock, but I guess that that is another reason that these plces tend to be men-only. I then tried out the radio and accidentally ripped out the headphones from the jack which sent the radio program blaring out into the darkness. As these units are not sound proof, you can often hear the person below or even a few doors down snoring in the night, I received quite a few disgruntled groans as I fumbled for the off switch.
It took me a little while to get to sleep, reflecting on the concert and on the oddity of this whole experience, but when I did slept all the way through till morning. I awoke around 7:30 to the sounds of salary men getting ready for work and thought I would try to go back to sleep so I would not get in their way in their rush out the door, besides if I did get up and leave now I would be sure to caught in the morning peak hour commuter traffic at the station. I woke up again at around 9 and ventured out into the morning. Shibuya was only marginally quiter than it had been last night, although the working crowd had a very different vibe to the youth and party crowd of the evenings.
I got to Shibuya station at about 9:20 and waited for my train. The first train that arrived was completely packed, and even though a large number of commuters got off at the station it did not seem to make any differnce to the density of people on the train. I decided to wait for the next train, but it was the same thing again. This continued to happen for the next 30 minutes, until finally I decide to get on one of the trains that seemed a little less packed. Five stops later I was back at Jimbocho, Sakura Hotel and some semblance of the regular.
posted by meta_zen @ 1:56 PM
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