Capsule Hotels

Back when I was on the JET Programme, the powers-that-be would sometimes have conferences/meetings/training seminars in various places...and if said places were far enough away, we'd have to get hotel space somewhere. Sometimes, the school board would supply the money, and other times not.

I never stayed in one of these places myself, but I know of a couple of ALTs from the hinterlands of Kagoshima prefecture would spend the night in one of these capsule hotels. Originally, the most common customer of a capsule hotel would be a salaryman who for some reason or another missed the last train home.

Nowadays, more and more people who've been laid off or have lost their housing for some reason or another are using the capsule hotel as a low-rent alternative to a homeless shelter. Some capsule hotels now have a monthly rate for such people (around $640), with free utilities. (Still pricey by Minnesota standards, especially for a box that's about 2 meters by 1.5 meters, and not tall enough to stand in.)

They seemed so bright and shiny and exotic when they were new -- I recall seeing a video of "Weird" Al Yancovic climbing into one on a Japan tour -- but now, they'd be perhaps kind of depressing.

Still, I doubt I would've been allowed to stay in one anyway; I sleep with a CPAP, and the noise would probably have kept an entire rank of boxes awake.