• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Japanese Capsule Hotels

M

MaxMolyneux

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
1,353
http://www.yesicanusechopsticks.com/capsule/

http://www.yesicanusechopsticks.com/the ... /index.htm

http://www.offtherails.com/capsule.html

Looks like If I ever went there I'd be better in a normal hotel there at most 200cm tall. :lol:

Apparently most of these are home to Japanese people because it's the cheapest accomidation and makes sense for them because of their lifestyle.

19 pound a night too!

This kind mentions why it makes sense for them from the third link.

Capsules hotels make perfect sense in Japan because of economics (astronomical land prices and punitive taxi fares) and culture (mandatory late-night drinking sessions with work colleagues and an ability to tolerate large crowds, small spaces and large crowds in small spaces). "Sararimen" (mid-level executives) out drinking after the last train leaves for home can fork over big money on a long, lonely cab ride for a couple hours sleep, or just spend Y3000-Y4000 ($25-$33) to hang out with their buddies in the capsule hotel lounge and then sleep peacefully in the capsule until morning.
Click to expand...

Least they get their bathing areas and lounges and lockers for stuff. They have vending machines that just offer instant noodles and beer too, well thats ok for the Japs they love their alcohol! Wouldn't adapt to many peoples lifestlye outside of Japan though.

Wonder if the Japs can bring bring home a partner in one of these after a night of drinking.
 
I saw these on Clive James' TV progs about Japan, hoo, 20 years ago. He showed karaoke and driving ranges too, which he mocked but which I thought might catch on here one day. 8)
 
MaxMolyneux said:
Wonder if the Japs can bring bring home a partner in one of these after a night of drinking.
Click to expand...

I first heard about them on Palin's Around the World In 80 days. I could watch those series for weeks on end...

IIRC they are single sex. So no contortionary love.
 
They're a great idea. They often have overnight cleaning services, and weigh in much cheaper than a taxi to the suburbs, so are very popular with the blind drunk who have to go back to work the next day :).

Agree about Palin's travelogues, too. I've got them on DVD and often dip into them. There's not many people can make 1,000 miles of sand and a dodgy tum interesting to watch :D.
 
I saw those for the first time on America's Next Top Model some seasons ago. I wouldn't mind the experience for a night or so - except I hate the idea of no private toilet and bath facilities. What I also find disturbing is the porn button. If a guy is watching porn then odds are he is also doing something else enjoyable, so to speak, which one, other guests may overhear, and two, bothers me to think that someone else has to sleep in the same capsule soon. Ew. Ok I can see how those capsules are a good idea but really not for me.
 
theyithian said:
MaxMolyneux said:
Wonder if the Japs can bring bring home a partner in one of these after a night of drinking.
Click to expand...

I first heard about them on Palin's Around the World In 80 days. I could watch those series for weeks on end...

IIRC they are single sex. So no contortionary love.
Click to expand...

Well, nearly suits the Japanese lifestyle then. :lol:

What I also find disturbing is the porn button. If a guy is watching porn then odds are he is also doing something else enjoyable, so to speak, which one, other guests may overhear, and two, bothers me to think that someone else has to sleep in the same capsule soon. Ew. Ok I can see how those capsules are a good idea but really not for me.
Click to expand...

I'm one of those who hate public showers too. I don't shower in gyms, I wait till I get home.

Surely there soundproof and you get a curtain to have privacy.
 
stuneville said:
They're a great idea. They often have overnight cleaning services, and weigh in much cheaper than a taxi to the suburbs, so are very popular with the blind drunk who have to go back to work the next day :).

Agree about Palin's travelogues, too. I've got them on DVD and often dip into them. There's not many people can make 1,000 miles of sand and a dodgy tum interesting to watch :D.
Click to expand...

Dr Evil can't do world domination from them though.

There not really good for tall people either, otherwise I agree.
 
MaxMolyneux said:
Dr Evil can't do world domination from them though.
Click to expand...
I imagine not, no. You'd have to ask him, though. He isn't me, really.
MaxMolyneux said:
There not really good for tall people either, otherwise I agree.
Click to expand...
No, I'm tall and big, and wouldn't have a comfy night in a Japanese one. Pity, cos the idea is terrific.
 
Tall and big? Big as in rolled up newspaper big? :shock:
 
stuneville said:
MaxMolyneux said:
Dr Evil can't do world domination from them though.
Click to expand...
I imagine not, no. You'd have to ask him, though. He isn't me, really.
MaxMolyneux said:
There not really good for tall people either, otherwise I agree.
Click to expand...
No, I'm tall and big, and wouldn't have a comfy night in a Japanese one. Pity, cos the idea is terrific.
Click to expand...

Dr Evil said he prefers to freeze himself in capsules, not live in them.

Good idea for highly populated places like Japan yeah.
 
Only gentlemen stay in capsule hotels, because women obviously have to rush home after work to cook dinner for their husbands.

It's a great idea for boozy late midweek sessions or after an all-nighter at work.

I refer interested posters in the London area (and anyone with a few million quid spare anywhere else who would be interested in a franchise) to the link http://www.yotel.com/

Contortionary lovers would probably prefer to go to a love hotel
 
lemonpie3 said:
Contortionary lovers would probably prefer to go to a love hotel
Click to expand...

They're not just for loving, although that is the primary purpose. I saw some in Osaka rentable for 15mins!

I also looked around one (it was full) with a dog theme.

Stuffed dogs everywhere.

Freaky.
 
Some kinds of love can be quite quick.


...although 15 mins I'm not sure I could get enthusiastic about
 
lemonpie3 said:
Some kinds of love can be quite quick.


...although 15 mins I'm not sure I could get enthusiastic about
Click to expand...

A 15min pop is not really 'making love' now is it. :D
 
Not in the classical french sense, no i suppose not!
 
lemonpie3 said:
Only gentlemen stay in capsule hotels, because women obviously have to rush home after work to cook dinner for their husbands.

It's a great idea for boozy late midweek sessions or after an all-nighter at work.

I refer interested posters in the London area (and anyone with a few million quid spare anywhere else who would be interested in a franchise) to the link http://www.yotel.com/

Contortionary lovers would probably prefer to go to a love hotel
Click to expand...

The London one looks better than the capsules. And big enough for big people too.
 
At only 5ft 3ins, I would fit perfectly into a capsule hotel, in fact there'd probably be room to spare!

However, being a girl, I wouldn't be allowed. Dammit...
 
Zorya said:
At only 5ft 3ins, I would fit perfectly into a capsule hotel, in fact there'd probably be room to spare!

However, being a girl, I wouldn't be allowed. Dammit...
Click to expand...

Your only not allowed to have company in them I think. ;)
 
Zorya said:
At only 5ft 3ins, I would fit perfectly into a capsule hotel, in fact there'd probably be room to spare!

However, being a girl, I wouldn't be allowed. Dammit...
Click to expand...

It seems that everyone thinks Japanese people are all small... I know a few guys over 2m - And they don`t have any problems with capsule hotels. Most of them are actually designed so that you can put a suitcase at your feet / above your head. You would have to be over 2.5m to stick out of one... Which is why I really hate those travel programs where some "Average White Male" lays down in one and they show his feet hanging out the end. It`s all a big farce.

There are, in fact, capsule hotels for women also. It`s the nature of the hotel - public bath, no private changing area, etc that makes them segregate gender. They cater to one gender or the other - but of course there are far more for men as far more men take business trips. I have yet to hear of anyone actually *living* out of one though.

In reality, they are really all you need from a hotel room without the unneeded space. The ceiling is high enough that my husband (177 cm) can sit up comfortably. They all have private locking doors. There is built in air conditioning that you control, along with television, radio, cd player, alarm clock, various lighting options, bookshelf, pull out work table, etc. The one I stayed in was quite nice - being as 90% of the time I spend in a hotel is in the bed anyway, it made perfect sense. There was even a small refrigerator built in.

They are obviously not the only hotel option, but if the main point is to sleep then they are wonderfully inexpensive options. They also usually have very nice public facilities that are free to those who stay. Medicated baths, massage, sauna, exercise room, etc.

Sorry - my husband is Japanese. We live in Japan and he takes a few overnight business trips a month - about half the time he stays in a capsule hotel.
 
Why would they make out we couldn't fit in them when we can? :?
 
To be fair, I don't think anyone did. My impression that they were cramped came from a Clive James documentary about 20 years ago in which he said he found it hard to sit up straight.

I guess they're more roomy these days.
 
I saw that too, and feel that my opinion may have been influenced by James' amused condescension. He didn't exactly come across as admiring Japanese culture, did he!

However, as I and others here have pointed out, lots of Japanese innovations are 'mainstream' worldwide now, such as karaoke and driving ranges. ;)
 
escargot1 said:
I saw that too, and feel that my opinion may have been influenced by James' amused condescension. He didn't exactly come across as admiring Japanese culture, did he!
Click to expand...
No - though he has since admitted that his view was heavily biased by the fact that he'd lost his father to the Japanese in WWII. If you read his essay on visiting Japan in "Flying Visits", he noticeably softens throughout the course of the journey, until he eventually gets a tangible sense of closure and comes to appreciate the Japanese nation a lot more.
 
MaxMolyneux said:
Why would they make out we couldn't fit in them when we can? :?
Click to expand...

Because it`s funnier that way.

I am not familiar with the documentary everyone is referring to, but I have seen 5 or 6 that have indeed been made in recent years that make things out to be smaller than they really are.
I think it`s all for entertainment value - people watch light-hearted documentaries / travelogues on Japan expecting to laugh at the stereotypical strangeness of the country and culture. The programs deliver - whether it is reality or not.

Some classic, used in every documentary I have seen shots - A tall white man walking through a crowd of short business men that are all only up to his shoulders... Spending the night in a capsule hotel and having to let the feet hang out... White guy making a fool of himself in the "Oh so sacred" shrine/temple/ceremony/etc... Buying something silly/pornographic from a vending machine.

Something revolving around that seems to be the formula for any programming about Japan.

It`s hilarious to watch with my husband, knowing how staged all of it is, until we stop and think about the fact that people`s opinions of Japan are totally shaped by this "entertainment". And then it becomes offensive.
 
Not familiar with a documentry either.

Just heard about them and looked them up on the net.

Yeah, I see what you mean. They possibly make it funnier for tourism and money?

Iwouldn't mind the noodles that the machines give out I hear though but not the beer.
 
theyithian said:
They're not just for loving, although that is the primary purpose.
Click to expand...

Stupid question - what do people use them for, if not for nookie? Just as places to stay? (I was under the impression that they were really expensive, so wouldn't be good places to use as stop-overs.) Wouldn't it be really sad to be in a love hotel, all by yourself? :(
 
MaxMolyneux said:
Yeah, I see what you mean. They possibly make it funnier for tourism and money?

Iwouldn't mind the noodles that the machines give out I hear though but not the beer.
Click to expand...

It`s certainly not an image the Japanese tourism agencies want to promote... Also, the documentaries are not produced by Japan. Usually foreign travel shows.

Also - What noodles?!? You too have fallen for the stereotypes! And the beer machines - another favorite of foreign travelogues... Despite the fact that they`re not all that common at all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top