We could have gone to the north in one go – but decided to stopover in Tokyo and try a Capsule Inn in Akihabara.
I was not too excited about this. I agreed that we should try – I have always felt sorry for these poor Japanese homeless who had nowhere else to stay than in a capsule, I ought to see with my own eyes. But what about claustrophobia – and would it be safe and clean and…? Frederic actually liked it – as he may write elsewhere in our blog – personally, I would only go back if no other accommodation was available – or – if someone opened a brand new facility. The basic idea of the capsule is not bad.
We arrived around 1800. First impression is that the place looks better on the internet than in reality. It is not worn out - but certainly worn. The “lounge area” on the ground floor is extremely small – 30-40 m2 – but still has room for 100 shoe lockers, small reception, luggage shelves, four PC stations, smokers corner (…). But the whole thing is tight – tight. Second floor is men´s wash room – quite nice with 5-6 showers and a fairly large hot bath for 2-3 people. Floor 3-10 are capsule floors. The last three floors are women only.
On each capsule floor, there are approximately 30 capsules stacked in two layers – and reasonable large shared toilet facilities. Your personal capsule is 2 meters log, 1 meter wide and 1 meter high. It comes with 2 fresh towels, bed linen, 2 tooth brushes, a nice mattress, blanket, pillow (filled with pellets?), adjustable bright light, air condition, television, radio, clock and alarm. Missing – and revealing the age of its construction (probably 1990) - is an electrical outlet to recharge telephone or PC – but there is free wireless – in addition to the free internet PCs on the ground floor. You also get a ridiculous small luggage locker, but the capsule is actually big enough that we could store our backpacks there.
How was the night? Our floor was about half full. 10-15 people. Except us all were Japanese. Everybody behaved very quietly, and I slept quite all right (using earplugs) – though the rumbling of trains over- and underground made the cubicle resonate in very deep sounds. I noticed but still slept. Getting up and out in the morning was extremely easy. You hardly unpack – so packing is no challenge.
I was not too excited about this. I agreed that we should try – I have always felt sorry for these poor Japanese homeless who had nowhere else to stay than in a capsule, I ought to see with my own eyes. But what about claustrophobia – and would it be safe and clean and…? Frederic actually liked it – as he may write elsewhere in our blog – personally, I would only go back if no other accommodation was available – or – if someone opened a brand new facility. The basic idea of the capsule is not bad.
We arrived around 1800. First impression is that the place looks better on the internet than in reality. It is not worn out - but certainly worn. The “lounge area” on the ground floor is extremely small – 30-40 m2 – but still has room for 100 shoe lockers, small reception, luggage shelves, four PC stations, smokers corner (…). But the whole thing is tight – tight. Second floor is men´s wash room – quite nice with 5-6 showers and a fairly large hot bath for 2-3 people. Floor 3-10 are capsule floors. The last three floors are women only.
On each capsule floor, there are approximately 30 capsules stacked in two layers – and reasonable large shared toilet facilities. Your personal capsule is 2 meters log, 1 meter wide and 1 meter high. It comes with 2 fresh towels, bed linen, 2 tooth brushes, a nice mattress, blanket, pillow (filled with pellets?), adjustable bright light, air condition, television, radio, clock and alarm. Missing – and revealing the age of its construction (probably 1990) - is an electrical outlet to recharge telephone or PC – but there is free wireless – in addition to the free internet PCs on the ground floor. You also get a ridiculous small luggage locker, but the capsule is actually big enough that we could store our backpacks there.
How was the night? Our floor was about half full. 10-15 people. Except us all were Japanese. Everybody behaved very quietly, and I slept quite all right (using earplugs) – though the rumbling of trains over- and underground made the cubicle resonate in very deep sounds. I noticed but still slept. Getting up and out in the morning was extremely easy. You hardly unpack – so packing is no challenge.
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