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Living In Tokyo's Capsule Hotels
afabbro writes "Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 once offered a night’s refuge to salarymen who had missed the last train home. Now with Japan enduring its worst recession since World War II, it is becoming an affordable option for people with nowhere else to go. The Hotel 510’s capsules are only 6 1/2 feet long by 5 feet wide. Guests must keep possessions, like shirts and shaving cream, in lockers outside of the capsules. Atsushi Nakanishi, jobless since Christmas says, 'It’s just a place to crawl into and sleep. You get used to it.'”
I did 6 months of that multiple times. Its not too bad.
but if it came time to give up luxuries, it would be one of the first to go.
93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
I wonder if Westerners are accepted at these places?
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
especially when you get to pay for the privilege
Oh, yes, it's very affordable. $600+ a month can easily buy you a decent apartment pretty much anywhere else, but here you get a room that's smaller than a prison cell that you can just barely sleep in.
I could see people sleeping in one of these once in a while if they have to pull shift work or if they miss a train, but every day? Even living with your parents would be less degrading than living in one of these as an apartment.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
I stayed in a couple of capsule hotels during my trip to Japan in 2006. The good ones, such as one I can't remember the name of in Hakata, were great spa-like experiences which were still rather cheap. The worst one was actually in Shinjuku in Tokyo, where the capsules were badly ventilated and the in-hotel restaurant gave me food poisoning (cow-stomach ramen did not go down well in my own stomach, apparently).
Hiro Protagonist's place sounded awful, but much better than this in Snowcrash.
Home of The Suki Series
Off topic? Come on, that's hilarious!!! Posting anonymously to prevent the mod gods from crushing me...
I would get beaten to death by other patrons who didn't appreciate my revving-dirtbike-level snoring.
The fact that Japan's homelessness is large enough to now be visible is pretty shocking. Although as far back as 2001, I saw a few homeless in Ueno park. It's a problem they very much liked to sweep under the rug, but they can no longer. Most Japanese are taught to save as much as we spend, even if you're dirt poor, and that usually mitigates the chances of one becoming homeless, if it is only for lack of a job. But as the person at the end of the article shows, that will only go so far, if you are out of a job for a long time. An increasing disconnectedness in family structure may also contribute to a decreasing natural social safety net in urban areas. The latter is only a guess. There are varying qualities of capsule hotels, and it sounds like the lower end ones are becoming long term residencies.
Does the Navy bunk comfortably rest one society-vulnerable man or very comfortably rest two grown consenting men?
sicko.
I'ld sleep in the canon barrels or on deck in my shoes before admitting any of that.
Wouldn't that be cheaper to reduce the population instead of continually making people live like rats in a cage?
Guess we'll just have to wait for the rest of the world to turn to total shit before living in a storage unit becomes 'appealing'.
Hey what do you know...just like my Carl Fargman drawers back at home.
I do feel for the poor chaps who must do it, but personally, I do this _every_ chance I get. Longest was about 2 weeks. I actually prefer capsules to conventional hotels: nice long saunas, a chance to meet and hang out with interesting people (rather than holing up in a room), it forces you to stay out (again, so you don't stay holed in), and you can't beat the price: $25-$35 a night, right in the middle of all the action.
You could also do pretty much the same at Internet Cafes. I've found the accommodation (couch+cubicle+snacks+internet+manga+games) to be far better than even most first-class flight cabins. You still need your everyday clothes on, so I'd stay there max 2 days.
Tip: best way to visit Japan: travel very light. Buy shaving supplies, soap, t-shirts, etc. at the local combini or 99 yen store. Instead of spend money at a single hotel, spend it traveling to different parts of the country: danjiri festival here, live music there, temple over there, robots over there, party over here. All without luggage to slow you down.
health care is free / payed for by all as well,
So people with out jobs can still get care
When I traveled to Japan I ended up staying in a capsule hotel for one night. The problem (and only problem) I had with them is the fact that they allow smoking. Almost every japanese male (male only btw) smokes, as one of my old japanese coworkers said "You aren't a man if you don't smoke". Well, when you have 510 people smoking in a very very small building it becomes not only disgusting but I got really sick from it. After that day I stopped smoking, and haven't lit up since.
WTF Slashdot, why do I have to login 50 times to post?
What are the chances of any of these guys bringing a real live girl back to their "capsule"?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
By Tokyo standards $640 a month is cheap
(Opinion Alert)
I'd love to see it implemented in the states. We yanks over the pond seem to think the size of your sleeping quarters is essentially proportional to your rank in society, and having this totally alternative means of housing, even for just a short term, could provide a constructive new perspective to a lot of people. Hitting "rock bottom," while still absolutely devastating, would be survivable. You'd have to start from the beginning (and bottom), but for people that fall off the wagon that's usually what they need. These domiciles could also become a sort of luxury for the homeless on particularly stormy days. Since all things age, perhaps in time the older capsule's could be subsidized for permanent homeless accommodation. I just really can't see a downside to these things, and can only see a huge gain for a variety of cultures in the US.
Also, capsules would enable a lifestyle not seen since the 60s and 70s (the most artistically prolific period of the US, IMO, and largely in part of the widespread bohemianism), and it would not be fueled by drugs, an outcasted youth, and war but rather the simple fact that its realistic and safe. It would be possible to live a completely normal life without ever owning a home and just paying your $X to bunk up on whatever side of town you ended the night. Whether or not you choose to accept it, there is a fairly large bohemian subculture in the US and cheap capsule housing could transform the lifestyle into something safer. And like I said before, all of the homeless could potentially take advantage of this. This benefits all of society in a multitude of ways--less people on the streets means less crime, less disease, and prettier cities just to name a few. If you're apposed to bohemianism and alternative lifestyles then think of it this way: we dirty hippies would finally be off of your lawn!
I could keep going on about how profitable this could be for the private sector, and how cheap this would be for the government to utilize (seems like they already do, see Navy post) but I'm pretty high and getting rambly so I'll spare you that mess. I can't wait to read the replies on this story... hopefully there'll be a good debate on whether capsule housing is practical or not.
Craigslist for NYC shows single rooms in sublets or shared apartments at a minimum of $125/week, so it's not outrageous to have your own space with a lockable door this way.
I've been thinking about this since I first saw it reported. I haven't been to Japan in two years, but I did live in central Tokyo for several years and I think I got a feel for the place. I know exactly where this hotel is and walked by it quite often.
A Shinjuku capsule hotels are not the cheapest in the city by any means. A $3 train ride can save you 50%. The only reason most people don't do that is because they missed the last train--not a problem for the unemployed.
And while yes, it is cheaper than a Tokyo apartment, many (most?) people who -work- in Tokyo can't afford to -live- there. They live out in the 'burbs, up in Saitama or down in Kawasaki or wherever, where you can get your own place for a lot less. Sure, it's an hour train ride to work, but in Tokyo that's pretty standard. And you'd get your own place rather than a luxury coffin.
I've talked to my friends who still work in central Tokyo trying to get conformation of this 'trend' but all of them have reported back that this is bogus. But none of them are homeless businessmen, so my sampling is biased.
“I have looked and looked, but there are no jobs. Now my savings are almost gone,”
Anyone who saves effort by depending on others to be supplied a job -- as though it were a public resource -- is an idiot, and deserves what they get. I trust they were happy when they wrote a resume, got an interview, got hired, and got paid within three weeks. Now they get to notice that they were saving effort then, and the expense of money now.
By all means, take the easy road, and hope it leads somewhere. Don't be surprised if it winds up leading nowhere.
Can't find a job? Can't find a cake? Bake your own cake. It's not hard. Start your own business. It is hard.
Good news, those easy roads you took were paved for you by people who started the business from nothing. You decided not to. Congrats. Youwere lauhing then, today, sucks to be you.
I built two businesses from scratch. One ten years ago, that thrives now, and doubly so in this economy. The second one I started two years ago, and it has grown at half-price during this economy. It's a wonderful thing.
Finding problems and solving them yourself makes you valuable. Being available to help someone else makes them more valuable -- and it makes you replaceable, and removable. Big surprise.
Incidentally, the first man in this article studied economics. You'd have thought he'd have see this coming.
Even high end spas in the countryside accept westeners with discreet(ish) tattoos. Yes, the official policy is still "100% tattoo ban", but it's not enforced. Hell, some places even let Yakuza in, but maybe those are not the finest of establishments.
On a topic more related to OP: The capsule hotels are not that bad, especially since you have washing facilities and good security. Also, if you have a capsule hotel where you can make a deal not to be thrown out every morning with all your belongings, which is what usually happens, and if you can make it a permanent address for jobseeking purposes, it becomes a downright awesome option for people on the way down or early on their way up.
I'd rather live in a capsule than in a cardboard box in an alley somewhere. Safer, warmer, and more secure.
"If you want to know what happens to you when you die, go look at some dead stuff."
The neuromancer tagline is pretty apropros. It is a shame that stuff like this has to spring up. I feel bad for the economic victims.
For those who don't know, "politics" is the American term for yakuza or organized crime.
Bow-ties are cool.
The capsule motels, despite the cigarette smoke, are actually quite nice inside. The only reason this works is that the Japanese value cleanliness more than most other cultures, and even the perpetually unemployed tend to pick up their own trash. Here in San Francisco, I'm sure the floors would be riddled with needles and the stench would pervade over a 3 block radius.
Also, I'm pretty sure they like to rent out the lower bunks first as I can see major injuries occurring with drunken salarymen trying to get their head into the second row.
They spooked me a bit but then I'm a little claustrophobic. I was doing business with one a company who had developed one and I was given a tour. They also reminded me of the sort of thing William Gibson described in Neuromancer.
ideopath @ play
It's the fact that it does force you to really stay out that seems to be the crux to me. It's hard not to practically hemorrhage money hanging out in any large city (I'm sure Tokyo is no exception). I imagine you might start to reach the point of diminishing returns by being out in the city so much and not having a kitchen.
ôó
By Tokyo standards $640 a month is cheap
I don't think the average American realizes just how expensive it is to live in Japan. It makes San Francisco or New York seem affordable in comparison.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
"The fact that Japan's homelessness is large enough to now be visible is pretty shocking"
A lot of things about Japan would surprise people. But this is only going to get worse. I was reading this weekend about just how much trouble Japan is in. IIRC from the newspaper article, their national debt is 212% of the GDP, twice what the US's is. The savings rate for Japanese citizens used to average 10%. As the old have died off, and the less-numerous young entered adulthood, that rate has dropped precipitously to 3%. And there's much less home and real estate ownership on average in Japan than in the states. There may well be an impending debt crisis... some investors are actually betting against Japanese government bonds. So while the US is hurting, Japan is too. They've just done a better job of hiding it, but that's changing.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Nowadays, if you're willing to stay even just a little bit outside of the Yamanote loop line, and if you know where to look (hint: online, especially if you can read a bit of Japanese, in which case Jalan.net is the place to go), you can get small hotel rooms for the same price as capsule hotels in Tokyo.
I should know: I'm sitting in such a room right now. The place where I'm staying has weekly rates which rival the cheapest apartment room rentals -- which usually have the inconvenience of requiring upfront monthly payments, deposits, and often "key money" and "gift money" (unless dealing with special agencies like Sakura House who specialize in housing foreigners, the first month of rent can easily cost you four times the normal rent, and we haven't talked about the utilities yet)
Since this is /. : did I mention that my room has top-notch Internet connectivity? I was downloading stuff from my Montreal-based "home" server at over 50 Mb/s yesterday night! You get an Ethernet jack in the room, and the place is blanketed with free wifi. (Of course you still end up behind a NAT, but I don't think I've ever seen a hotel handing out public IPs...)
The hotel is split in smoking and non-smoking floors, and there's even a women-only floor. There's a coin laundry on the first floor, nice bathing and toilet facilities (cleaner than most 6000-8000 yen/night downtown Shinjuku business hotels I've stayed in), microwave ovens and hot water on each floor... With convenience stores and 100yen shops close by, it makes it really easy to live on a shoestring budget even in this supposedly extremely expensive city.
And this place is far from unique: hell, there's another one just like it right across the street.
Did I mention the best part yet? Unlike most budget hotels... there are virtually no noisy foreigners here!
Which is why I won't tell you where it is ;->
"Words have meaning, and names have power." -- Lorien
"Atsushi Nakanishi, 40, is out of work in Japan, where unemployment has hit 5.2 percent."
i'll admit i laughed when i read that. 5.2%? really? that's considered a pretty ok economy over here (u.s.). now i don't know who i feel sad for.
In the West there are all sorts of protection for people who are unemployed. Employment insurance, welfare, etc. Even in the US.
I haven't spent all that much time in Japan but have heard enough about it and have visited there enough to know that being out of work is far more disastrous than it would be in our countries. Not only would you be homeless, but you'd have no protection whatsoever (hence the homeless part) and you'd also have to deal with a great amount of shame from both your family, your compatriots and the greater society at large. That is why, in a decent economy, Japanese employers really shy away from firing people unless absolutely necessary. Why do you think Japan has the highest suicide rate in the entire world? Many people throw themselves infront of a train when they lose their job.
The times are a-changin'.
i didn't know that. thanks for explaining.
We are 6.7 billion and counting. Japan itself has 1/3 of US population in an area of a single state. If they want more people, all they need is issue some immigrant visas to residence of somewhat less affluent (but not necessarily dirt poor/crime riden) countries. The way the world is now there is absolutely no reason to push any woman to have more children.
Not that much smaller than the sleeper berth in a truck. Or as my brother referred to it when he saw one "a prison cell on wheels".
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Ive stayed in one here, and the reception girls are way too friendly and theres free champagne, snacks, chitchat, the occassional cleavage for the claustrophobia to matter. But they seem to have the capsules bugged with mics - I once dropped a glass and shattered it. The front desk promptly called to check if everything was ok. Since the doors are thickly padded and the seams are sealed, hey couldnt have heard the sound unless theyd a mic inside. Freaked me out. But for EU30, it was a decent deal.
Those look eerily like the sleep cabins in the ship that Korben Dallas took to the resort ship in Fifth Element...
Just sayin...