Japan’s Latest Budget Accommodation: Internet Cafes
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 05.15.07 | 3:14 PM ET
Photo by Jael via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Seriously. The nation that brought us the capsule hotel has done it again. The country’s working poor—and salarymen who don’t want to spring for a capsule after a night of drinking—are spending nights in Internet cafes, according to a Reuters story. For $12 to $20, they get a reclining chair in front of a computer, soft drinks, comics and, of course, Internet access. No word on how many low-budget travelers (also known as the backpack lunatic fringe) are spending nights in Internet cafes, but Wikitravel suggest Japanese cafes are an option, noting that some even provide a mat to sleep on and a shower.
Some regulars say spending the night in a cafe isn’t very comfortable. I believe it, though I do recall many Internet cafes I visited in Japan being remarkably quiet. (Say, compared to many in China, which were often full of screaming, chain-smoking teen-agers.)
The man who took this photo, which we believe is of himself trying to sleep in a Japanese Internet cafe, wrote in the caption: “I paid my 1200 yen, I should be able to sleep, right? Alas, I got not a wink in the internet cafe, and was forced to surf the net till five am.”
Anyone else tried it? Anyone in a Japanese Internet cafe right now, unable to sleep, enjoying a little World Hum?
Do tell.
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
Ardith C. 05.16.07 | 4:47 AM ET
I’ve spent two nights at Internet cafes. The first was a great experience, at a branch of Manboo Internet & Comic Cafe in Shinjuku, after missing the night’s last train. For about 1800 yen I got a small, private, dimly-lit room with relatively comfortable reclining chair, Internet, TV and headphones; outside the door were walls of manga and an included drink bar. The place also had a shower room, with towels for rent and toiletries for sale. Based on that experience, I tried to stay at an Internet cafe instead of trying to find a hotel after a late-running event in Yokohama. Bad choice; it was one big brightly-lit room filled with long tables where you sat in a regular chair at a carrel. That was one rugged night. I wouldn’t hesitate to crash at a Manboo (http://manboo.co.jp/) again, but anyplace else, would need to get a look at the interior first.
Jim Benning 05.18.07 | 8:44 PM ET
Thanks for the report, Ardith!
cheap airfares advocate 06.10.07 | 1:38 PM ET
yikes, with Tokyo and most cities hotel prices in Japan, it’s really not a bad idea for foreign budget travellers too.
Great suggestion for travellers just looking for a quick nap and daily city hopping.
James Clark 03.14.08 | 3:29 AM ET
That’s a good option if you are only in Japan on a stop-over and are on a tight budget.
I have personally spent all nighters at internet cafes in London to save staying in hostels/hotels.
Easyinternetcafe (of the same easy brand as easyjet) used to have a branch cafe opposite London Victoria Station. You could buy a ticket at midnight for one pound and use it until 7 or 8 in the morning. Flourescent lights and uncomfortable chairs meant sleeping wasn’t an option, but it was a good way to clear out the inboxes and surf the net without time constraints. In the morning you emerge bleary eyed to catch a train/bus at London Victoria.
seo 04.26.08 | 2:48 AM ET
seo is the field in which people are earning really very good through using internet!
Jprsai 04.30.08 | 1:49 PM ET
I never heard before that mat to sleep and allow showers in any Internet cafes, I’m very un-happy, its total mis-use of Technology. I don’t see any business ethics
Poconos 09.09.08 | 11:06 PM ET
You got to sleep some where. This would have been fine with me when I was a younger man. I still like to crash on my couch some nights. I would think for city life this is not bad. I have a few firends in NYC and their pads are not much better than a chair in a internet cafe.