A capsule hotel (カプセルホテル, kapuseru hoteru?) is a type of hotel in Japan with a large number of extremely small rooms (capsules).
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Description
View in a capsule, with TV in the upper left cornerThe guest space is reduced in size to a modular plastic or fiberglass Fiberglass, , is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. It is used as a reinforcing agent for many polymer products; the resulting composite material, properly known as fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) or glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), is called "fiberglass" in popular usage. Glassmakers throughout history have experimented block roughly 2 m by 1 m by 1.25 m, providing room to sleep. Facilities range in entertainment offerings (most include a television, an electronic console, and wireless internet connection). These capsules are stacked side by side and two units top to bottom, with steps providing access to the second level rooms. Luggage is stored in a locker, usually somewhere outside of the hotel. Privacy is ensured by a curtain or a fibreglass door at the open end of the capsule. Washrooms are communal and most hotels include restaurants (or at least vending machines A vending machine provides snacks, beverages, lottery tickets, and other products to consumers without a cashier. Items sold via these machines vary by country and region), pools, and other entertainment facilities.
This style of hotel accommodation was developed in Japan and has not gained popularity outside of the country, although Western variants with larger accommodations and often private baths are being developed. Guests are asked not to smoke or eat in the capsules.[1]
These capsule hotels vary widely in size, some having only fifty or so capsules and others over 700. Many are used primarily by men[2]. There are also capsule hotels with separate male and female sleeping quarters. Clothes and shoes are sometimes exchanged for a yukata A yukata is a Japanese garment, a casual summer kimono usually made of cotton. People wearing yukata are a common sight in Japan at fireworks displays, bon-odori festivals, and other summer events. The yukata is also frequently worn after bathing at traditional Japanese inns. Though their use is not limited to after-bath wear, yukata literally and slippers on entry. A towel may also be provided. The benefit of these hotels is convenience and price, usually around ¥ The yen (sign: ¥; code: JPY) is the currency of Japan. It is the third most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market after United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling. As is common when counting in East Asia, large quantities of yen are often counted2000-4000 a night ($ The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents (200 half-cents prior to 1857)21-42, € The euro is the official currency of the European Union, and is currently in use in 16 of the 27 Member States. The states, known collectively as the Eurozone, are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovak republic, Slovenia and Spain. The currency is also used16-31, £ The pound sterling , commonly simply called the pound, is the currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown dependencies (the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence (singular: penny)15-29).
Most people who stay are businessmen too tired or far away to make the trip home.
History
The first capsule hotel was the Capsule Inn Osaka, designed by Kisho Kurokawa Kisho Noriaki Kurokawa (April 8, 1934 – October 12, 2007) was a leading Japanese architect and one of the founders of the Metabolist Movement and located in the Umeda Umeda is a commercial and business district in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, best known as the city's main northern railway terminus (Ōsaka Station, Umeda Station). Umeda is a large traffic hub, as well as the principal office and hotel district. It is especially a street lined with large buildings at West-Umeda, Dojima and Nakanoshima, with over 40 district of Osaka Osaka listen (help·info) is Japan's second largest city, and the heart of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with nearly 20 million people. Located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of Honshū, Osaka is a City in Japan and also is a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law. It opened on February 1, 1979, and the initial room rate was ¥1,600.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Solomon, Leonard (1997). Japan in a Nutshell. Top Hat Press, 115-166. ISBN 0912509066.
- ^ Accommodation in Japan
External links
Categories: Hotel types | Hotels in Japan Categories: Hotels by country | Tourism in Japan | Buildings and structures in Japan
Barnstable Patriot
Thanks to The Cape Cod Chronicle's Tim Wood for taking us inside a time capsule : the two-story, long-abandoned RCA campus hotel above Ryder's Cove. ...
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