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Tokyo's latest capsule hotel features a spiral staircase and other new twists

13 Comments
Photo: Nine Hours Takebashi

As the sun sets, the sleep pods' round openings take on an orange glow, resembling a stream of lanterns.

This, says the Nikkei Marketing Journal (June 13) with a flourish, is the Nine Hours Takebashi, a capsule hotel located in close proximity to Tokyo's Imperial Palace that opened last March. Set in an 8-story building, the hotel consists of 129 "sleeping pods" with male and female customers assigned to separate floors. Accommodations are a reasonable 4,900 yen per night.

At the name implies, the concept behind the nine hours covers the total duration needed for the average paying guest -- that is one hour to take a shower, seven hours for sleeping and one hour for grooming and dressing. The hotel's designer has sought simplicity throughout, eliminating a common room for watching TV. Its elegant design, however, is modern and eye pleasing.

"I wanted to bring out the uniqueness of its location," says architect Akihisa Hirata in explaining his design of the hotel building, by which he drew on the shape of the palace moat at Takebashi -- where a colorful old wooden bridge across the moat also stands -- for inspiration. This shape exposes the capsules on all eight floors to light from outdoors, from bright sunshine in the early morning to glitter from the stars at night. The emergency exits are served by silver-colored spiral staircase that enhances the exterior design.

Just two months later, in May, another Hirata-designed capsule hotel began operations in Akasaka. This one adopts the theme of a "place to catch a rest on a back street." Its exterior and interior are festooned with greenery, giving a sharp contrast that proposes coexistence with the surrounding urban jungle.

Keisuki Yui, proprietor of Nine Hours was inspired to follow in the footsteps of his late father, who had opened a capsule hotel in Tokyo's Akihabara Electric Town in 1999. (Japan's original capsule hotel had opened in Osaka in 1979.) In 2009, Yui founded "Nine Hours Kyoto," adopting a fresh and modern approach. Another facility, which opened in 2014 at Narita Airport, even dispensed with a lounge next to the reception desk. Concentrating on the bare necessities for passengers in transit, it emphasized function over form and took a minimalist approach.

"What customers seek are neither 'interesting' designs nor decorative elements, but a comfortable building that makes them feel its functionality," explained Yui.

One thing the new Takebashi facility does offer is a "running station" -- since the nearby palace is one of the most popular parts of the city for joggers. The Akasaka hotel, on the other hand, provides a corner for making one's own hand-drip coffee.

Up to now, boasts Yui, the capsule hotels in his still-growing chain have hosted over 400,000 guests over the past decade and a half, including people from some 60 different countries.

"I'd eventually like to open maybe 50 to 60 places, and then move abroad -- to North America or Europe -- perhaps," remarked Yui.

The first capsule hotel was said to have been inspired by the late architect Kisho Kurokawa, spun off from futuristic hexagonal capsules that were introduced at the International World Exposition in Osaka in 1970. Once derided as "rabbit hutches" only for Japanese businessmen confined to tight travel budgets, they have gained wider appeal among women and foreign visitors, thanks in part to dissemination via internet and SNSs.

© Japan Today

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13 Comments
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These things still exist?

They had better be cheap.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

I stayed in a 9hours at Narita Airport - it was fantastic. Very popular as well, for people arriving late, leaving early, or having a long layover and wanting to experience something "Japanese".

I've tried using it again, but couldn't get a booking. Too popular!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Just because the exhausted businessman who misses the last train only has seven hours to sleep before having to go back to work again doesn't mean that the average person only wants to sleep seven hours instead of eight.

Do you actually only get nine hours befor ebeing booted out, or is that just the name?

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Wonder how common that usage was? Never heard that term in reference to capsule hotels.

Good point. I only recall it being used once, in Tokyo Weekender, which featured the original Capsule Inn Osaka back in the early 1980s.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

You'd think with the cramped size of these 'rooms', they'd be priced accordingly. Why spend that amount of money if you can get a whole room with private bathroom in another hotel?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The first capsule hotel I visited was in Osaka and had a gym, swimming pool, sauna, and spa with hot tubs and a jacuzzi. It was about the same price as a single apartment in Osaka on Airbnb. Easily the best value-for-money hotel experience I've ever had.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I grew soft living in America and developed a fondness for soft beds. The mattress at the Narita cube hotel was not soft enough for me. I can only assume the mattress in this cube hotel is the same. Second it is rather pricey and I would rather stay at a business hotel.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If I can sneak one of my girlfriends in with me it may be a good deal.

Judging from the space, I think she'd have to lie on top of you.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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