After travelling to Tokyo for meetings, Yoshiki Kojima’s IT company employees crash out in a capsule hotel, as a tourism boom makes regular rooms too pricey for business trips.
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A weak yen is attracting more visitors than ever to Japan, with national tourism figures for 2024, released on Wednesday, expected to top 2019’s record of nearly 32 million.
But that is also raising prices for Kojima’s staff and other Japanese business travellers.
Capsule hotels, a Japanese institution, offer claustrophobic bed-sized pods, often double-stacked in rows.
They have a “shabby” reputation, Kojima said, so he found a more comfortable establishment that boasts high-end mattresses and a television in each capsule.
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“It’s clean, convenient and has a traditional shared bath house. My employees say it’s fun,” he said.