Japan’s Cheapest Hotel

by Ewa Nowogorski

Recently, capsule hotels have gained a reputation for being very affordable, albeit cramped places to spend the night away from home. They resemble animal kennels and are often less than $30 a night to stay. You can take a shower, get pajamas to sleep in, and your tiny capsule even comes with a TV.

But this is not the kind of hotel I will be talking about here. Business Ryokan Asahi located in Fukuoka City is the hotel I want to discuss. Charging just a tiny amount of 130 yen (about $1.20 USD) per night, this unbelievably cheap fee costs less than a premium rice ball at Seven Eleven.

So what’s the catch? There definitely is one, right? Well yes, the best things in life don’t come for free (or at a low fee), so in this case, you will be giving up privacy completely. But if you’re ok with that, it seems like this place is right for you!

The privacy you are losing is not sleeping in the same room as 10 other people or bathing in the same tub as them, but rather having your room streamed on the hotel’s Youtube channel 24-7. Beware if you like to sleep in the nude.

Otherwise, you will be provided with a small, but still adequately sized room and a futon to sleep in. There’s even a TV in your room, as Japanese people value their TVs. You will find one in every hotel room no matter how cheap it is. It’s a unique concept that probably only Japan could pull off. This would be way too weird in America.