Like hundreds of peas in a pod

Now I don’t always get a good night’s sleep. But I try to increase my chances by opening the window a tad, putting the humidifier on and going to bed before midnight (ahem, I said I try). I would never dream of trading in my lovely queen size bed with its fluffy quilt and pillows for a coffin-like pod in a capsule hotel-come-morgue! If I lived in Japan that is.

And yet Japanese business men find them tremendously useful. If you work late and miss your last train home, a night in a capsule hotel is often cheaper than catching a taxi. And if you go for a drink after work and get hammered, a capsule hotel is a good place to pass out.

They give you a fresh change of clothes and before bed you can kick back in a lounge with other business men and watch sport on a giant screen TV. Hell, it’s like a vacation! When you go to bed later you can even continue watching TV in your pod if you feel like it, then set the alarm clock, lower the blind and drift off. In the hope that none of the guests pull up your blind and axe you to death. But I digress.

In the morning, you can have a shower and pick up your drycleaned suit, or even sometimes have a luxurious bath and a massage! Who needs to go home to the wife when you can have all this and more!

In fact, there are sometimes sections reserved for women with spa facilities attached. But careful, no fraternizing allowed! And usually, women book more for pyjama parties, than from being inebriated (not very classy), as Japanese apartments are so small.

I’m not sure what I would do if I was a guy on business in Japan faced with the dilemma of missing my last train home. If I was over 6 foot tall, I’d have trouble getting into the pod. And if I also happened to be a light sleeper, the other guys’ drunken snoring would drive me wild.

I might be tempted to put on a wig, spike the punch and join the pyjama party.