Japanese culture: Manga kissa
Haha...sounds weird huh? Manga kissa is the Japanese name for manga cafe (kissa is short for kissaten, which means coffeeshop). Many of them are open 24 hours and offer private booths with huge reclining leather armshairs, internet computers and TVs. They offer a wide assortment of free hot and cold drinks and some manga kissas are even equipped with shower rooms! With a cheap overnight rate (known as night pack), manga kissas have become a popular place to spend the night for budget travellers.
So, after being played out by a capsule hotel, I headed for a manga kissa at Akabane city that's just 15 mins away by train from Saitama University, where I'm taking the JLPT exam tomorrow. This was my private booth! Cost me less than 2,000-yen for the whole night. Free toothbrushes in the bathroom too!
The booth is small, but there's enough space for the armchair to recline and there's a door to give you privacy. The armchair with footrest is definitely comfortable enough to sleep in (more comfortable than in an airplane). For light sleepers however, the lights and sounds of others' snoring in their booths might be a bit of a problem. Bring ear plugs and eye shades!
Give it a try...be surprised by the number of Japanese who spend the night at manga kissas reading or surfing the internet or playing computer games! There was a news article a few months back about a guy who got kicked out of a manga kissa after a month cos he couldn't afford to pay the bills he racked up!
Haha...sounds weird huh? Manga kissa is the Japanese name for manga cafe (kissa is short for kissaten, which means coffeeshop). Many of them are open 24 hours and offer private booths with huge reclining leather armshairs, internet computers and TVs. They offer a wide assortment of free hot and cold drinks and some manga kissas are even equipped with shower rooms! With a cheap overnight rate (known as night pack), manga kissas have become a popular place to spend the night for budget travellers.
So, after being played out by a capsule hotel, I headed for a manga kissa at Akabane city that's just 15 mins away by train from Saitama University, where I'm taking the JLPT exam tomorrow. This was my private booth! Cost me less than 2,000-yen for the whole night. Free toothbrushes in the bathroom too!
The booth is small, but there's enough space for the armchair to recline and there's a door to give you privacy. The armchair with footrest is definitely comfortable enough to sleep in (more comfortable than in an airplane). For light sleepers however, the lights and sounds of others' snoring in their booths might be a bit of a problem. Bring ear plugs and eye shades!
Give it a try...be surprised by the number of Japanese who spend the night at manga kissas reading or surfing the internet or playing computer games! There was a news article a few months back about a guy who got kicked out of a manga kissa after a month cos he couldn't afford to pay the bills he racked up!
posted by Cindy @ Japan @ 6:49 PM
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