ASAKUSA Underground > Sleep in a Net cafe
Net cafe (net-toe cafe) : cyber cafe in Japanese
One of the ways to economize your accomodation cost is to "sleep in a Net cafe." You can spend a night for around 1,000yen when you choose a "pack ryokin" (pack-koo ryoh-kin / package price).
Cyber cafes in Japan started as an offshoot of Manga cafes. A Manga cafe is a library-like cafe equipped with literally thousands of Manga comic books. Once you order a soft drink, you can stay there as long as you want, read as many comic books as you want, and have as many glasses of your favorite soft drinks as you want. As Internet became more integrated into the Japanese life, we came to see more of hybrids between a cyber cafe and a Manga cafe.
When you sleep in a Net cafe, we cannot guarantee you the comfort which you feel when you spend a night in a proper hotel, i.e., sleep on a bed.
Inside of a Net cafe, you find several spaces separated by partitions. They call them busu (boo-oo-sue / booth). Each booth is basically independent, and, having been led into one, you are able to have a sort of "privacy," thanks to the walls surrounding you.
But you cannot help feeling that it is inhumanely cramped. Can one really sleep in the booth? It seems that each individual has his own answer.
When you enter a Net cafe, you are asked to choose your "room."
These are the examples of "rooms"
- koshitsu booth <private "room" booth>; with a computer and a reclining chair.
- koshitsu booth <ditto> / mat booth (mat-toe boo-oo-sue); with a mat on the floor, occasionally with a tatami mat.
- kappuru booth <couple booth> ; a special booth for a couple. In a Kappuru booth, a Japanese couple often indulge in some immoral activities. Although the shop management will not impose you their moral judgement, ASAKUSA Underground editiorship righteously insist that good readers of this guide must not imitate the lewd behaviour of local "fallen angels."
- opun supeisu <open space>; not divided by partitions
# Caution!
Do NOT think you can stretch your sleeping bag in the booth. The average space of a booth is half the size of a tatami mat. (see Note) How can you sleep in such a small space? The answer could be either by lying like a shrimp or by sitting on the chair.
In spite of the lack of spacial comfort, sleeping in a Net cafe can be still one of your choices if you wish to keep your hotel expenditure lower and are able to sleep in any condition.
In addition, some Net cafes have shower facilities. With a little help from a Net cafe, you are not only better conected to the rest of the world, but can travel more cheaply and cleanly.
<Note>
The size of an Edo tatami: width 3 shaku (90.9cm), length 6 shaku (181.8cm)
Even though it varies slightly, it can be said it is standardized. The old concept of "Module," which impressed the Swiss architect Le Corbusier enormously.
----------Conversation Tips----------
"Shawa tsuki?"
<words>
Shawa (sha-wah) : shower
Tsuki : with, included
<translation>
"With showers?"
The expression "tsuki" is very handy. You have only to add the word "tsuki" after the name of the object which you want to make sure is included. (Not like English "with," which comes before the word)
__________ tsuki? = With __________ ?
"Tsuki" also means the moon.
----------Pronunciation Tips----------
"Couple" / an "L" or an "R"
As some other Asian and Pacific region populations, the Japanese do not distinguish an "L" from an "R." This makes quite difficult for many visitors to comprehend an English word used in Japanese, like "couple."
The word "couple" is so assimilated into the modern Japanese language that it has become almost embarassing for locals to pronounce it in the correct English way when they talk in their mother tongue. It sounds as snobbish as using French words in English conversation "sans arret."
Therefore you never hear the word "couple" pronounced as it is by a Japanese. Its local pronunciation is "kappuru (cup-poo-loo/roo)."
An "L" and an "R" are interchangeable as are a "B" and "V."
So, don't get confused when you hear a Japanese kappuru telling each other, "I rub you." It means, "I love you."
Sleep in a Net cafe
Net cafe (net-toe cafe) : cyber cafe in Japanese
One of the ways to economize your accomodation cost is to "sleep in a Net cafe." You can spend a night for around 1,000yen when you choose a "pack ryokin" (pack-koo ryoh-kin / package price).
Cyber cafes in Japan started as an offshoot of Manga cafes. A Manga cafe is a library-like cafe equipped with literally thousands of Manga comic books. Once you order a soft drink, you can stay there as long as you want, read as many comic books as you want, and have as many glasses of your favorite soft drinks as you want. As Internet became more integrated into the Japanese life, we came to see more of hybrids between a cyber cafe and a Manga cafe.
When you sleep in a Net cafe, we cannot guarantee you the comfort which you feel when you spend a night in a proper hotel, i.e., sleep on a bed.Inside of a Net cafe, you find several spaces separated by partitions. They call them busu (boo-oo-sue / booth). Each booth is basically independent, and, having been led into one, you are able to have a sort of "privacy," thanks to the walls surrounding you.
But you cannot help feeling that it is inhumanely cramped. Can one really sleep in the booth? It seems that each individual has his own answer.
When you enter a Net cafe, you are asked to choose your "room."
These are the examples of "rooms"
- koshitsu booth <private "room" booth>; with a computer and a reclining chair.
- koshitsu booth <ditto> / mat booth (mat-toe boo-oo-sue); with a mat on the floor, occasionally with a tatami mat.
- kappuru booth <couple booth> ; a special booth for a couple. In a Kappuru booth, a Japanese couple often indulge in some immoral activities. Although the shop management will not impose you their moral judgement, ASAKUSA Underground editiorship righteously insist that good readers of this guide must not imitate the lewd behaviour of local "fallen angels."
- opun supeisu <open space>; not divided by partitions
# Caution!
Do NOT think you can stretch your sleeping bag in the booth. The average space of a booth is half the size of a tatami mat. (see Note) How can you sleep in such a small space? The answer could be either by lying like a shrimp or by sitting on the chair.
In spite of the lack of spacial comfort, sleeping in a Net cafe can be still one of your choices if you wish to keep your hotel expenditure lower and are able to sleep in any condition.
In addition, some Net cafes have shower facilities. With a little help from a Net cafe, you are not only better conected to the rest of the world, but can travel more cheaply and cleanly.
<Note>
The size of an Edo tatami: width 3 shaku (90.9cm), length 6 shaku (181.8cm)
Even though it varies slightly, it can be said it is standardized. The old concept of "Module," which impressed the Swiss architect Le Corbusier enormously.
----------Conversation Tips----------
"Shawa tsuki?"
<words>
Shawa (sha-wah) : shower
Tsuki : with, included
<translation>
"With showers?"
The expression "tsuki" is very handy. You have only to add the word "tsuki" after the name of the object which you want to make sure is included. (Not like English "with," which comes before the word)
__________ tsuki? = With __________ ?
"Tsuki" also means the moon.
----------Pronunciation Tips----------
"Couple" / an "L" or an "R"
As some other Asian and Pacific region populations, the Japanese do not distinguish an "L" from an "R." This makes quite difficult for many visitors to comprehend an English word used in Japanese, like "couple."
The word "couple" is so assimilated into the modern Japanese language that it has become almost embarassing for locals to pronounce it in the correct English way when they talk in their mother tongue. It sounds as snobbish as using French words in English conversation "sans arret."
Therefore you never hear the word "couple" pronounced as it is by a Japanese. Its local pronunciation is "kappuru (cup-poo-loo/roo)."
An "L" and an "R" are interchangeable as are a "B" and "V."
So, don't get confused when you hear a Japanese kappuru telling each other, "I rub you." It means, "I love you."