Foreign Visitors Discovering Japan's Business Hotels and Hostels

Above, a typical single room at the Tsukuba Hotel. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

With increasing numbers of foreign tourists flocking to Japan, the resulting demands for accommodations are putting strains on the Japanese hotel industry. But, foreign tourists are discovering Japanese business hotels and hostels.

The Japan Times reported:

With the drastic increase in tourism, the lack of lodging in the nation’s biggest cities, particularly Tokyo and Osaka, is providing a major opportunity for those running two types of accommodations: “business hotels” and hostels. 

Japan’s so-called business hotels are known for offering simpler rooms at more affordable prices than typical hotels. While they were traditionally patronized by budget-minded Japanese businessmen, frugal international travelers have caught on and are now among their major patrons in bustling Tokyo. 

Hostels, on the other hand, are not familiar to many Japanese but are frequented by foreigners on shoe-string budgets searching for something beyond the ordinary hotel experience.

The only business hotel I've stayed in while in Tokyo (in 2005 and 2014) was the Tsukuba Hotel in the Ueno section of the city. The rooms are tiny (I had a work cubicle about the same size as the main room), but the prices were very reasonable. The rooms were a tight squeeze, especially with my big suitcase. The only window in the room was in the bathroom.

Above, a different view of a single room at the Tsukuba Hotel. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here.