Looking for info on Tokyo

September 10, 2007 11:02 PM

I am visiting Tokyo next week. I have a few questions inside on where to stay and what to do.

I do not have a place to stay the first night I am there. I want to stay in a capsule hotel for the night. Any recommendations? Can I just show up or do I need to make reservations?

I also want to take in a concert if possible. Are there any small rock concert going on next week?

Any other suggestions on what to do while I am there would be greatly appreciated.

posted by gaelenh to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

You might check out Tokyo Q which I used occasionally when I was there. Can't help you with capsule hotels as I never did one (glories of expense accounting) but I don't think you generally have to have reservations for them.
posted by R343L at 11:28 PM on September 10, 2007

The tokyo gig guide might help.
posted by bunglin jones at 11:37 PM on September 10, 2007

As an American trying to get by here myself I can HIGHLY recommend

http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/recent/listings.asp#concerts

Metropolis is a great site for gijin looking for something to do.

SHIBUYA O West is a great place to catch a show if anything good is there, there usually is.

As far a capsule hotels go, I can only recommend against it, and in its place try a love hotel, they are abundant and fairly cheap, and incredibly cool.

Make sure to spend time in shibuya, and at least visit Roppongi for a night, but don't spend too much time there, it gets old real fast, but a great place for photos.

I have so many ideas for you, if you want some more you can mail me at kbenzle @ gmail . com .

If you like the night life dance club you should try Ageha (www.ageha.com) it is all kinds of Japanese fun.
posted by nintendo at 2:05 AM on September 11, 2007

The capsule hotels sound fun as a novelty, but that wears off quickly when you find your fellow "travellers" are drunk salarymen who missed their last train home. The love hotel is a good idea *ahem* especially if you meet a friend *ahem*.
posted by zardoz at 4:04 AM on September 11, 2007

Two of my friends stayed in a capsule hotel for one night in Tokyo, and sure it was only cool for the novelty, but they enjoyed it as a one night thing. They reserved beds at Capsule Hotel Asakusa River Side, email [e-mail] (that's the address they used to book it last year, I think we picked it out of a guidebook, most likely Lonely Planet. They emailed in English, don't know if the front desk staff speak any).
posted by jacalata at 5:30 AM on September 11, 2007

Thanks for the help. I will consider the recommendation of a love hotel over a capsule hotel. Both the concert listings were helpful too (I'm disappointed to see I'll be missing Battles by only a couple days, not that I don't get my fair share of them here).
posted by gaelenh at 7:03 AM on September 11, 2007

We stayed in the Capsule Hotel Fontaine in Tokyo. I wouldn't let people talk you out of it, it was a blast. We had two women and one man, so the women were on one floor and my husband was on the men's floor by himself, but it was still a great experience. And the Capsule Hotel Fontaine (walking distance to the New Otani and other big hotels), is always ranked among the very top capsules. We watched "Friends" in Japanese in the lounge and ate at the across-the-street Denny's the next morning. I don't regret a second of it.
posted by GaelFC at 7:10 AM on September 11, 2007

Dreams Come True is playing the 22nd & 23rd, in the national stadium in Yoyogi.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 10:31 AM on September 11, 2007

Do yourself a BIG favor and book somewhere to stay the first night, you don't need the hassle on your first day. I didn't book anything, and coming into Japan I pretty much flummoxed the customs agent by leaving the "where are you staying" line blank. After that, I went to two different tourist agencies and pretty much everything was booked up. My impression of tourist agencies there is semi-poor -- they sent me to one hotel, I arrived, they indicated there were no more rooms. I eventually found a nice ryokan in Asakusa after walking way too much.
posted by user92371 at 1:33 PM on September 11, 2007