Job Discussion Forums

[fat-elvis]

This is something that has perplexed me ever since I first heard that public transit in Japan stops at midnight (who's the mastermind who came up with that idea?) What exactly do you do if you want a late night out into, say, Tokyo but you live out in the suburbs? Spend a massive amount for a cab ride back home? Spend a bunch on a hotel? Just not get any sleep at all and wait until morning for a train? I can't even fathom that here in the states, especially when talking about cities like Tokyo with such a renowned nightlife.

[fluffyhamster]

Yup, if you live too far for the taxi fare to be too expensive even to split with some friend(s), you're gonna have to find a way to pass the time until the first train back early the next morning. Aside from the options you've mentioned, you might also try one of the 24-hour net cafes and have at least a sitsy down for a couple of hours before, after or during the partying (such cafes often have private booths with quite comfy reclining seats, free drinks, toilets etc). Personally, I was usually about ready for a night or two out on the town each month (shortly after payday) after being stuck in a bedtown for the weeks on end prior.

I'm not sure of the reason why the trains all stop around midnight. I once read that the taxi drivers forced some law through, but I'd imagine it's more that the train companies don't want to be ferrying drunks and cleaning up vomit all hours (the Japanese can party pretty hard), and/or appear to be encouraging civic "disorder", and there's always work for some the next day (even on a Sunday!) - that, or they might have reckoned that their profits would start to drop after a certain point/time (and who knows, the Japanese people themselves might have said that they don't really want trains running through the night).

[Apsara]

It's very common in Tokyo to have an all-nighter, especially if you work for an eikaiwa and don't start work until the next afternoon or have the next day off. Sometimes we stayed at the bars/ clubs until the first train (between 5 and 6am), sometimes we left at 3-ish and spent the time in McDonalds, soba shops, cafes- plenty are open 24 hours here. There are even 24-hour clothing stores in the cities.

That all brings back some memories I'm 33 and way too old for that now...

[Sour Grape]

It doesn't have to cost that much to stay out - a coffin in the capsule hotel is only about 3500 yen.

Besides the reasons already posted, I'd say that one reason why it happens is that a lot of the economy in major cities depends on the money pissed up the wall wasting time between the last and first trains.

[southofreality]

If you have a usual group (or two) of friends that you like to party with, but live in the suburbs, head back to the neighborhood of one of your group members (preferably the one with the biggest apartment) on the last train, find a local place (karaoke shop, bar, izakaya, whatever...) and continue the party there. If you get tired, or just want to call it a night, head that member's apartment and crash. I guess if you're talking a group of ten or more, you'll have to split up the party around midnight, but...

[markle]

I've heard of largish groups 4+ crowding into a love hotel room, they have an overnight rate after a certain time. What happened as the night wore on no-one was saying but I guess it was an 'experience'.

I also know a girl who coughed up the 10,000 yen for the taxi fare from Nagoya to Toyota ( a half hour trip on the expressway)..... twice.

[Vince]

I remember missing the last train three times. One of the times I walked for an hour then caught a taxi (a tip I had heard from a student), another time I caught a taxi the whole way (I would have had to walk a half hour out of my way to cross a river), and the third time was in Shibuya and I just hung out until the first train.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

The "love hotel" late hours discount is a good idea. I remember many (and I mean many ) moons ago when I was tripping around Kabuki-cho sampling the, ahem, culture, I used to invest in a all-night cinema ticket in 2-chome, I think, wedge myself into one of those spacious Japanese cinema seats, and saw logs. A little crooked in the morning, but nothing that a little walk couldn't take care of.

NCTBA

[natsume]

I went into an internet cafe in Kabuki-cho one morning, and the private booth was in a huge dark room, the chair was huge, reclined, and very cozy. I could have easily fallen asleep, except I was getting jacked on coffee. Probaby the cheapest option. It is clear many Japanese people use them this way, as it is clear in the morning that some have been camped out for hours.

[parrothead]

There is a little sub-culture in larger cities, called Netcafe Refugees. It is cheaper option for many who live far away and can't make it home every night after work. You can buy a 5 or 6 hour block for a discounted price. Many netcafes even have shower rooms.

[partialtone]

Used to sleep with the other dregs at the 24 hour McDonald's in Shinjuku. It's not as bad as it sounds.

[fluffyhamster]

I don't know about sharing a love hotel room with just friends - when (not if!!) I'd book into one, I'd need all the bed/bath/sofa/table space I could get for just "the two of us" (hamsters in heat).

Furry-chested Manlyhamster

[markle]

[fluffyhamster]

Well, I should've added that it would be a bit ironic if, when you REALLY needed a love hotel pronto for you and your *beep*, you couldn't quite afford it because you'd forked out those fatal few thousand yen too many the week or so before to just play with the same or a similar hotel's light switches and taps with your mates...but, point taken, Markle, it would still be a few thousand yen to sit in a darkened net cafe oggling dodgy downloads.

Professor Manlyhamster (M.Econ.)

[Berzerker]

It sucks. By the time 11:00 rolls around I need to decide whether I want to down my beer and run to the station to get the train, or stay out all night and completely write off the next day.