The Hotel

Sometimes you don't have to go too far to find exactly what you're looking for. It was a while ago that Ken and I walked by a closed-down capsule hotel on the way to my place, wondering if there was a way in. We tried at it briefly, but to no avail. It was only recently that I decided to try at it again, and had a little more luck.
 Dead of night on a Sunday, I headed there determined to find the one way to lead me in. I headed up the exterior staircase, and from there, climbed onto the roof. Another set of stairs connected to the actual topmost floor, and from there, shimmying through narrow spaces, I managed to find the emergency ladders. Down one floor, and I was looking at another door, with a vent over it.

 I called Lo over, and with a little work, we were in the abandoned capsule hotel. Dario joined us too, and it was time for a little bit of exploration.
And frankly, we found everything in such good condition it was a little scary. Mattresses were laid out in every capsule, in good condition. Televisions were strewn about, a vacuum cleaner and air conditioning unit were still in the building, and the hair styling products sat neatly were they were left. It was as if the place was still in use, if not for the thin layer of dust and the sheer emptiness and silence of the space around us.
I had never even been to a normal, running capsule hotel, so I had myself a bit of a field day with the five floors laid out before me. Exploration time was imminent, and we swept from area to area, looking through every very nook in the place.
 And yet, the building had no interior stairs! How was one to get around?
 But with an elevator of course!

And yes, it turned out the elevator was still running. We were surprised to see it answer to our call as we pressed the button from the fourth floor, doors opening with lights and everything, spilling its glow into the otherwise dark building. Every floor was open to us, and we roamed for the better part of an hour flowing from the capsule floors, into the reception hall, through to the dining area, the office, the employees' lounge area and even the breaker rooms, but the best was yet to come, and we saved that for the very last.

As it turned out, the hotel also had a bath area on the topmost floor, complete with its very own sauna room. It was a bit of an eerie feeling, walking into a place usually so well lit and finding it disused and dry, sitting in the dark. I wondered out loud why there was only one bath area as opposed to two catering to each gender, but capsule hotels are very much facilities used only by men on domestic business trips, and so you'd be hard pressed to find anything servicing women. Come to think of it, there was even only one bathroom per floor.

All in all, the hotel was a good discovery! As it turns out, Tokyo has more abandoned facilities than meets the eye. One has only to look, though.