Internet Café’s

Internet café’s are very interesting things in Tokyo. Think of a darkened roomed filled with office carrels and that is pretty much it. Internet café’s double as nerd central, and one can rent the private booths by the hour and use the internet, watch anime from their extensive collection, read manga, play games, or sleep in the comfy chairs (and indeed, as I was typing away in an email a loud snoring was emanating from the booth next door). Quite often you need to become a member to use the facilities as I did in Ikebukuro, but generally one can find a café where it is not necessary. These places are also 24 hours, so when you miss the last train home (they generally stop at 1am) you have several options. You can go and find an all night Izakaya, a capsule hotel or rent a booth at an internet café. They even have towels and pyjamas available!