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The last time I was in Tokyo without a place to sleep, an incredibly helpful japanese couple guided me to an internet cafe that offered single rooms with a bed-couch for a far cheaper price than any hotel. They even had a shower.

How can I find such places in Japan without relying on helpful strangers?

Is there a way to look them up in advance?

Is there some sign I would recognize when passing by such a place, with only a very cursory knowledge of kanji?

Or is this perhaps a standard offer for certain brands of internet cafes? How would I recognize those?

Or if this really requires some local insider knowledge, what is the correct term to ask the locals for?

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Yeah. They're called Manga Cafes, or mangakissa, and you need to find if they have seating options - ie reclining, pair seat, party room or more.

Wikipedia's page on Manga Cafes

Apparently there's a search engine for them that lets you specify criteria, but I'm getting a Tomcat error when I look - so not sure if it's just temporarily not working or down.

Sunny Pages also lets you search for them in English, as well as a variety of other types of cafes (Maid cafes, for example).

And mobile netcafe is another location that lets you search for them online by prefecture.

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I used this Tokyo Cheapo post to find internet cafes (specifically the Manboo! brand). Manboo! has standard pricing and are relatively easy to find.

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Some onsens (public bath) offer accomodation too. You can find them easily, they have a common symbol:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Japanese_Map_symbol_%28Spa%29.svg/2000px-Japanese_Map_symbol_%28Spa%29.svg.png

And some very cheap options are listed here too: http://justporcupine.com/backpacking-in-japan-sleep/

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  • It's actually fairly uncommon for onsen to offer cheap accommodation in Japan. Capsule hotels, on the other hand, tend to offer elaborate bathing facilities as a part of the deal.
    – lambshaanxy
    Jan 21, 2015 at 3:27

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