IronpigsWizard@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I remember reading about, “pod hotels” in Akiharbara, “Electric Town”, Japan in the late 90s or early 2000s. I recall them being marketed as a cheap way to see the neighborhood. Even back then, Akiharbara was the global epicenter of anime/manga, retro gaming, arcades, computer stores and repair shops.
Glad to see the concept has now evolved to, “dystopian hell” some 20 years later.
dannym@lemmy.escapebigtech.info 11 months ago
yeah, to be clear: capsule hotels in japan are not meant to be long term stays, they’re for busy business people that need a quick place to sleep for ONE night because they worked till late at night and missed the last train, or similar situations like that. Nobody actually lives in a capsule hotel
KillAllPoorPeople@lemmy.world 11 months ago
There have to be people living in capsule hotels in Japan. There are people in Japan living in computer cafes, where the lights are on 24/7. Japan isn’t all sunshine and roses. Tons of people barely hanging on and these cheap ass places let them have at least some sort of dignity, which is something that doesn’t exist in the US.
dannym@lemmy.escapebigtech.info 11 months ago
KillAllPoorPeople@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I mean.
IronpigsWizard@lemmy.world 11 months ago
It’s really sad that someone had the thought process of, “I bet we can convince people to live in these fucking things”. An despite this small bump in the road, it is seemingly working.
It’s disgusting how many people will leverage housing costs (especially in San Francisco) against their fellow (hu)man.
AssPennies@lemmy.world 11 months ago
And living this way isn’t new there, either, it’s an “evolution”.
I can recall a story over a decade ago about google employees renting uhaul trucks to live in, parked on the google campus parking lots. The same article also followed some engineers who were illegally living in rent-a-storage spaces.
So compared to that, it makes these pods look like luxury living, even though they’re all pretty depraved.
Being a software dev myself, I’ll gladly take a lower salary in a low cost-of-living city if it means I can own a house (and not be mortgage poor, either).
IronpigsWizard@lemmy.world 11 months ago
All valid points. Thanks for mentioning, “mortgage poor”. It’s amazing how many people think that’s the solution to rent…when you’re typically agreeing to pay, essentially rent, for 30 years.
An everyone who gets a mortgage, with rare exception, OF COURSE, believes it will be paid off well before they are anywhere near 30 years. Seemingly forgetting that health issues, social issues, weather events, etc are likely going to stop that from happening.
This post just keeps getting more bleak, lol…
afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I did my internship in San Jose. Even back then it made sense. The cost was insane and from what I am reading has more than doubled since that point. I knew three interns staying in a single cheap motel together.
They need to finally start building.
PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee 11 months ago
Well, neither are these, but people are using them that way.
But housing in japan isnt that expensive compared to the US.
dannym@lemmy.escapebigtech.info 11 months ago
yeah seriously, I looked at rent prices in chicago and what you can get for 1000 dollars in tokyo in a decent area not too far away from the city you can pay 3000 for in chicago, in most places and if you go to kawasaki or something make it 500.
Be warned tho, one thing that sucks about renting in japan is the initial costs, you’re basically expected to pay 6-9 months rent in advance (“key money” + “agency fee” + “guarantor fee” + deposit) when you rent and if you move you only get the deposit back (usually 1 to 2 months) which is bullshit.