Japan's capsule hotels now coffin-sized homes.

For Miura, it has everything he needs for the night: a bed, a TV and radio. At the ground floor there's a shared bath and sauna.

Most importantly, it's cheap. The capsules cost about $30 a night. If he had to stay for a month, it would cost $700 to $1000, a housing bargain in Tokyo, ranked by Mercer as the world's most expensive city.

The cost is why capsule hotels are finding a new resident: the working poor. Once a symbol of Japan's prosperity, the capsules were built for the businessman who worked too late to catch the train or stayed out drinking all night. At Miura's capsule hotel this night, there are no successful businessmen renting capsules. Only men like him, people looking for work.

CNN.

WoW...

This was actually posted in OT a few weeks ago. The housing prices in Tokyo are ridiculous but you know what, these kinds of things happen during a recession. I must admit, I want to try out one of those capsules for a night.

I'd be interested to try one of those things for the night, but I can't imagine living in one for months at a time.

I think thats pretty cool for the circumstances those people are living in. Might not work out so well for chlostophobic people :P

Its not all that surprising given the fact that Japan has been struggling with an overpopulation issue for quite some time due to the geography of the islands. All that was needed was some economic strife to push things this far.

Japan's market is so naive, they often consider the rest of the world ridiculously cheap (from some third world country perspective) rather then their own economy abnormally expensive.