Mitsui Garden Yotsuya hotel, Tokyo: Japan hotel launches 'crying rooms' for women

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Mitsui Garden Yotsuya hotel, Tokyo: Japan hotel launches 'crying rooms' for women

By Soo Kim
Updated
A hotel in Tokyo is offering rooms designed to allow female guests to cry in private.

A hotel in Tokyo is offering rooms designed to allow female guests to cry in private.Credit: iStock

Complete with soft tissues to "gently wipe away tears" and prevent puffiness, warm eye masks, make-up remover and a selection of tear-jerking films, the "crying rooms" at the Mitsui Garden Yotsuya hotel in the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo aim to help women combat stress, according to a spokesperson for the hotel.

The 12 films available in the rooms have been carefully chosen to "tug at the heartstrings" and include Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks, the South Korean film A Moment to Remember, where a young couple faces the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's disease, and Japan's A Tale Of Mari And Three Puppies which tells the true story of a dog and her three dogs who survived the Chuetsu earthquake of 2004.

Guests can also read from a recommended collection of tear-inducing manga comic books from the Japanese publisher Maruzen.

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The tissues are said to be as "soft as cashmere", while warm sheets are provided for added comfort and warmth around the neck, according to Excite, a Japanese e-magazine.

A crying room can be booked at ¥10,000 per day (around $A105) during the special promotion, which is available until August 31. The hotel already provides female-only rooms and the crying rooms have each been set up in "ladies moderate single rooms".

More unusual hotels and cafes in Japan

One Tokyo hotel is allowing male customers to sleep next to a girl for a fee.

One Tokyo hotel is allowing male customers to sleep next to a girl for a fee.Credit: iStock

The crying rooms are the latest in a series of unusual hotels and cafes available in Japan.

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'Love hotels' are short-stay hotels designed for amorous couples in search of seclusion, and have proven increasingly popular in the country. Shibuya Hill in central Tokyo has around 100 packed into its side streets, while Japan is said to have more than 30,000 in total, with around 1.4 million couples said to visit one each day.

The first 'cuddle cafe' - Soine-ya (which means "sleep together shop") also opened recently in Tokyo, allowing male customers to sleep next to a girl for a fee. Sexual requests are not allowed. Instead the men can purchase extras such as "staring at each other for a minute" and "stroking the girl's hair for three minutes".

A show a The Robot Restaurant in Tokyo, Japan.

A show a The Robot Restaurant in Tokyo, Japan.Credit: Getty Images

The capsule hotel originated in Osaka and features a set of extremely small capsules designed for basic overnight accommodation for those on a budget. Capsules are stacked side by side with one unit on top of another to maximise space.

Tokyo's cat cafes have also been a practical option for those who don't have the space in their homes to own a pet. Instead, people pop along to pet cafes that house furry animals that can be stroked for a short time, for a small fee. See www.nekorobi.jp

Near the Sensō-ji temple is Usagi, a multi-floor bunny café full of different breeds of rabbit, all waiting to be stroked and cuddled. usagi-cafe.info

Owl cafes are among the latest of Tokyo's petting venues, where baby birds sit on perches while larger birds sit on your arm. See www.ameblo.jp/fukurounomise

Other unusually-themed cafes include Maiddreamin, where visitors are brought smiley face cupcakes and teddy-shaped ice cream sundaes by girls in maid outfits. Maidreamin is one of several places in the Akihabara district of Tokyo where guests can indulge in a maid-themed experience. See www.maidreamin.com/en

The Robot Restaurant in Kabukicho, Tokyo's red light district, provides a unique laser show with dancing robots, from giant pandas and dinosaurs to ninjas, who are actually humans in costume. See www.shinjuku-robot.com

Lock Up is dungeon-themed café in Tokyo featuring tables in cells, cabinets of skulls and cocktails decorated with entrails served in test tubes. See www.lock-up.jp

Mr. Kanso in Osaka is a popular Japanese bar serving only canned food. Guests choose their meal from shelves of canned fish and the like and are given plastic cutlery to eat directly from their tins.

Read more: Things to do after dark in Tokyo.

The Telegraph, London

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