"By the time his shift is over, it is an hour to midnight and he is exhausted. He eats his free staff meal, goes to a “sento” public bath and passes out the second he gets back to his Spilytus unit. His days otherwise are filled with doing schoolwork for his degree in nutrition and seeing friends.

When he does spend some waking hours at home, the box that acts as a TV stand transforms into a study desk and kitchen counter. To clean the floor, all he needs is a lint roller."

I find that disturbing.

I think it would feel like living in a closet.

“To clean the floor, all he needs is a lint roller.” That part would be a bonus to me. 😄

I’m with Jinx…too closet-like.

My nephew, who is fluent in Japanese and a fan of all things Japanese, has always wanted to try a ”sleeping pod,” but never has. At 6’4”, it might be a challenge for him.

Gives me anxiety just looking at it.

My DD and her BF stayed in a sleeping pod in Tokyo. Interesting but never again :).

I've always gravitated to "cozy." One of the happiest times of my life was living in a studio apartment in NY. I think it was maybe 20x10, and everything I owed fit comfortably in those 4 walls.

The only time in my life I could have lived in the place as shown was in my college days - where all the food was provided in cafeterias, and showering was done in communal baths. And even then that would have been very tight - but I'd still pick it over sharing a room with someone else!

If I was a young person in Tokyo looking for my very first place on my own, I think I would enjoy living in one of these, except the shared bathroom part. As a youngster I always enjoyed cozy little spaces. I still do, but have been spoiled by living in my own house for too long now.

Yeah that's not happening for me! Public bath - and toilet? No thanks. What happens if you are sick? Or just have to 'go' in the middle of the night?

There is a toilet in the room...

It reminds me a little of SRO hotels.

I like cozy but I’m also a little claustrophobic. If I were to do this, I would need windows. I guess with top-down-bottom-up blinds.

There is a toilet in the room...

Then it's well hidden!

We are being spoiled. :-)

What you're not seeing is there's a bed in the loft that the ladder goes up to and underneath that is a small WC and kitchen area. You can kind of get a glimpse in the 2nd photo that shows the "kitchen". I assume the wc is behind the wall.

How exactly is 95 sq feet measured? Just floor print?

Here is a tiny apt in Tokyo, it looks like the one in Annie's photo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ7Bu_SDJgM

So small can not even imagine staying there, I have a bit of an issue with caustrophobia.

Last week a friend of mine spent a couple of nights at a ”pod hotel” near Times Square. Her room was a bit bigger than those above. I had imagined the climb in bunk. She had a full size bed with an itsy bathroom attached, room for luggage, a window and a tv. They offer the same set up with a twin and larger units as well.

I am one who is drawn to minimalism and small spaces. That being said, I couldn’t live there full-time. I could see having one as a pied a terre in a very pricy location like Tokyo, Manhattan, Paris or London. But only if the math worked out so that it was much, much cheaper (or potentially a money-maker I could sublet/AirBnB when I wasn’t using it) than short-term renting someplace more accomodating.

I've slept in pod style bunks in hostels when I've been walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain - they are a step up from regular bunk beds. The one in the picture looks like pure luxury to me! 😊

I googled size of average prison cell=48 s.f.

I stayed at a youth hostel on an old Swedish naval sailing ship. We slept in actual berths, with a small locker. Fun. When I was 22, and so was nearly everyone else. Now? It would depend entirely on the others sleeping in that room,