A capsule hotel catering to those who take early morning flights is scheduled to open Sunday in a parking garage adjacent to Narita International Airport's Terminal 2.
The hotel, called nine hours, offers overnight stays starting from ¥3,900 in sleeping pods about a meter wide, a meter high and 2 meters long. A guest may opt for shorter stays ranging from ¥1,500 per hour or even request a shower, which can be taken at any time.
New budget airlines at Narita are marketing domestic flights that can start as early as 6 a.m. But train and bus access is severely limited from late at night until early in the morning, when the airport is closed to air traffic. Many passengers thus spend the night before flying sleeping on benches in the passenger terminals.
The capsule hotel will be the first of its kind at Narita and offer 71 units for men and 58 for women. It says it hopes to serve passengers with connecting flights in addition to those with early morning departures.