Hello ,

in some weeks I am going to study in Osaka for around 6 months. I arrive at Kansai Int. Airport in the evening, perhaps 6 o'clock. Unfortunately, this is too late to move into my dorm.. so I am basically homeless for the first night. Moreover, I am going to have a major Jet-lag and who knows what else.

I don't want to use a hotel or so as I don't know if I would be able to sleep... besides the fact that hotels cost money. So I thought about staying around the airport for perhaps 12 hours or so. Sleeping here and there if possible - or would this be a problem? And would it be also possible to hang around somewhere in the city (luggage included)? Any ideas?

[ファブリス]

Moving to "community".

Perhaps someone here can host you for a night?

PS: to be more succesful I'd recommend to rename your topic eg. "Looking for one night sleepover in Osaka" or something like that.

ohh, you can definitely sleep in an airport. No one will bat an eyelid. It might be a little uncomfortable though, since you'll be sitting up..

I've slept in an airport before when my flight was delayed (this happens often)

Youth hostels (if that is the word) is a great way to sleep cheaply and has a high chance that a staff member speaks english if you are flaky with Japanese. Try a google search for osaka youth hostels. And have fun osaka its an awesome place, I prefered it much more than tokyo.

Sleeping in airports is common practice for people that have delayed flights or arrived way to early, so there is no problem doing that.

Second that-- Osaka is lots of fun, and the food is awesome. But airports aren't the most comfortable places to sleep. You'll probably hate it in the morning. If you can spare a couple thousand yen, go to a hostel or a manga cafe for the night.

4500 yen will get you a dirt cheap business hotel. They're not too bad, actually. You get a bed and a shower, but you have to go out into the hall to change your mind. The rooms be tiny. Avoid the capsules. Not worth it.

I did something similar when I flew in to Tokyo-- I got in around 5-ish, grabbed a bunch of conbini food, and crashed at a cheap biz hotel and slept for about 10 hours. Got up at 6 am and grabbed the first shinkansen out. The hotel was about 2 blocks from 上野駅, which saved a lot of hassle. 時差ぼけ is a bit of a pain, but I got used to it pretty quickly. (Coming back the US was far worse.)

When you get to Osaka, there's a great little okonomiyaki restaurant called メロディー in Umeda... I found it wandering near the Sky Tower. No idea how to actually find it again. Tiny place, but great food. It's on a side street somewhere. I like their modern-yaki.

Bumping this just to add some useful info and ask question.

1) http://www.hostelworld.com is quick easy way to find hostels.

2) Out of curiosity where are you studying in Osaka? I'm studying in Osaka as well at 関大. EDIT: To clarify, I ask this cause the dorms I stay at have a retarded policy like that as well.

PSS: I just noted your luggage hassle. Most airports have large coin lockers that will let you store your luggage for 24 hours you could use that.

Two off-the-wall suggestions:

1. Manga-kissa (manga cafe) - I don't think sleeping is encouraged but if you need a place to be for a night, you can stay up all night drinking coffee and reading manga. Many are 24 hours.

2. Love hotel. (Believe it or not my mom suggested this as a cheap lodging option... one of the perks of having a 70's hippie mom.)

I did not try either one of these when I was in Tokyo (I was lucky enough to have a friend to crash with) but there's probably someone here who has...

Delina Wrote:Two off-the-wall suggestions:

1. Manga-kissa (manga cafe) - I don't think sleeping is encouraged but if you need a place to be for a night, you can stay up all night drinking coffee and reading manga. Many are 24 hours.

2. Love hotel. (Believe it or not my mom suggested this as a cheap lodging option... one of the perks of having a 70's hippie mom.)

I did not try either one of these when I was in Tokyo (I was lucky enough to have a friend to crash with) but there's probably someone here who has...

1) Works, but the cost of a Manga cafe will be close to that of a hostel in some cases, but they have net usually which is a plus.

2) Actually this doesn't work any more apparently. I had planned when I went to Tokyo for a con in Dec. to stay in a love hotel for the few days I was there cause I had heard they were cheap. After talking about with some people I learned that some of the other students had actually tried something like this in Osaka it self at one point. Out drinking, missed last train, drunk off their ass, that deal. They tried to go in by themselves and the hotel said "No." Apparently in recent years checking yourself into Love Hotels and commiting suicide has become a fad or something so you can't go into a love hotel unless you are with someone. XD Unfortunately the friend I went to Tokyo with didn't want to try going into a Love Hotel together and seeing what the people would say haha (would have been 2 guys lol). I hear some hotels are totally automated now, but based upon the antedcote I think many still have clerks. Oh well, I really wanted to see the inside of one too .

Hey, thanks for your suggestions. Perhaps I should have mentioned that I am actually from Europe which, according to wikipedia, should make the Jet-Lag much worse. I don't have any world traveling experience but it doesn't sound like a good deal to pay for one night around half as much as the monthly rent of my dorm, just to experience some form of insomnia. Manga Cafe sounds too complicated for my poor Japanese level :/

After all it still seems the best is not to leave the "safe harbor" for the first night as no one said anything against it . Lockers are a plus too. I often heard that sleeping at the airport is normal, but usually this was about about people waiting for their flight in the departure zone.

@vix86
I am going to the Osaka University, Suita campus. My dorm should be somewhere in Suita too.

The WikiTravel on Kansai Airport seems to imply that sleeping is normal, and that the information kiosks will even give you a free blanket. Aww. Unfortunately I'm not the kind of person who can sleep anywhere, but good luck to you if you try. 12 hours in the Frankfurt airport (while it was under construction) was one of my worst travel memories, but Kansai Airport may be nicer.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Kansai_Internat...port#Sleep

I wouldn't discount Babyrat's suggestion about youth hostels. They're more in the range of one or two reasonable dinners out than half a month's rent. Several people I met who had no Japanese skills were staying there. This one is ￥3,300 for a dormitory room, and someone there speaks enough English to put together this web page:

http://www.osaka-yha.com/shin-osaka/shin...page1.html

There are also several web sites like this that list hostels and have traveler reviews:

http://www.hostelworld.com/findabed.php/...ntry.Japan

If you're going to have all your stuff with you, and are considering dormitory-style lodging, you might want to think about whether there will be a safe place to put it while you're sleeping.

As for jet lag, I'm American and did find the west-to-east leg to be much worse. I kicked it by arriving in the evening extremely tired, having a nice big dinner (eating meals in sync with your new local time will help to quickly reset your clock - avoid the midnight snack and make sure to get up for breakfast), and falling right to sleep. I thought I had it licked, but then my roommate came back from Europe a couple of days later and kept waking up in the middle of the night, flushing the toilet and waking me up. Jet lag is contagious!

Tanhuser Wrote:Hey, thanks for your suggestions. Perhaps I should have mentioned that I am actually from Europe which, according to wikipedia, should make the Jet-Lag much worse. I don't have any world traveling experience but it doesn't sound like a good deal to pay for one night around half as much as the monthly rent of my dorm, just to experience some form of insomnia. Manga Cafe sounds too complicated for my poor Japanese level :/

After all it still seems the best is not to leave the "safe harbor" for the first night as no one said anything against it . Lockers are a plus too. I often heard that sleeping at the airport is normal, but usually this was about about people waiting for their flight in the departure zone.

@vix86
I am going to the Osaka University, Suita campus. My dorm should be somewhere in Suita too.

Haha, not the same university but you and me are literally in the same city. Kansai Daigaku and my dorm are in Suita as well, but it looks like OsakaU is little bit north of KansaiU. I hope they've given you good directions to your dorm, if not I should be able to give you some advice for getting to that region. For one, be sure you have about 20-30,000Yen on you. You'll have to take a bus from KIX to Umeda station and that's 1500Yen.

Overall though, ya I would probably just wait it out in the airport. I can't recall what KIX's seats were like but you might be able to find an empty spot and sprawl across 2-3 seats and sleep, assuming the police don't bug you (The cops were bugging non-jps for their passports, when I left from Tokyo). Post if you got any more questions, I or plenty of other people would be glad to answer any.

Delina Wrote:Two off-the-wall suggestions:

1. Manga-kissa (manga cafe) - I don't think sleeping is encouraged but if you need a place to be for a night, you can stay up all night drinking coffee and reading manga. Many are 24 hours.

2. Love hotel. (Believe it or not my mom suggested this as a cheap lodging option... one of the perks of having a 70's hippie mom.)

I did not try either one of these when I was in Tokyo (I was lucky enough to have a friend to crash with) but there's probably someone here who has...

Sleeping IS encouraged in a Manga-Kissa. There are definitely some manga-kissa that are only for sleeping. I know one in Kyoto that has thousands of blankets and pillows everywhere, and the lights in the building are kept off even during the day, haha. Of course, there are private little lights in the booths. When sleeping in one, it's all about getting a good chair before all the full-reclining ones are taken. If you come in at 4 am or so, you probably won't get a good chair.

As for love hotels, some of them don't even have a person that you see at all. You just press a button for your room, and when you leave you pay a machine. In ones like these, I assume no one will tell you you need someone with you.

Tzadeck Wrote:Sleeping IS encouraged in a Manga-Kissa. There are definitely some manga-kissa that are only for sleeping. I know one in Kyoto that has thousands of blankets and pillows everywhere, and the lights in the building are kept off even during the day, haha. Of course, there are private little lights in the booths. When sleeping in one, it's all about getting a good chair before all the full-reclining ones are taken. If you come in at 4 am or so, you probably won't get a good chair.

That's actually kind of cool. I've only been in 2 to date and haven't seen anything like that yet. The one nearest to me though, if you get the "group" booths they have love seat couches which you CAN easily sprawl on and sleep.

IceCream Wrote:apparently, you can sleep in saunas as well...

wait really?
isn't that like...unhealthy?

spleenlol Wrote:

IceCream Wrote:apparently, you can sleep in saunas as well...

wait really?
isn't that like...unhealthy?

Nah.

Just take a medium sized adult and put it at 350º F for twenty hours or so.

It's healthier than most fast food, at least.

Plenty of cheap business hotels in Minami. Lots of BIG lockers in the station if you need to leave your luggage somewhere. I'd advise you dump your stuff off in namba or somewhere (loads of lockers near nankai namba) and then head to a net cafe or somewhere like that.

The Jet lagg isn't as bad as you think, unless your'e particularly susceptible to it.

I think manga-kissa is the best idea. If you go there late, it's way cheaper than a hotel (below the minimum-budget ones) and most manga-kissa will have beds and food available. Besides, going to a manga-kissa is cool regardless, so why not do it your first night.

You can stay in the hotel chuo for 2500/night:

http://www.chuogroup.jp/chuo/room/index.html

Not a fancy place and it's in a seedy part of town, but it does the trick if you're hard up for cash.

Many manga cafes have late night specials fairly reasonable midnight to 6am or so. I stay in one in Kyoto when I miss the last train home. They have cable TV, internet, a large selection of drinks sometimes including ice syrup slush if you brought something extra to make margaritas They often have showers for 100 yen extra. I have even seen some advertise karaoke, batting cages, air hockey and ping pong.

Hi,
you somehow managed to make the manga-kiss sound like a good idea. I am not into adventures, at least not when I am the first day in a giant city with a completely different culture/language and when people awaiting me the next day. So can someone recommend me a cafe around Umeda/Osaka station (as this is the best place to stay transportation wise compared to Namba)... or are the cafes countless in numbers and easy to handle even for a foreigner with bad language skills? I assume lockers should be around the station.

vix86 Wrote:Haha, not the same university but you and me are literally in the same city. Kansai Daigaku and my dorm are in Suita as well, but it looks like OsakaU is little bit north of KansaiU. I hope they've given you good directions to your dorm, if not I should be able to give you some advice for getting to that region. For one, be sure you have about 20-30,000Yen on you. You'll have to take a bus from KIX to Umeda station and that's 1500Yen.

Thanks for your guidance. Fortunately they gave me some directions and a pocket guide so I am not lost concerning my dorm. I looked it up in Google earth (actually I didn't do anything else for the last 3 hours than "flying" through Osaka) and my dorm seems to bee situated between Kansai and Osaka University and 2km away from the next train station. After looking over the location, it seems to be having a bike would be really helpful. Is Suita a good place to travel by bike and can you perhaps recommend me any shops for (used) bikes?

I totally forgot about this: the Welcome Inn Desk. It's right at the Kansai Int'l Airport Terminal, and they can hook you up with any kind of lodging you need, be it hostel or 4-star hotel, or campsite. They do the whole spectrum of cheapness.

So if you feel overwhelmed, head over to the desk and ask for help. English is spoken there if your brain feels broken. (It can happen at first.)

Website: http://www.itcj.jp/eng/index.php

Check the website to make sure the desk at KIA will open when your flight gets in. They aren't open 24/7. You can also just use the website and set up something through that. (Although I have had better luck talking to them over the phone-- they seem to find better/much cheaper stuff that way.)

Here's a link to a pdf flyer with all 5 counter locations, a map showing where they are, and their hours of operation. Useful stuff for any trip.

http://www.vjy2010.jp/cp/image/20091127-2920_file11.pdf

rich_f Wrote:I totally forgot about this: the Welcome Inn Desk. It's right at the Kansai Int'l Airport Terminal, and they can hook you up with any kind of lodging you need, be it hostel or 4-star hotel, or campsite. They do the whole spectrum of cheapness.

So if you feel overwhelmed, head over to the desk and ask for help. English is spoken there if your brain feels broken. (It can happen at first.)

Ah thats a very good point. I have used airport help desks, and they really are very helpful and they speak good english (normaly). They can also help you book places if you can't speak very well. big train stations normally have english speaking help desks too that can help you if your lost or looking for somewhere though I havent tried to use them to book anything.

Tanhuser Wrote:Thanks for your guidance. Fortunately they gave me some directions and a pocket guide so I am not lost concerning my dorm. I looked it up in Google earth (actually I didn't do anything else for the last 3 hours than "flying" through Osaka) and my dorm seems to bee situated between Kansai and Osaka University and 2km away from the next train station. After looking over the location, it seems to be having a bike would be really helpful. Is Suita a good place to travel by bike and can you perhaps recommend me any shops for (used) bikes?

Well thats good that they helped you out. Haha any of the people that came to Kansai before the official pickup date via the University had to fend on their own and some ended up getting pretty lost.

You'll have to judge the distance on your own but I know the girls in the program here, their dorm is about 10 minutes away from the campus (walking). So I know some of them invested in a bike. The Suita region has some hills that are pretty big, but in general I find that much of Osaka is hilly. As far as getting a bike goes, if I recall correctly, there is a used bike shop in either Toyotsu or Suita, I'll have to ask some of the people here. You can get a basic bike for 8000-10,000yen.

Couple other side points which aren't really related to this thread but I want to suggest just in case. As soon as you get free time go to Suita stop and go to the Suita city hall (you can see it from the train station) and start the paperwork for your Alien registration card (Gaikokujin Toroku). You'll eventually get a Certificate which proves the card is in the mail and this lets you get a phone, without it you can't get a cellphone and you'll want one of those ASAP.

vix86 Wrote:You'll eventually get a Certificate which proves the card is in the mail and this lets you get a phone, without it you can't get a cellphone and you'll want one of those ASAP.

Not exactly true. Gaijin cards don't come in the mail (you have to go back to pick it up) and the only paper you get is a sheet with your application number and the date to come back for it. If you want proof of registration (to get a cellphone) you have to specifically request it, though I don't recall if it costs money or not.

Jarvik7 Wrote:Not exactly true. Gaijin cards don't come in the mail (you have to go back to pick it up) and the only paper you get is a sheet with your application number and the date to come back for it. If you want proof of registration (to get a cellphone) you have to specifically request it, though I don't recall if it costs money or not.

You're right it doesn't come in the mail. I was being figurative. When I got my certificates though I didn't have to request them per se, they expected we just wanted them and told us to come back in like a day or two. They do cost money and for like 2 I think it was something like 500-700yen; pretty cheap. Incidentally its also a great show of the retarded bureaucracy here in Japan that you have to come back a day or two later to get a piece of paper they could just as easily give you the day you hand over the paperwork. But what can you do.