Japlanning: or How I Can Sleep in a Space Odyssey

If you haven't noticed, I am super excited for my upcoming trip to Japan.  I've been doing a lot of reading and research, and yet I still feel nowhere near prepared.  Oh well, ready or not- here I come. 

I was talking to my friend Sam yesterday about how if you would've asked me when I was younger (before Korea had even got an invitation to the party), never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought I would go to Japan.  Maybe that's why I wasn't too horribly upset when I didn't make it there my first year- it seemed like a place too far away to be reachable.

Japan for the longest time seemed like a place that was too far away.  If the countries in Europe were foreign lands, Japan was outer space.  A place where some people went and I heard about it and knew a bit about it, but not a place I would ever get to.  When a friend from High School spent part of a summer in Japan and brought back candy I had hoarded it and cherished it, how very new and different they all were.  I still remember the milk candy she gave to me among the mix of other foreign sweets. 

Now it's really real. The place my Dad was sent to recover after being wounded in Vietnam.  The place I've seen in movies and read about in books.  The land of Murakami, and Wind-up Birds and Kafka on the Shore.  The place of sleeping like you're in 2001: A Space Odyssey?

While doing my Japlanning, (I'm so proud of my portmanteau) I found this crazy capsule hostel in Kyoto called 'Nine Hours'.  Now I had read about this place before, although I can't recall where.  It seriously looks like how the movies and TV told me 2012 would look.

Now the capsules with their "The Sleep Ambient Control System" which is supposed to wake you up and help you fall asleep more alined to your Circadian rhythms for 9 hours (7 to sleep, one to shower and one to rest). 

The price is more than I would like to pay, but I read a review saying it is cheaper to book in person, so I might just be sleeping in the future this week.  I'll report back how suited I am for space travel.

Photos from the Nine Hours website.
Now all I need is my flying car, my robot maid, and some astronaut ice cream.


And even if I don't sleep in the future, I am for sure sleeping in the past at a traditional ryokan.


From Busan with Japlanning Love,
Jenna


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