Japan has a multitude of interesting and innovative ideas to its credit. Many have been adapted by other cultures. Some remain uniquely Japanese. Pod hotels are in the latter category.

Created to meet the need for hotel rooms in the crowded urban centers around Japan, they provide the most basic of accommodations when visiting a city. A bed, a TV, a reading light and not much more are fit into the science fiction-esque sleeping quarters. The pods have also found a clientele in drunk businessmen.

There is more to do at the hotel than just enjoy your personal pod, as it is equipped with a variety of communal rooms such as saunas and a comic book room, though many of the extras cost a little to use.

The Asahi Plaza Capsule Hotel first opened in 1979, and the trend has spread to other locations and cities but doesn't seem to have left this corner of the globe yet.