Hostels are no longer on the lower rung of the accommodation ladder. The capital's burgeoning hostel scene is brimming with new additions decked out with creative interiors, from the cutting-edge to the repurposed and timeless.
Budget options in the city have previously revolved around the infamous capsule hotel — hives of coffin-like sleeping compartments — and business hotels with miniature rooms that barely fit a suitcase. But as hostels around the world have been shaking off their grubby image as basic, backpacker-only digs, Tokyo's are emerging as some of the finest.
Book And Bed Hostel graced the pages of overseas publications half a decade ago offering a budget solution with the added twist of sleeping in a library, but other inventive hostels have also popped up around the city. Combining utmost cleanliness with a shrewd eye for design, they also reflect Tokyo's unique locales: from the hipness of Setagaya to the sleepy shitamachi (downtown) in the east. More than simple places to sleep, these are shared spaces, bars and cafes, communal cocktails of the Japanese capital.