5 Things to Enjoy While Staying in Hotel Rooms in Japan

Standard hotel rooms differ very little across borders. In fact, one could easily wake up in a hotel room and have no idea what country one is in until one turns on a television! To be honest, it's sad that hotels should be so internationally generic.

That said, hotel rooms in some countries offer neato perks that cannot be enjoyed elsewhere. Such is the case in Japan, where there are five things in particular that I make a point of enjoying during my (always too short) visits.

If you, too, should find yourself staying in a Japanese hotel room, I heartily recommend the following activities:

1. Taking advantage of the pajamas, robe, and slippers: While hotels in Western countries often skimp on these features, slippers and pajamas (and if not pajamas, robes) are pretty common in Japanese hotel rooms. They're just fun! When I was a kid and traveling in Japan with my father, we used to take photos of us in our matching duds. I'd be swimming in my PJs and my father'd be pulling down the hem. Hilarity abounds.
2. Enjoying the view: As is demonstrated in Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, views from hotel rooms in Japan, especially Tokyo, are breathtaking. Megacities in general are something to behold, so enjoy the vantage point from your room by perching on the windowsill and gazing over the expanse of urban jungle (pants optional).
3. Eating combini food: Food from combini stores (combini is the Japanese approximation of "convenience") in Japan is delicious, fresh, and cheap. This is a major benefit, seeing as the current yen to dollar conversion rate is brutal, and travel in Japan is generally pretty steep. Forget room service! Get takeout from the nearest 7-11 or Family Mart!
4. Using the toilet. A lot: Japanese toilets are so cool! Heated seats, lots of buttons... what's not to love! Eat a lot, drink a lot, and go a lot!
5. Watching Japanese television: Screw English channels! Japanese television ROCKS!!! I especially recommend game shows. They put American shows to shame.

I hope that you have the opportunity to go to Japan soon, and if you do, be sure to enjoy the pajamas, view, combini food, toilet, and television in your hotel room! More importantly, of course, I hope that you spend most of your time outside your hotel room going on adventueres to shrines, cosplay cafes, fashionable neighborhoods, and beautiful castles.

Have you already been to Japan? What did you enjoy about your hotel room(s)? Let me know in the comments. And heck, if you've never been to Japan before, I'd love to know what unique perks hotel rooms in other countries offer as well! So share, share, share!