Manga-kissa (Comic Café)

Recently, I got to have another Japanese first experience, one that I had been curious about since I became interested in Japan. I went to a manga-kissa (comic book and internet café). Manga-kissa are another one of those things unique to Japanese culture like maid cafes, kaiten sushi, and pachinko.

What is a manga-kissa? Let me explain. Basically, they are cafes you can go to in order to read manga (Japanese comic books) or use the internet, but there is so much more to say about them. I think in the past, internet cafes and manga-kissa were separate entities, but nowadays, most manga-kissa have the option to use the internet. Straight up internet cafes, on the other hand, might not necessarily have manga.

So here’s the basic setup. You pay by the hour (or like every 3 hours) to have a private cubicle. Most places have cubicles to accommodate two or more people if you want to go with friends. There are two types of cubicles, ones with a reclining chair and ones with a squishy floor in which you can stretch out on. I will explain the squishy floor ones in a bit. Each room has a desk with a computer and big monitor (unless you chose a room that doesn’t have a computer). There is also a trash can, tissues, big over-the-ear headphones, personal lighting, a blanket, slippers, a food menu, remote control, and I suppose if you requested a cubicle in the smoking section, there would be an ashtray too. You have access to all-you-can-drink soft drinks and usually all-you-can-eat soft serve ice cream. As I mentioned, there is a menu in which you can order food and alcohol from. That obviously costs money. You can also buy/rent things like sleeping masks, toiletries, pillows, etc. The main feature of a manga-kissa is the large selection of manga you can choose from and read freely. According to my boyfriend, they keep things pretty up to date, so when new books in a series come out, you can usually find them at manga-kissa. Spending around 800 yen for three hours of reading time turns out to be much cheaper than actually buying the books and reading them at home.

The cubicles.

Inside a cubicle.

Manga! Manga! Manga!

Besides going to read manga, there are a few other reasons people go…and not all of them are so pleasant. I already mentioned that most cubicles have computers. You can also watch TV of these computers, hence the remote control. People go to watch TV, play online games, work in a quiet environment, or simply just mess around on the internet. You can rent gaming systems and DVD players as well if that’s your thing. I think it’d be fun to rent a game system and play it in a 3-person room with your friends.

As for the not so pleasant reasons for going…in the manga library, there is a hentai section with pornographic comics. Also, there is the internet of course. I can’t say for sure if people go there to have privacy in a cubicle to do you-know-what, but somehow I didn’t think the tissues and trashcan conveniently placed in your cube were a coincidence. Not to mention that the chairs and squishy flooring are all made of easy to wipe down fake leather. *shudders*

Also, my friend told me that couples sometimes go to manga-kissa to be “alone.” However, you aren’t really alone because it’s not a private room, just a private cubicle. You can still hear everyone around you. My friend said he’s not sure if couples go to “go all the way” because it’d probably be too noisy (although I’m sure it’s happened), but they probably do other stuff…

Since manga-kissa are so cheap, they have become underground hotels. People began using them as places to stay the night after missing last train or other reasons. This was actually the reason I went to one the other week. I was up in Tokyo for a concert with my friends with no place to stay except in the car. It was cold and uncomfortable, so we decided to stay at a manga-kissa because it is cheap and much more comfortable than a car. When you first stay at a manga-kissa chain, they make you become a member. You get a card that costs just a couple dollars (like 200 yen?). After that, you don’t have to pay for the card again if you go back to the same chain. I’m not sure, but perhaps you can accumulate points or something if you go a lot. I stayed between 6 and 9 hours and it cost me about 2000 yen which is even cheaper than a love hotel (some love hotels can actually be quite expensive, but there are cheap ones that usually run for like 2500 for 3 hours)! Maybe the only kind of place that compares to the price of a manga-kissa is a capsule hotel which I still have yet to try.

Since over time manga-kissa unofficially became places to sleep, some started including showers in which you can pay to use along with selling of toiletries, pillows, sleep masks, etc. That’s also why there are cubicle options with squishy floors in which you can sprawl out on. They are more comfortable for sleeping than the chair ones. I stayed in the squishy floor type and was able to sleep pretty comfortably. There is a small Japanese style folding chair though in case you’d like to sit. The floor is kind of raised off the ground, and the desk is much lower than the ones with the chairs.

Squishy floor cubicle.

Staying at a manga-kissa is definitely a fun and interesting experience that I recommend trying. It’s something you can’t experience anywhere else as far as I know. One day, I’d like to go back to one not to stay but to actually read manga, play on the internet, and eat ice cream!