I Can Do WHAT In Here?

While Niihama may not appear to be the most happening ‘city’ (and I use that term loosely – as opposed to in the States perhaps, where the word ‘city’ equates things to do and exciting venues to visit, in Japan it is solely based on population count and when one combines about 15 little fishing villages into one “area” – all of a sudden it is deemed a ‘city’!) at first glance, one can find various little feats of technology tucked away here and there if one knows where to look. After weeks of being internet-less at home I found my way to the local “Cinex Café” which is, in laymen’s terms, an internet café.

Upon walking in one is greeted with a small flight of stairs leading up to a tiled mosaic of a naked woman. I paused. Where are you taking me? My friend assured me it was a legit Internet café as he had been there a few times before, so I followed him up the stairs.

Japanese Internet cafes are amazing. We walked in and after marveling that I could write my name in katakana, the lady behind the counter set me up with an account, despite the fact I didn’t have my passport or my gaijin card. She then consulted her complex map of the two-tiered establishment and put us in a booth suitable for two people. I walked into the main room and was greeted by rows and rows of large wooden cubicles with little frosted glass doors for privacy. Each booth comes equipped with a DVD player, TV, computer with a Windows OS, large comfy leather couch or large comfy chair, a PS2 (if you selected that option) and… a large, prominent box of tissues.

Towards the front of the café is a large selection of DVDs, PS2 games or manga comic books to choose from. There is also a game room complete with pool and ping pong tables.

However the coolest thing about the Internet café, was the unlimited drinks that come with your rental of the booth. They have every possible drink imaginable – including these awesome frozen slurpie things that took me back to my junior high school days made happy with Slush PuppiesTM. I never spent much time in Internet cafes back home, but I’m willing to bet Japan has them beat. I wish I lived closer. Good place to swipe free tissues from as well.

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Published:
8.23.06 / 5pm
Category:
what i call life, culture, unschoolish