After wandering around Hagi's old buildings and temples I caught the first of many trains that would take me back to Tokyo and the big city once more.

It was evening by the time the shinkansen sped past Ginza's illuminated buildings and arrived in Tokyo's main station. I didn't have a room booked as my plan was to hunt around and find one of Japan's famed capsule hotels to spend the night in. I dropped my bag off into a locker and set off to look for my fibreglass coffin for the night.

In no time at all I was booked into the Riverside Capsule hotel in Asakusa district - and very nice it seemed to. You leave your clothes and belongings in a locker downstairs and a towel, toothbrush, razor and Japanese style pyjamas are provided for you. You then take the lift to the top floor where there's a traditional Japanese bath and sauna. Then you proceed to your capsule which has a television, radio, lighting, air-conditioning, and an alarm clock built into it. They're about 2m by 1m by 1m so it doesn't feel particularly claustrophobic inside and it's big enough to sit up in.

Apparently, as hotel prices have dropped over recent years in Japan, capsule hotels are becoming something of an endangered species, which is a shame as I think they should exist in other parts of the world as well. I'd read that they're often full of drunken salarymen who have missed the last train home, but I enjoyed a very peaceful, pleasant night there.