Business Hotel Fukudaya: 東京台東区清川１−３５−１１.
(1-35-11 Kiyokawa, Taito Ward, Tokyo.)
Phone & Fax: 03-3872-1091. Web: www.tctv.ne.jp/fukudaya/fukudaya.html.
Prices start at 3100 Yen per night.

Business Hotel Rakuyo: 東京台東区東浅草２−１８−１０.
(2-18-10 Higashi Asakusa, Taito Ward, Tokyo.)
Tel & Fax : 03-3876-7747. Web: www.tctv.ne.jp/fukudaya/rakuyo.html.
The price starts at 2500 yen per night for singles.

Hotel Accela: 東京都台東区清川２−３９−３ .
(2-39-3 Kiyokawa, Taito Ward, Tokyo.)
Next to the neighborhood koban (police box), and not far from a supermarket which is always busy and bustling with one particular kind of customer -- poor old men. This place is called ｱｸセラﾎﾃﾙ in Japanese, Hotel Accela in English. Brand new hotel, very beige and clean looking, but I am far from convinced that foreigners are allowed to stay there (you could always push your rights and demand to stay to be let in, of course, for Japan is a signatory to international conventions against racism.) Costs 3150 Yen a night... 79 800 Yen a month. Facilities include coin shower and coin laundry, テレビ、ＣＳ放送、インターネット接続(LAN形式) 、冷蔵庫、ドライヤー(貸出) 、個別空調、ヘルスメーター、カミソリ、タオル、バスタオル、浴衣、スリッパ . Check in from 6am to 26am.

Hotel Aporo: 東京台東区日本堤１−２−９.
(1-2-9 Nihonzutsumi, Taitou-ku, Tokyo.)
Phone & Fax: 03-3875-0795
From 2500 Yen per night.

Hotel Hikari: 東京都台東区清川２−３９−３ .
(2-39-3 Kiyokawa, Taito Ward, Tokyo.)
Phone: 03-3874-8651. Web: http://www.hotel-hikari.com.
This newly opened business hotel near Minowa, in the heart of northern Tokyo's backpacker district, has rooms for about 3000 Yen per night. As well as being in the heart of Tokyo's backpacker district, this is also the center of homeless Japan -- you will find plenty of old guys sleeping on the streets and pavements around this hotel. Facilities at Hotel Hikari include communal bathrooms (what better way to meet your fellow holidaymakers, than by getting buck naked in the baths!), coin laundry, kitchen and 有線 wireless Internet. Some of the rooms are set up in the traditional Japanese style, with tatami mats. Although it has to be said, from the outside, this hotel looks anything but traditional Japanese -- it has more of a Hong Kong highrise vibe. But such is life in the big city.

Hotel Juyoh: 東京台東区清川２−１５−３.
(2-15-3 Kiyokawa, Taito Ward, Tokyo.)
Phone: 03-3875-5362. Web: http://www.juyoh.co.jp.
The hotel's homepage provides information in six languages, and the rooms are pretty cheap too -- expect to pay 3200 Yen for a single room, 6400 Yen for a double. Judging by the homepage, there seems to be a vibrant social scene going on at the hotel, which boasts traditional style rooms with tatami mats and futons on the floor.

Hotel Neo: 東京都台東区清川２−３９−３ .
(2-39-3 Kiyokawa, Taito Ward, Tokyo.)
Phone: 03-3874-8651. Web: http://www.hotel-hikari.com.
In this photo you can see Hotel Neo (pale blue) with the aforementioned Hotel Hikari all canary yellow in the background, beyond the intersecting Meiji Highway. This really is the slummy side of town. Whoever thought the area would take off as a backpacker center... then again, no Japanese would choose to live here (apart from the homeless dudes that is.) And plenty of homeless dudes there are too... sprawled out under blankets on the side of the roads, slurping instant noodles and chugging down cooking sake and laughing with their friends. This is not a comfortable place but there many hotels costing around 3000 Yen per night. Hotel Neo is one of them.

Hotel New Azuma: 東京台東区清川２−３８−３.
(2-38-3 Kiyokawa, Taito Ward, Tokyo.)
Phone: 03-6802-0716. Fax: 03-6802-0715. Web: www9.ocn.ne.jp/~h-azuma/uk.
Single prices range from 2900 Yen to 3100 Yen. The hotel's official website states: "Traditional Japanese room with tatami mats, futon bedding and Air condition,T.V.
"(All single rooms are for one person).
"＊tatami mats size (1 jou W83cm X D143cm) X 3 jou ＊room size W165 X D256."

Hotel New Koyo: 東京都台東区日本堤２−２６−１３.
(2-26-13 Nihonzutsumi, Taito Ward, Tokyo.)
Phone: 03-3873-0343. Web: http://www.newkoyo.com.
This place has been billed as the cheapest hotel in Tokyo for travellers by the Japan Lonely Planet guide, and has also been glancingly referenced by the New York Times. Yes, it is true (as the New York Times wrote) that you can get a single room for $21 per night at the Hotel New Koyo. On the flip side, though, this is Nihonzutsumi, the former district of Sanya. Sanya had such an infamous reputation in the past they had to change the name to Nihonzutsumi -- the name has changed but the infamy lives on. So be reminded, this ain't Shibuya or Harajuku -- this is the rough end of town. There is a series of malls near here where there are more homeless men (construction workers laid off after the Bubble burst) than there are shopkeepers. Curiously (and perhaps emphatically), the mall management plays exceptionally sad jazz elevator music around the clock, maybe to soothe the wounds of these pitiful down-and-outers. Anyway, the New Koyo is pretty cool nonetheless -- my buddy Preston G stayed there a couple of years ago, I visited him there and it seemed slick inside, in contrast to the quiet desperation of the streets outside.

For a more thorough review of the New Koyo Hotel, click here.

Rooms & Prices
Small single Japanese style room(9)	2.500 Yen
Medium single Japanese room (33) Western style room (22)	2.700 Yen
Semi-Double Japanese room (11) Western style room (1)	4.800 Yen

Sun Palace: 東京都荒川区南千住２-３２-３.
(2-32-3 Minami Senju, Arakawa Ward, Tokyo.)
Phone: 03-3807-5111. Web: http://www.sunpalace.jp.
Right beside Minami Senju station is this large business hotel, the サンパレス, which means "Sun Palace" in English. Doubtless few foreigners stay in the place, but if you ever want to pretend to be a lonely travelling salaryman for a day, this hotel could be for you. Biztrip says: "安くて安心して泊まれます。南口駅前歩道橋を渡ってすぐです。全室無線LAN完備です。" Which basically means that this hotel is cheap and offers peace of mind (the words "peace" and "cheap" sharing the same Chinese character, 安, in the Japanese language); to get there take the pedestrian walkway, which is a concrete and steel work of art, from the south exit (南口) from Minami Senju station. All rooms are wireless; it is local area network throughout."
Prices range from 5250 Yen for a single to 8190 Yen for a twin room. Amenities include restaurant, izakaya, and coin laundry.

Some other places in Nihonzutsumi and the greater Quartier Taito-ku (Ce quartier contient plusieurs hôtels parmi les moins chers de Tokyo. Voir les liens!
Economy Hotel Hoteiya
1-23-9 Nihonzutsumi, Taitou-ku
Tel & Fax : 03-3875-5912
Prix (single) : 2'600-2'800 (double) : 3'600-3'700
Page web : www.spocom.net/pc/hoteiya_e.shtml
Economy Inn Ebisuya
1-24-2 Nihonzutsumi, Taitou-ku
Tel & Fax : 03-3875-5912
Prix (single in dormitory) : 1'500
Page web : www.spocom.net/pc/ebisuya_e.shtml
Hotel Oozora
1-17-7 Nihonzutsumi, Taitou-ku
Tel & Fax : 03-3873-6195
Prix (single) : 2'300-2'500
Business Hotel Kagaya
1-2-1 Nihonzutsumi, Taitou-ku
Tel & Fax : 03-3875-1833
Prix (single) : 2'500 yen
Page web : www.nepo.gr.jp/kagaya