Facing Olympic hotel shortage, Tokyo looks offshore for cruise ships

And if lawmakers hadn't been so damn anal in the AirBnB debacle there would probably be even more rooms available.

Next I bet they will be offering campsites in Ueno park for 50,000円 a night, but you have to supply your own tent and equipment too!

I thought this idea had been dismissed once because of the pollution aspect of having many ships docked at once with their engines running 24 hours a day discharging fumes

Seems the situation is getting more desperate by the day!

The 2020 Olympics are going to be nuts and it's scary to think how unprepared Japan is.

But, didn't Abe promise this would not be a problem when he made his presentation to the IWC? Just more lies from the king of lip service.

Using ships? England did that for prisoners, in the day. The forethought for this whole debacle is stunning. Did Ishihara have any plan?, any idea. Trains are over capacity now. The government recommended shops open their doors and crank up the AC that's the level of brainlessness involved in preparations. Now there is not enough hotel rooms was the bid a total lie? Would appear so.

@Yubaru I was going to say the exact same thing about the whole AirBNB debacle...

But alas Japan. You reap what you sow.

Sydney did the same thing in 2000

They never anticipated that before they submitted the application to be a host? How about build some hotels in Fukushima, while you're at it. Also, i hope for them there is no virus on the cruisships.

Oh, well. You wanted the Olympics, now you got it. Show the world how hi-tech, cutting edge and innovative Japan can be with hotels on ships. Wow! Einstein-level thinking there.

A great example of how too much protectionism, coupled with hyper-conservatism, will end up causing mass-inconvenience and worse.

The trains can't handle the demand now. Brace for Chinese style 'odd numbered registration cars drive on Monday, even numbered cars on Tuesday' kind of BS.

Wat a massive PITA the Olympics will be to Tokyoites and beyond, and only to line the pockets of few entitled fools.

I like the Ueno Park option.

Love hotels will do a roaring trade outside their normal target market.

There's going to be a lot of unhappy Japanese youngsters around during the Olympics - love hotel room prices will go through the roof, becoming unaffordable for most.

They knew it all along but did nothing. Airbnb can easily solve this but they decide to tighten the regulation. All because not enough supplies means hotels can jack up their prices to even higher level. It is about whose pockets they want the money to go into.

It’s just turning out to be a scam!

Visitors can stay at my house and watch on television with little rent.

I have two spare rooms in my house that could accommodate half a dozen or so people. However, due to the debacle they made of the AirBNB and private rentals thing there is no way I'm going to bother jumping through all the hoops to accommodate people.

They've had ages to deal with this -- all the while refusing to allow AirB&B in without them getting hotel licenses so everyone gets their cut -- and now they are desperate. And not only are they desperate and thinking, "Gosh... there's nowhere to put everyone, let's put them on ships!" they are going to price gouge them, too.

Two nights in a room with a balcony combined with tickets to an Olympic soccer match will run 200,000 yen ($1,850), while two nights in a 50-square-meter suite combined with baseball tickets will go for 724,000 yen.

Ridiculous! If I would spend that much money on a suite, I would certainly not do it to get the ugly scenery of the Tokyo bay.

Private rentals are you mad? You should 1 have joined some organisation, 2 get licensed 3 be audited by your local council. Sit a hoteliers licence, pay the relevant tax, 4 ensure that the room is full of flammable materials. Have no baby noises that the neighbors can hear, seperate your rubbish, and ensure your television is volume down if using English.

Doesnt seem so hard?

JTB is considering to get big money to plan the ship hotels on Tokyo bay. Even in ordinary week days, the number of hotel rooms in Tokyo isn't enough. And the prices of those surprisingly expensive. So Japanese people live in local regions can't watch Tokyo Olympics at the stadium , even though they pay taxes.

Japan has a surplus of shipping containers so just pile them up and squeeze them tourists in!

It is what the majority of Japanese do every morning and night.

The agency is offering packages that combine rooms with Olympic event tickets, but they don't come cheap.

For those who applied for Olympic tickets but didn't get any, now you know where your tickets went and why.

The problem is not the Olympic Games at all but the combination of the Olympic Games with a policy in recent years that was aimed at bringing in mass tourism.

If you become too greedy there is a price to pay but the lawmakers in Japan will pass that hot potato on to the ordinary Japanese citizens and the tourists coming in while they and their benefactors reap the rewards.

so not only will they battle heatstroke but also Norovirus!

Then what about the capsule hotels!?

What do you think they call the door! lol! That's the window, you just have to pull a curtain shut!

Guess it depends upon the type of "hotel" !

And will those cabins be listed as "non smoking". Coz when your type "non smoking" on booking.com for example, the amount of hotels on your net search for Tokyo drops by half or even more.

A country that can survive devastating quakes, tsunamis and atomic bombs with resolve, innovation and forward thinking can easily handle the Games.

If you said this before 2011 I would have agreed with you. But we all know what happened in 2011 and no one could predict that could happen.

However, I believe the problem of accommodation will turn out fine. OVERCROWDED TRANSPORTION is what they should worry about!

I thought I was working for a good salary.

So far from it if Olympic games were the reference for prices.

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part".

Not even able to take part for most, what a shame.

I lived in Yokohama very nearby the harbor and found the prices for cruises truly impossible to pay.

It was easier (understand correct price) for me to go to the Mediterranean sea with my family during summer. With very correct services.

So bad and sad.

Well, good for the people who DO have AirBnB rooms up and running! You can charge crazyass prices and somebody will pay!

The love hotel idea is good. Someone in NYC tried to pawn off an igloo on AirBnb. Just make some fake snow and start building away. Let people pitch tents in the Olympic stadium. Just have to pack up before the first events of the day start.

Well it may be of small consolation, but women ages 18-40 are more than welcomed to stay at my place.

I only have the one bed, but I'm sure we can figure it out.

Relax, everyone. It's going to be fine.

Every Olympics has it's ups and downs (the so-called legacies that promise so much but price people out of their homes being one of the downs) but Tokyo is well able to cope.

A country that can survive devastating quakes, tsunamis and atomic bombs with resolve, innovation and forward thinking can easily handle the Games.

"If a provincial city wants to host an international convention or other big events but doesn't have enough accommodation, hotel ships can be a solution," said Yoshimi Tajima, JTB's senior official at the corporate business department.

Nagano City will take note.

Having rooms for visitors to stay in is a struggle for every Olympic Games in modern times.

Couch surfing?

Hello all, reading this across the world in the US as a hopeful tourist hoping to snag tickets and visit, but I am so sad to read all the comments. So out of curiosity because Olympics will try to hide stuff, I am wondering what your local take is on the upcoming games. As a local what are your worries and anxieties?

I ask because as a tourist I want to help respect the culture and people who are helping run the games or at least local people trying to live through it. Honestly on my end, not a wealthy person, blowing part of my savings just for the plane ticket and /maybe/ two events but like thats it. And food of course.

Asking for constructive answers and comments, not looking for spam or haters who will yell needlessly.