A guesthouse aimed at travelers from abroad opened on November 5 in Teramachi-dori Shijo-sagaru, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto. With low prices, from 2,000 yen per person per night, the hotel targets young people who don't spend money on lodgings. A capsule hotel popular with foreign visitors has also opened nearby, and the day when the electrical goods street of Teramachi-dori Street will be thronged with tourists from overseas may not be so far away.

The hostel's name is "Khaosan Kyoto Guest House." Manryo, located in Tokyo, which runs similar facilities in Tokyo and Kyushu, started it up by refurbishing a building vacated by a long-established store specializing in "Sudare," or bamboo blinds.

The five-story building has a working area of roughly 1,000 square meters. There are 120 beds, ranging from bunkbeds in two person rooms to ten person rooms. Free LAN wireless Internet is available in every room. There are communal toilets and shower rooms on every floor, and the fourth floor is also fitted out with a communal kitchen and a Japanese-style room for a conversation space to allow fellow guests to mingle freely.

Low-cost carriers, which fly principally in Asia, have flight after flight arriving into Kansai International Airport, and Manryo predicts that travelers from Asia, and from America and Europe via Asia, who visit Kyoto from the airport, will increase. A manager at Manryo said, "As the backpacker style of travel common in America and Europe is now spreading across Asia, we would like it to be a focal point for domestic package tours."

Since December last year "Nine Hours Kyoto Teramachi," a next-generation capsule hotel, has operated on Teramachi-dori Street. It has been featured in magazines overseas, and foreign visitors account for the majority of its guests. With the opening of Khaosan Kyoto, the Teramachi neighborhood expects an increase in travelers from overseas.