Yeah, I meant in Japan. I looked for half day and day use options and they don’t seem to really exist. I didn’t want to pay another few hundred just for early access.
Day use rates in the North American sense I’ve only seen in some of the big chain hotels accessed via courtesy buses around Narita airport.
Then again, there’s a whole industry that caters to the desire for half day and day use rooms. They’re advertised a bit differently to conventional hotels but they are also more amenable to a walk in, particularly for folks who arrive early outside of their peak business hours. If you arrive too early to check in to wherever you have booked, as well as being able to go to any number of hotels for walk in buffet breakfast or brunch, there is also a whole other hospitality sector that offers rooms for a few hours. This might be the perfect time to check out a Love Hotel.
Alternatives are the mentioned Sento baths and Spa mini resorts, the bigger ones will have dedicated snoozing areas, there are also cyber cafes with beds in them (and much better entertainment options that could help someone in a zonked out state struggling to stay awake keep their eyes open than in a conventional hotel room)