New Japanese spa in Manhattan promises to massage you to sleep

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Inside a nondescript building in Midtown Manhattan, massage therapists are taking overworked New Yorkers from stressed out to sweet dreams.

The promise of treatments at Goku, a new Japanese spa on West 38th Street, is not softer skin or smoothed-out wrinkles but rather deep sleep.

"Our technique makes people fall asleep in 10 minutes—guaranteed," said Momoka Yamazaki, one of the therapists, also known as "headmasters."

The treatment is called "Zeccho Sleep," which releases tension and promotes blood circulation. Atsumi Kaneda, a former accountant from Kyoto, Japan, who was desperate for some R&R, dreamed up the concept.

"She was always having trouble with sleeping, and also feeling her head was very tense," Yamazaki said. "And she always wanted to have a head massage but she couldn't find any."

Kaneda opened the first of four wildly popular locations in Japan in 2008, but this is her first U.S. outpost. And New York City was a natural choice.

"Now we really are excited to make people fall asleep in the city that never sleeps," Yamazaki said.

The treatment promises not just sleep but a euphoric feeling afterward and better sleep for days.

Goku calls itself a "sleeping time machine" and the second-floor space is outfitted with black reflective walls with psychedelic patterns. It has been serving customers from Japan since March but, officially opened to the public this week.

A one-hour Zeccho Sleep treatment is $150.

Goku | 18 West 38 Street, New York, NY 10018 | 929-336-3088 | gokusleep.com