We spotted this nice article over on Global Voices about the "strangest" love hotel names in Japan.
It compiles the results of a survey ranking the most unusual names for love hotels.
As we know there are some strange-looking love hotels (both inside, with themed rooms, and outside, with gaudy castle exteriors), especially in the countryside.
But now we know the strangest name. And it's Banana & Donut. Indeed, this is not a diner or cafe, but a love hotel in Saga Prefecture, southern Japan.
Like similar establishments outside of Japan's big cities, Banana & Donut is located ...
Ever wanted to attend a swinger club in Japan? Tokyo has a vibrant underground scene of happening bars.
As regular readers probably know from experience, "happening bars" (or couple kissa) are clubs where you can go and switch partners with other couples, or if you are single just pick random strangers to have sex with. (Theoretically there is a distinction: a happening bar is for couples of singletons, while a couple kissa caters to couples and perhaps single women.)
Sometimes they are foreigner-friendly, too, but it's rare. It always helps to speak at least some ...
As discussed on this blog before, Japan's love hotels have increasingly become focused on amenities.
In spite of the western stereotype of love hotels as gawdy, crazy lairs of kinkiness, the actual number of themed chambers and unusual rooms is low -- and largely consigned to the countryside (notwithstanding the odd exception in Tokyo like this steampunk hotel).
Instead, the love hotels in the inner cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe have to compete against each other in terms of value and facilities. And that comes down to more mundane yet important things like baths, food, wifi, ...
"Let's play sex," the guide explains.
We've seen these kinds of videos before but they are always fun to watch.
This time it's The Hotelion in Sendai that provides YouTuber Abroad in Japan with the opportunity to go inside and check out the rooms.
As we know, the somewhat infamous hotels with crazy themes are actually something of a rarity -- most hotels are relatively ordinary.
But the amenities are certainly special and, while the the video revels in the unusual themed rooms available at The Hotelion, it wisely focuses on these details, too. (Also note the non-scented body soap. It's ...
Former actor Noboru Takachi has been arrested for possession of a stimulant drug and cannabis.
Best known overseas for appearing in films like Yamato, the 51-year-old was a big star in the 1990s. Takachi, whose real name is Joji Osaki, recently retired from acting ostensibly to look after his wife's father.
He was arrested at a love hotel in Yokohama, where he was staying with Atsuko Isokawa, a 33-year-old hostess.
Noboru Takachi had previously been married to AV actress Momo Aida (pictured below), though they divorced after six years together.
He then married the ...
Anyone interested in Japanese sex dolls, love hotels and sex museums (hihokan) should check out this upcoming exhibition by photographer Kyoichi Tsuzuki.
Kyoichi Tsuzuki is famous for his photo-books that examine the seedier elements of Japan, such as Tokyo Right Half, Love Hotel: Satellite of Love, and Hihokan. His most popular book is perhaps Tokyo Style and his counter-guide book "roadside" series that showcases unusual sights found while travelling.
From June 11th to July 31st, Tsuzuki's work on erotic Japan will be presented at the event space Atsukobarouh Arts Drinks Talk in ...
How to solve a problem like a hotel shortage? Simple. Convert love hotels.
After all, if media reports are to be believed, Japan is sexless and the love hotels are not being used by couples, but rather ordinary businessmen.
Tokyo is currently experiencing a massive tourist boom and it has led to numerous new hotels springing up, especially in Shinjuku. But it is still not enough, particularly as the government wants the inbound tourist numbers to continue growing as we head towards the 2020 Olympics.
According to a Kyodo News article, the government wants love hotels to provide ...
Who stays at love hotels? It might not be who you think.
The current inbound tourism boom is leading to a serious shortage in regular hotel rooms for traveling businessmen. Business hotels have the lowest vacancy rate ever, it seems, meaning the on-the-move salaryman has fewer choices for where to stay.
Where are they turning? According to this article on Ignition, it's to love hotels.
It turns to Ken Sato, the manager of the HOTEL SULATA (their caps, not ours) chain, a new contender in the packed field.
It opened its main hotel in Dogenzaka, the "love hotel hill" district of ...
Japanese love hotels come in all shapes and sizes.
There are all manner of crazily themed hotels out there, enough to fill more than one coffee-table book.
A recent one we looked at is Keibajo US in Niigata, with its classrooms, hospital ward rooms, and more, plus there is this great "vintage Japan" hotel in our old stomping ground of Osaka.
Here is another great example of the sheer inventiveness and skill of love hotels to appeal to our fantasies.
Again, as we know from the history of love hotels, like with most of the really outrageously designed hotels, it is not in a ...
Playboy has made a video offering a "rare glimpse" into what they call a "vintage love hotel". Well, Hotel Fukui in the Kyobashi district of Osaka, a business district with a bevy of love hotels behind the station, is actually more like a themed love hotel than a vintage one (initially we were expecting something more like the Hotel Okura).
True "vintage" love hotels, as we know, are fairly basic affairs, with nice amenities but a straightforward decor. The gaudy or wacky themes came more recently in the 1970s.
Popular Japanese consensus says that by the 2020 Summer Games in ...
