Smaller than your typical hotel, they usually have a fun/silly/blatant sexual theme to their name and you can pay two ways: per night, or per hour.
Living here I have always been fascinated by them. The sheer amount they have here is worth questioning why we have them. At first assumption, I guessed that in Japan, men are seen as the dominant sex, so having extramarital relations was to be expected-hence the need for these love hotels.
The thought made me somewhat angry -thinking: Why would a country allow these types of places to be built? It's like they were condoning, nay SUPPORTING infidelity! What the f#ck right? (Yes, sometimes I let my imaginations and assumptions go too far.)
Anywho, I needed to know the story behind these.
Without looking it up on the net, we consulted a credible japanese local, Eriko. This bubbly Sasebo-ian runs a local japanese radio show AND volunteers to guide various base tours. Her engrish is amazing..and she is hilarious! Anywho, she explains Love Hotels as such:
Long time ago, (not THAT long ago) an arranged marriage was the norm. Because of this, many people could not be with the one they truely LOVEd. And with that, LOVE Hotels were created. But nowadays, a lot of monagamous and even married couples take advantage of these hotels. In Sasebo, it is not uncommon for more than one generation to live under one small roof. Most homes in Sasebo are pretty small and some couples just need some privacy without mom, dad, gramps or grammy walking in! :O
Here are my two favorite Love Hotel signs. I wonder if Disney knows about Ariel's secret life. Be sure to click on the big one to get a good look at the little cartoon in the top right corner. The street sign in front of it is covering the name -it's called "Banado"
2 comments:
Wow, it was worth it to click on the photo on the right. That banana is working it, with the sweat beads and all. And he's either shoving it too far or he's in the wrong hole (although there's only one hole) cause that fruit loop's eyes are ka-razy!
Wanna hear sumfing fuct up? A guy at work said he used to use them all the time way back in his party years (he's kinda older) -not because he was hookin' up wif chicks all the time, but because they were cheaper than a normal hotel...but then he caught crabs! So that was pretty much the last time for him!
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