One of the quirky establishments that are part of contemporary Japanese culture are the so called love hotels. These small hotels are used as a clandestine meeting place for lovers and those who have a secret relationship. But over the years, love hotels have begun to diversify and are now trying to market themselves not as a secret rendezvous for illicit affairs but as a place where people can have fun.
One surprising trend is that these hotels are now beginning to cater to women. Different facilities and services are being incorporated the specifically target what women want. Among the new services include the addition of luxurious baths, amenities that cater and pamper women, mimicking the feel of a resort, and entertainment options like DVD players and widescreen TVs. One other service/facility that seems to be a hit among women are sex toys. More and more Japanese women are becoming enamored with sex toys and they usually incorporate it when they have sex with their lovers. There are even some love hotels that provide uniforms for costume play.
Love hotels are definitely one more landmark that a tourist should visit when in Japan.
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Posted March 8th, 2008 by Maki+ | Comments (4)
I just saw a program on NGO about Love Hotels, I was born in Japan and lived there for 18 years but never got a clean though about them. reality is that since majority of Japanese living in Tokyo have no privacy even the married couples with children will sneak out to love hotel for a romantic night
i think youll be interested in this interview.
http://str8nyc.com/2008/03/13/spotlight-black-passenger-yellow-cabs/
Not entirely a new thing- the point-based systems for most love hotels offer rewards like Louis Vuitton handbags. The explanation I got for that was that women are more loyal customers than men, somehow having less compunction about bringing a new guy to an old place. Kind of makes you wonder, though, when she shows up with a new purse…
Maybe the kind of targeting you’re talking about is a stepping-up of competition in general? Some of the older love hotels are getting pretty dingy, and the nicest newest ones always fill up first.
[...] Source: Japan Blog [...]