Going to Japan Soon?

Sure, Zen gardens, sushi and the Sony Walkman are great, but the greatest Japanese invention of all time has to be the love hotel. In the concrete wasteland of the modern Japanese city, the love hotel stands out as a refreshingly off-the-wall  escape from conformity, a monument to hedonism, and a libertine's paradise.  It's also a godsend when you're tired of taking your girlfriend back to your gaijin apartment with its half-inch plywood walls and nosy neighbours. Nearly every foreigner in Japan has a love hotel story to tell and number of Japanese people who were conceived in one must be enormous.
     The love hotel is changing though, and the news isn't all good.  They've gone upscale, lost some of their sleazy associations and the decors have become more tasteful but the bad news is that in an effort to clean up their image, they got rid of a lot of the exciting theme rooms. Although they still exist, its getting harder and harder to find places with bumper cars and disco lights.
     Love hotels have even changed their name. Japanese people never say “rabu hoteru” anymore and although the abbreviation  “rabu-ho” is still used, the hotels themselves always refer to themselves as ‘fashion hotels’ (in Kansai) and ‘couples hotels’ or ‘boutique hotels’ (in Kanto). 

Love Hotels

Plenty of pictures and explanatory text!