Love Hotels: The Hidden Fantasy Rooms of Japan (Hardcover)

~ (Photographer), (Foreword), (Contributor)
Key Phrases: love hotels

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Sex creates odd cultural conventions everywhere, but nowhere has an institution quite like the Japanese love hotel. To be rented by the hour for amorous liaisons, the theme rooms revealed in this provocative collection of photographs are steeped in fantasy, their elaborate décor ranging from simulated subway cars to religious bondage with much kink in between. These brash rooms are fascinating in themselves, but also present a window into a very classified aspect of this society. The foreword by best-selling author Natsuo Kirino and passages from hotel guest books lend humor and context to these 80 haunting room portraits, creating an astonishing document of sex and romance, public and private space in Japan.

About the Author

Misty Keasler regularly contributes to Texas Monthly and Dwell magazine. She lives in Dallas. Natsuo Kirino is the author of Out, which was a recipient of the Grand Prix for Crime Fiction in Japan and one of its major literary awards, the Naoki Prize. She lives in Tokyo. Rod Slemmons is director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 156 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (November 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811856410
• ISBN-13: 978-0811856416
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 11 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #411,103 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wrong about Love Hotels, September 5, 2008

By	Zack Davisson "All Good Things" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I am of two minds on this book. On one hand, it is full of great fantasy-land photos representing a slice of Japan that I love; the bizarre, the outrageous, the unashamed blending of cute/sexy/violent and anything else that can be thrown into the mix. On the other hand, this book completely misrepresents what love hotels are, the purpose they serve in Japanese society, and pretty much every other aspect of this unique aspect of Japanese life. Anyone reading this book, then going to a love hotel in Japan, would be sorely disappointed.

I lived in Japan for many years, and during that time I went to many, many love hotels. The vast majority are nothing like these photographs, and the themed rooms are actually quite rare. If you notice, most of these photographs are from the same couple of establishments, Hotel Adonis, Hotel Loire and Hotel Snowman (not the actual name of the hotel, which is really Gang Snowman), because they are the few out of the thousands of hotels that offer these kinds of rooms. Most love hotels are...somewhat boring in décor. They are nice rooms, with lots of services such as free movies, karaoke and a big bathtub, which are usually cheaper to stay in than regular hotels. Yes, there are some outrageous love hotels, like the ones in this book, and those are the kind worth seeking out because they are so much fun, but they are hardly the norm.

The introduction to this book, by Natsuo Kirino, author of the book Out, is depressing and also misrepresentative of love hotels in Japan. She would have you believe that they are some sort of seedy place where men live out their dark fantasies while cheating on their wives and abusing women in general. In my experience, nothing could be further from the truth. Oh yes, there are those who use them as "cheating hotels", but all of my Japanese friends and co-workers, teachers and chefs, young and old, used love hotels without embarrassment. Why? Well, for one thing because Japanese houses are small, with thin walls and families often sleeping in the same room together. Privacy is a valuable commodity. For another reason, they are just fun. It is nice to get out of the house, out of the routine, and go with your partner and indulge in a love hotel for the night. People would chat at work at which hotels they liked, in the same way people swapped good restaurants. My wife and I stayed at a great love hotel for our anniversary, complete with private roof-top pool, huge bed and massive bath. It was fantastic.

On another note, in the introduction Kirino calls Japan "a land without religion" and blames that for the moral failing of the country. Japan is indeed a "land without Christianity", but that is not the same thing as being "without religion". I was quite shocked at how poorly she represented her native country, and with such spite and venom she discussed the Japanese people. I dearly hope no one takes her opinion as indicative of the country and its populace.

So, in other words, great photos and a nice look at the more bizarre and fringe love hotels, but no one should take this as representative of the industry or the country as a whole. Without Kirino's introduction, this would have been a much better book, buts its inclusion drags it down to a sad and misinformed level.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, February 27, 2007

By	D. Anderson (Conway, AR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had only seen a few of these images when I bought "Love Hotels" and was thrilled with how many thrills and surprises the book itself offers. This is a tremendous body of work and a wonderful introduction to the photography of Misty Keasler, who has established herself as an artist of real humanity and complexity. "Love Hotels" is a gorgeously-designed book that is ostensibly about the loaded subject of Japanese hotel rooms used only for sex. In these delicious photos, Keasler goes much deeper than the simple eye-candy of these odd spots, and leads us on an exploration of this strange expression of a society known to be fairly sexually repressed. She communications a number of emotions -- some humorous, some sad, some disturbing -- that all reflect her longtime interest in how a particular public or private space illustrates the lives that occupy it. Much of Keasler's other work concerns children living in orphanages or garbage dumps, but no matter what the project, it always returns to place, and here she has found one of the world's most fascinating places. It's a great ride. Highly recommended.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting peek into Japanese sub-culture, June 24, 2008

By	T. Fleming "piggydiva" (Western Kansas, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The pictures are fantastic, and the "notes" written by the various couples range from pathetically sad to highly entertaining. Be sure to read the forward or you won't understand the significance of Love Hotels in general. Makes an interesting conversation starter if left lying around on the coffee table!