Flipping through this unassuming pocket book, you become privy to a kaleidoscope of exotic rooms. One has seedy fluorescent lighting and a gritty VCR playing an unknown pink film, another is done up like a convenience store, another looks like a child’s playroom, and yet another has steel doors, brick walls and a dentist’s chair.
It’s a book of interior design that goes through every era and every style of interior design – one page is Byzantine in its taste, another starkly traditional with its tatami mats and paper walling – the only thing tying these disparate designs together is the type of place you’ll find these rooms.
Love Hotels are a distinctly Japanese invention that can be traced back to the 17th century. Starting as discreet getaways for couples to share an hour or two of intimacy and excitement, they developed into more tropical locations where clients could indulge in wild fantasies – which explains the wide variety of decor.
In 1948, Japan’s Public Morals Regulation Act – notorious for banning dancing – put the squeeze on hotels accommodating for tastes “not required for basic lodging”, slowly killing off the weird and wonderful inventions of the love hotel, not limited to the revolving beds and mirrored rooms.
So in the early 2000s, when these boutique hotels looked like they’d be lost to history, contemporary art analyst Kyoichi Tsuzuki started reaching out to photograph them all (and also the country’s fading Museums of Erotica). As it turned out that the owners were all too happy to have their rooms documented – often they were the very people who had carefully designed these spaces.
The result is this charming little photo book – and its size is an inspired design choice. Much like the places it’s documenting, it’s a little secret that you can dip your nose in for some excitement and inspiration (it’s even in english if you read from left to right).
These rooms have been lovingly crafted with the same attention to detail and lighting considerations as a movie set— fashion and art photographers would have a field day in these rooms (which is what artist Momoko Ishihara did with an exhibition inspired by Tsuzuki’s first version of this book, Satellite of Love).
Love Hotels is a book bursting with colour, style, and variety that could be enjoyed by all; if not for some of its more unusual intimations (the pink bathroom stool that sits dramatically under a spotlight invites all sorts of questions). But, above all it’s a book for lovers of interior design. It stretches the medium in every direction, and is a mesmerising volume to be read and re-read.
And for those who just love love hotels, there’s good news. Since the tumultuous 2000s, love hotels have made a comeback and are thriving not just in Japan but around the world.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Love Hotels by Kyoichi Tsuzuki is available from Seigansha Art Publishing.
