Young female Showa love hotel connoisseur releases book showcasing their vintage charms

We’ve written before about Yunana, the young female fan of postwar Showa-era love hotels who posts photos of her outings (alone) to these bygone dens of romance and sex.

It seems Yunana’s following has continued to grow, since she has just released a book showcasing her work.

The book’s title, In Search of the Revolving Bed, is a reference to perhaps the most famous love hotel room gimmick that is actually quite a rarity (it became illegal to install new ones after the law changed in 1985).

Now aged 26, the love hotel enthusiast was recently interviewed by Bunshun about her activities, which have involved solo visits to over 100 hotels all across Japan.

The long, three-part Bunshun interview took place, at Yunana’s request, at a love hotel (Hotel SunPearl in Saitama). As usual, she was dressed in clothes that seem more in keeping with 1950s Europe than 2020s Japan.

Yunana describes her first encounter with Showa love hotels when she was a college student and saw a photo online that captivated her. It wasn’t just the vintage look, though, but also the gadgets like the revolving beds.

The first Showa love hotel she visited was one in Urawa and a room that was covered in mirrors.

The article notes the rising popularity of young women holding all-female parties in love hotels. Being a connoisseur, though, Yunana prefers to go alone but does occasionally invite a friend to tag along.

The Showa love hotels she so adores are an endangered species. They tend to be run by older folks and are gradually shutting down.

Their gorgeous interiors, old-fashioned baths, and elaborate room themes are also out of step with the current vogue for love hotels to emphasize bathing amenities and food choices over gimmicks. People today don’t want beds shaped like seashells, futuristic, spaceship interiors, and waterslides, but karaoke and Wi-Fi.

There are apparently four main ways to categorize these old hotels: classic, gimmicky, gorgeous, and grim.

The latter refers to the very basic love hotels from the era, whose rooms are essentially four walls, an old TV, and a futon.

Her epic journey around the country in search of these hidden Showa gems has cost Yunana a lot of time and effort in terms of travel, preparation, and photography.

One thing she has learned is that many love hotels, perhaps especially these older ones, usually do not allow guests checking in alone, so it is always best to ring and check before visiting (otherwise you’re stuck in Hokkaido on your own). One of the reasons such hotels don’t allow solo guests is that they want to discourage people coming to kill themselves.

Another lesson has been in hygiene. Many of these retro love hotels are dirt cheap — and the saving is obvious from the attention paid to the cleanliness, or lack thereof, of the rooms. One place was so dirty she had to leave after 20 minutes.

There also aren’t always food options, in stark contrast for metropolitan love hotels to offer elaborate menus, so Yunana sometimes relies on Uber Eats to get by.

All parts of the interview are illustrated with photos throughout, but we particularly recommend the final part for its photographic showcase of different Showa love hotel rooms.