Love by the Hour
While in America the idea of staying in a pay-by-the-hour hotel for a sexual dalliance is usually considered sleazy. But in places like Tokyo, Japan, where overcrowding in the home has left little room for private moments, going to a Love Hotel is considered an usual matter of course. In fact it is most common for married couples to frequent Love Hotels when they want to be intimate.
Look at this hotel room which is decorated with Hello Kitty pictures and figurines. It’s so cute and romantic, isn’t it? I love pink colors!
The whole hotel is filled with a very romantic atmosphere.
While going to a Love Hotel is not generally spoken about, it is common knowledge that many couples can and do visit them frequently. Discreet, anonymous, and clean, Love Hotels offer a romantic and fun ambiance, as well as all the amenities an amorous couple could hope for, including vending machines that dispense drinks, cigarettes, condoms, and even sex toys.
Love hotel’s architecture sometimes can be garish, with buildings shaped like castles, boats or any other strange shapes. They are usually lit with pink and purple neon lightings. However, most love hotels are very ordinary looking buildings, distinguished mainly by having small or covered windows, but a few of them not surprisingly, do not have windows.
Actually, this is not a bad idea at all. Time away from the kids, the in-laws or other extended family members can be hard to accomplish in many other cultures too, not just in Japan. In much of Latin America, with the “extended family” culture so prevalent, this could work big time for a vast number of couples.
I often discuss these and other cultural elements of Colombian culture on my ELT and foreign language learning blog at:
http://bettereflteacher.blogspot.com/
Thanks for reading my comment.
Cordially,
Prof. Larry M. Lynch
with the american economy causing more people to live together to share living expenses, it may not be considered sleazy to follow the same practice