Japanese Love Hotels: A Cultural History / Edition 1

by Sarah Chaplin

Overview

Drawing on theories of place, consumption and identity, Sarah Chaplin details the evolution of the love hotel in urban Japan since the 1950s. Love hotels emerged in the late 1950s following a ban of licensed prostitution, then were extremely popular in the 1970s, were then legislated against in the 1980s and are now perceived as 'leisure', 'fashion' or 'boutique' hotels.

Representing a timely opportunity to capture and evaluate the dying manifestations of an important era in Japanese social and cultural history, this book provides a critical account of the love hotel as a unique typology. It considers its spatial, aesthetic, semiotic, and locational denotations and connotations, which results in a richly nuanced cultural reading.

The love hotel is presented as a key indicator of social and cultural change in post-war Japan, and as such this book will be of interest to a wide and international readership including students of Japanese culture, society and architecture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415487542
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/20/2010
Series:	Routledge Contemporary Japan Series
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Sarah Chaplin is Deputy Director of the Urban Renaissance Institute and Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Greenwich, London.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. The Urban Context of Love Hotel Districts 2. The Love Hotel as a Building Type 3. Images and Technologies of the Love Hotel Interior 4. Naming and Theming the Love Hotel 5. The Love Hotel Industry 6. Towards a Conclusion