No? Well, can we at least get some cheese?
Something is amiss in Dogenzaka. I could go off on a rant here about changing cultures and stuff like that – but I don’t really know enough about Japanese culture to do that. I’ll just sum it up in one simple sentence:
The sleaze ain’t what it used to be.
(And there’s not a lot of cheese, either.)Okay, that was two sentences, but they’re related enough to count as one. Dogenzaka is a neighborhood near (in?) Shibuya famous for one thing – love hotels. Once upon a time you could find the grandest, craziest, weirdest theme-room in which to get freaky and live out whatever fantasy you may be harboring.
Not any more.
This was explored really well in a Japanzine article (which you can read here), so I won’t go into it just to repeat what they said.While I was in town, Tracey and I decided to check out a love hotel, mostly for kicks, and because neither of us had ever been to one. We walked all around the area, trying to find one with a weird theme or maybe just something really tacky. We didn’t find anything like that, but what we did find surprised us both.
Lots of boring crap that was no different from any other hotel room.
Well, aside from the Stay (3 hour) and Rest (overnight) rates on the buildings. They’re all so damned dull! We probably went into 20 different places to look at the “room menu” and see what their rooms were like. (Every place seems to have a light up signboard in the lobby with a picture of each of the rooms so you can see where you’ll be shagging. The board shows vacant rooms as lit and occupied ones as dark.)
We ended up getting a stay in a room that might not seem to unusual at first glance (aside from the rocks on the walls):
Until you switched over to the “other” lights:
Oooooohhhhhhhhhhh!
And yes, that’s about as wild a room as we could find. The mural on the wall was a nice touch (if a bit dated):
Of course, there was more to the room than just funky black lights.There was also this kick-ass tub, complete with bubble jets and your choice of colored lights to liven up bathtime:
The red didn’t carry too well (okay, it probably would have if the tub were full, but I had other things on my mind than taking pics at that time – sue me), but the blue was quite nice:
The tub really was nice. Probably twice as big as the standard Japanese apartment tub (from what I’ve seen) and much more comfortable for…sitting in…yeah, that’s it. ^.^
There were other attractions too. For those who are so inclined there was a nice widescreen television, which offered both normal stations and a whole one porn channel.
Actually, it was more like half of a channel:
Can somebody tell me the point of that? I mean, come on! Mosaiced porn is stupid enough, but a close-up?!? of mosaiced porn?
What the hell?!?
And this was a pretty tame moment, mosaic-wise. There were a few parts where the entire screen was a mosaic. You may as well just hook up the Nintendo and start playing Tetris at that point. At least then you’d have a better chance of imagining something sexual when you drop that long, four-block piece down a tight-fitting…..Ahem.
Where was I? Oh yes, the other features of the room. Well, there really weren’t any. Regular bathroom and all that. A mini-fridge that was compartmentalized as a mini-bar – packed so tight you can’t put anything you may have brought with you in it. (What, like they expect guests to leave their whipped cream out all night? I don’t think so!)
And how much does the big bed, black lights, nice tub and lousy porn set one back? Not too much at all! We checked in around 11PM and our “stay” was good until noon or so the next day (I forget exactly). That cost about $110. Not a bad price for a hotel room in Tokyo. I wonder if the love hotels are cleaning up their acts in order to attract more business clientele?
So if you’re in the mood (and the neighborhood), I suggest giving this place a go. I can’t tell you exactly where it is, but wander around Dogenzaka and look for this sign:
The green windows are a good locator too:
The details on the wall warrant a closer look, I think:
A nice little touch, I thought.Oh, and in case you’re wondering, room #503 is the “Drew and Tracey Suite.”
^.^