On our recent road trip around Japan, Brent and I stayed in one of Japan’s famous — or infamous? — “love hotels.”

That is, the places where some Japanese go for sexual encounters. They have a pretty fascinating history, and unlike in most Western countries, they’re not considered “sleazy.”

We were just looking for a place to stay for the night, and the price of a room was a bargain: $54 USD.

(It’s a fairly well-known travel hack in Japan that the prices at these establishments are cheaper than at other hotels — in part, because they make money renting “by the hour.”)

The room and bed were huge — far larger than any other we’d had in Asia. And the decor was interesting: 80s-era funk?

Leave a comment

The room included little lidded boxes filled with condoms, lube, and even a vibrator —thankfully, with a plastic wrapping that is presumably replaced after each guest.

There was also one item we didn’t expect to find.

When it comes to sex, what is plastic wrap used for anyway? We asked our heterosexual traveling companions, and they didn’t know either.

There were other reminders that this wasn’t your regular hotel, including two placards left on the bed assuring us the room had been thoroughly sanitized.

Even — as you can see from the sign below — the doorknobs:

The room definitely smelled sanitized, but that only reminded me why it needed to be so sanitized.

On the other hand, it was almost certainly the cleanest hotel room we’ve ever stayed in.

What are Japanese “love hotels” all about anyway?

Creating this newsletter takes a lot of time and effort, so half of our posts are for paid-subscribers only, including this article. But here is a special offer to get an annual subscription — giving you access to the rest of this article and also everything else we’ve written — at 40% off, $30 USD/year (or $2.50/ month) for as long as you continue subscribing:

Get 40% off forever