Love Hotels are a uniquely different Japanese tradition. In a country where homes are small and traditionally the family stayed together because it often proved economically impossible for grown up children to leave home, the Love Hotel came about as a private refuge for couples who still lived at home, as somewhere to go to make love.
Rooms are rentable by the hour at quite reasonable rates, in what is euphemistically called 'a rest', or by the night from 11pm to 2pm the following day.
The Hotels are usually in groups near motorway interchanges, and are set up now in such a way that it is quite possible to park up in the underground car park, cover up the car number plate, and walk up directly from the car park to the chosen room, gaining access using a credit card. To save embarrassment the couple do not have to meet anyone in the process.

Everything is provided to meet the needs of couples, from condoms next to the bed, to mini-bars for sex toys, and the rooms are usually large by Japanese standards, decorated in a very 'over the top' fashion.

The selection of pictures here show a typical set of Hotels in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, many no more than walking distance from the ancient Shinto and Buddhist temples which make the city so famous.