A love hotel (ラブホテル, rabu hoteru?) is a type of short-stay hotel found in North East Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea operated primarily for the purpose of allowing couples privacy to have sexual intercourse.

Love hotels usually offer a room rate for a “rest” kyūkei (休憩, kyūkei?), as well as for an overnight stay. The period of a “rest” varies, typically ranging from one to three hours. Cheaper daytime off-peak rates are common. In general, reservations are not possible, leaving the hotel will forfeit access to the room, and overnight stay rates only become available after 10pm. They may also be used for prostitution.

But nonetheless, the rooms are really weird and themed. They are often dimly lit like a cabaret lounge for obvious reasons ;)

They even have some rooms decorated in Hello Kitty themes if that rocks your boat.

Prices ranges between $35-$100, depending on the length of your stay.

Look at them sitting in the hot spring on cold winter’s day. You know what they say, it’s true that when your bum is covered, you’re all good to go. On a different note, if I ever visit Japan, this is one of those place I want to visit – Jigokudani Monkey Park, Nagano. The monkey park is situated in Yamanouchi, Shimotakai District, Nagano Prefecture. It is part of the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park, and is located in the valley of the Yokoyu-River, in the northern part of the prefecture. The name Jigokudani, meaning “Hell’s Valley”, is due to the steam and boiling water that bubbles out of small crevices in the frozen ground, surrounded by steep cliffs and formidably cold and hostile forests.

The heavy snowfalls (snow covers the ground for 4 months a year), an elevation of 850 meters, and being only accessible via a narrow two kilometer footpath through the forest, keep it uncrowded despite being relatively well-known.

It is famous for its large population of wild Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata), more commonly referred to as Snow Monkeys, that go to the valley during the winter, foraging elsewhere in the national park during the warmer months. The monkeys descend from the steep cliffs and forest to sit in the warm waters of the onsen (hotsprings), and return to the security of the forests in the evenings.

Nothing political, just polite stuff you should know, in video, if you’re visiting around Japan. Knowing these little tips gets you plenty of brownie points :)

Alright, after you’re done, take a dip on Kusatsu’s Onsen – this video makes you wanna jump in, despite the performance, after a long winter’s day.

How would you like to visit an Inn where feudal lords from the Edo period visited all the time? The Nijo Jinya Inn used to be a meeting place for Feudal lords and is usually decked up with security so that no attempts on assassination can be plot against them. Even the Inn is built in such a way that it is filled with secret doors, secret alley ways and hidden escape routes in case of an attack. The inn is build like a fortress.

Tours for this place are held only in Japanese unfortunately, so if you don’t understand Japanese, bring a Japanese friend with you. It is advisable to make appointments for this place in advance by calling 075-841-0972. Tour takes about an hour long. Admission fee is 1000yen.

Go to this link to find out more about how to get to Nijo Jinya.

Sanja Matsuri is also known as the Festival of Asakusa Shrine. It is the most flamboyant and among the biggest,liveliest festivals in Japan. I would equate the Sanja Matsuri to Mardi Gras because of the similarities – half naked people parades all over the place. It’s really one of the most exciting and mind opening experience to go to a Sanja Matsuri. It is in this festivals that the Geishas and Yakuzas come out to play. It’s a festival dedicated to them almost. You will see men with tattooed bodies parading, geisha’s performing their dances.

The festival pulls over 1.5million people to celebrate together. It is definitely going to be sweaty so you have a lot of reasons to join the crowd to take off your clothes but only if you are a guy of course. I don’t know if girls are allowed to, unlike in Brazil or Costa Rica or …you know, where Mardi Gras is celebrated :P

So the festival starts with a lot of procession, that goes through many districts in Tokyo to the Asakusa Shrine. A little history about it is that 3 fisherman found a statue of a deity, which is now placed in Asakusa shrine, in their fishing nets one day and they have been revered ever since. The festival is an ongoing 3 day celebration too, you can imagine that it is a non-stop entertainment and fun and with all the colorful characters around you’ll be stoke to find that this is certainly a deviation from the normal reserve Japanese culture.

I would SO like to go see it. Anyone wants to buy me a ticket for next year? :P

Eiheiji is the head temple of the Soto Sect, a part of Zen Buddhism, in Japan. It was founded by Dogen Zenji in 1244 making this temple almost 800 years old. Eiheiji stand on a hill of a lush, woody forest, about 15 kms from Fukui city. There are about 70 building all together on the hill.

The temple is house to 150 monks and they accept visitors who would like to stay the night there. You can experience the life of a Zen Buddhist monk when you decide to stay in the temple – that means you’ll be eating and living like vegetarian. You’ll probably be invited to listen to buddhist chants as well. Besides accommodation at this beautiful temple, the sights around it is something to behold. You’ll see a little stream flowing through the monastary – it shows how even 800 years ago, the monks have been able to incorporate nature and architecture in a very seamless manner.

You can also stay in the hotels in the main street if the temple is not something you fancy. But if you do wish to stay, the price is 8000 yen for a night or 3000 yen if you’re staying for a few days. Application to stay at the temple needs to made in advance as this is a coveted opportunity that many seek.

How to get there?
Eiheiji is less than one hour from Fukui. How to get to Fukui? There are direct JR limited express trains to Fukui from Osaka (2h, 5360yen), Kyoto (80min, 4300yen), Nagoya (2h, 5040yen) and Maibara (1h, 2770yen) on the Tokaido Shinkansen.

Source: Japan Guide

When you go to Japan, you must attend a Sumo match because it’s a traditional japanese sport. Baseball may be big in Japan but Sumo Wrestlers are bigger, literally and figuratively. :)
The sport is surrounded by ceremony and ritual. The Japanese consider Sumo a gendai budō: a modern Japanese martial art, even though the sport has a history spanning many centuries.

The Sumo tradition is very ancient, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt for purification, from the days Sumo was used in the Shinto religion.

The basic rule of Sumo is very simple; the first sumo that touches the floor with something else apart from his sole or leaves the ring before his opponent, loses. The fights usually last about a few seconds and its very rare for it to last for up to 1 min or longer.

Six tournaments are held each year and each tournament lasts 15 days. I don’t know how many fights go on in one day with each fight lasting a few seconds. I think they must be many fights but there are also the traditional rituals held before and after a match as well. It’s definitely something that’s worth experiencing.

Three of the 15 tournaments is held in Tokyo (Jan, May, Sept), and one each in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July) and Fukuoka (November).

To know more about Sumo, go to Nihon Sumo Kyokai

Source: Wikipedia ; Japan Guide

There are many beautiful things around Japan, it’s history, culture and nature but there certain things that Japan has to offer that beats the ordinary. Love Hotels.

It’ll stuck out like a little sore thumb in the conventional concrete land of Japan because of it psychedelic colors and weird themes in each of its room. And this, ladies and gentle, is one of Japan’s famous tourist attraction despite it being categorized under the bizarre section.

Nearly every foreigner has a Love Hotel story to tell – for every reasons possible: “There is no other accommodation available”, “It’s the cheapest and it looks funky”,” I had a date and we had no where else to go” etc. Love hotels are often used by young couples, since many young Japanese people live with their parents. They are also commonly used for prostitution. The areas around love hotels are often littered with posters advertising “delivery health” (a euphemism for call girls).

Love hotels usually offer a room rate for a “rest”, kyūkei (休憩, kyūkei?) as well as a night’s “stay.” The period of a “rest” varies from one establishment to the next, typically ranging from one to three hours. Very cheap daytime (off-peak) rates are also common. In general, reservations are not possible, leaving the hotel will forfeit access to the room, and overnight stay rates only become available after 10pm.

Entrances are discreet and interaction with staff is minimized, with rooms often selected from a panel of buttons and the bill settled by pneumatic tube, automatic cash machines, or a pair of hands behind a pane of frosted glass. While cheaper love hotels are utilitarian, higher-end hotels may feature fanciful rooms decorated with cartoon characters, equipped with vibrating beds, or decked out like dungeons complete with S&M gear.

Yee haw, peeps!

Love hotels are typically either concentrated in certain city districts like Dōgenzaka (道玄坂, Dōgenzaka?) in Shibuya, Tokyo, near highways on the city outskirts, or in industrial districts. Very few Japanese people wish to have a love hotel in their neighbourhood, and often oppose construction in residential areas.

Love hotel architecture is sometimes garish, with buildings shaped like castles, boats or UFOs and lit up with lurid pink and purple neon lighting. However, many love hotels are very ordinary looking buildings, distinguished mainly by having small or covered windows.

You can find a love hotel almost anywhere in Japan. Just lookout for funny names like Hotel Elmer, Hotel Carrot, Hotel Charm, Hotel Princess, Hotel Chrystal and also look out for garish colored neon lights. In the likes of this picture:

Source: wikipedia

Gion (祇園 or 祇をん) is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the middle ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine.

Geisha in the Gion district do not refer to themselves as geisha; instead, Gion geisha use the local term “geiko.” While the term geisha means “artist,” the more direct term geiko means specifically “a woman of art.” I bet this is an info that many do not know since the publication of Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha has so misguiding termed/defined the word geisha.

This part of Kyoto has two hanamachi (geisha districts): Gion Kobu (祇園甲部) and Gion Higashi (祇園東). Despite the considerable decline in the number of geiko in Gion in the last one hundred years, it is still famous for the preservation of forms of traditional architecture and entertainment. Part of this district has been declared a national historical preservation district.

There is a popular misconception that Gion was a red-light district. However, as it was a geiko district, and as geiko are entertainers, not prostitutes, Gion is not, and never was, a red-light district. For those of you looking for the red light district, head on to Shimabara for a little history lesson as it WAS a redlight district before prostitution was banned in Japan.

The geiko of Gion still maintain the annual dances, the most popular being the Miyako Odori, or “Dances of the Old Capital,” staged by the geiko of Gion Kobu. The dances run from April 1 through April 30 each year during the height of the cherry blossom (sakura) season. Spectators from Japan and worldwide attend the events, which range from “cheap” seats on tatami mats on the floor (approximately $15.00 U.S.), to reserved seats with a small tea ceremony beforehand (appoximately $40.00 U.S.).

I would suggest visiting Gion to rid of the misconception that geisha/geikos are prostitutes..they are merely artisans or a person of arts. Indeed, to be served by a geisha/geiko is an experience of beauty and of Japan’s oldest cultural heritage.

Source: Wikipedia

Throughout Japan (and I imagine throughout the world), you’ll find roads that have some specially designed grooves or bumps that will make a loud noise when driven over and wake up drowsy drivers.

In Hokkaido, however, they’re going one step further and constructing “melody roads” – roads that have specially constructed grooves so that it makes a recognisable melody when driven over.

The Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute can be blamed for this. Grooves are carved into the road between 6 and 12mm apart. The closer the grooves are, the higher pitched the sound. Apparently, the plan is to carve melodies into the roads that have some significance to the locality. Oh dear.

Click here to hear a sound clip of one of Hokkaido’s Road Melodies.

Links:
Seihin-World
Dottocomu