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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Love beats the recession in Japan | Love beats the recession in Japan |
| (about 10 hours later) | |
| Japan's love hotels are doing brisk business, despite the economic downturn By Roland Buerk BBC News, Tokyo | Japan's love hotels are doing brisk business, despite the economic downturn By Roland Buerk BBC News, Tokyo |
| Japan's love hotels are attracting interest from more than just couples looking for a place to spend a few private hours. | Japan's love hotels are attracting interest from more than just couples looking for a place to spend a few private hours. |
| Investors are also interested; this vast market seems to be proving more resilient to the recession than luxury business hotels. | Investors are also interested; this vast market seems to be proving more resilient to the recession than luxury business hotels. |
| There are about 25,000 love hotels in Japan which are visited an estimated 500 million times a year. | There are about 25,000 love hotels in Japan which are visited an estimated 500 million times a year. |
| Clustered around train stations, they are doing a brisk business despite the worst recession in living memory. | Clustered around train stations, they are doing a brisk business despite the worst recession in living memory. |
| People can check into the love hotels via touch screens | People can check into the love hotels via touch screens |
| Flamboyantly designed and exotically named - Hotel For You, Sunpalace, Asian P-Door - they offer rooms by the hour, euphemistically marketed as a short rest or a longer stay. | Flamboyantly designed and exotically named - Hotel For You, Sunpalace, Asian P-Door - they offer rooms by the hour, euphemistically marketed as a short rest or a longer stay. |
| Contact with staff is kept to a minimum. This is a business that runs on discretion. | Contact with staff is kept to a minimum. This is a business that runs on discretion. |
| Some have underground car parks and entrances, while others provide screens to shield visitors' number plates. | Some have underground car parks and entrances, while others provide screens to shield visitors' number plates. |
| Plenty of customers are using love hotels to indulge in affairs or to meet prostitutes, although many are couples looking to escape the narrow confines of Japanese apartment living. | Plenty of customers are using love hotels to indulge in affairs or to meet prostitutes, although many are couples looking to escape the narrow confines of Japanese apartment living. |
| Crowded country | Crowded country |
| At many hotels the reception desk has been replaced by a touch screen of pictures of the rooms, brightly lit if available, dimmed out if already occupied. | At many hotels the reception desk has been replaced by a touch screen of pictures of the rooms, brightly lit if available, dimmed out if already occupied. |
| Love hotels offer time alone in a crowded country where privacy is rare. | Love hotels offer time alone in a crowded country where privacy is rare. |
| Yuichi Ito and Kyoko Shio are typical of Japanese in their twenties, still living with their parents. | Yuichi Ito and Kyoko Shio are typical of Japanese in their twenties, still living with their parents. |
| Yuichi Ito and Kyoko Shio both still live with their parents | Yuichi Ito and Kyoko Shio both still live with their parents |
| "My family is my Dad and my Mom, and I have two younger brothers," says Yuichi Ito. "But we only have four rooms, so it is a very crowded house." | "My family is my Dad and my Mom, and I have two younger brothers," says Yuichi Ito. "But we only have four rooms, so it is a very crowded house." |
| He adds that he and his girlfriend, who met while they were studying in the United States, visit love hotels to find somewhere to be alone. | He adds that he and his girlfriend, who met while they were studying in the United States, visit love hotels to find somewhere to be alone. |
| Providing privacy is big business in Japan. The love hotel industry is huge, estimated to turn over about £25bn ($40bn) a year. | Providing privacy is big business in Japan. The love hotel industry is huge, estimated to turn over about £25bn ($40bn) a year. |
| And hotel owners claim they have been barely touched by the recession. | And hotel owners claim they have been barely touched by the recession. |
| "Of course some hotels did [suffer], but not love hotels," says Joichiro Mochizuki, an executive with a company which runs a number of love hotels, including the Asian P-Door in Tokyo. | "Of course some hotels did [suffer], but not love hotels," says Joichiro Mochizuki, an executive with a company which runs a number of love hotels, including the Asian P-Door in Tokyo. |
| "Not like city hotels, not like business hotels - for this love hotel we had a 3-4% drop but otherwise we have kept a 400% occupancy rate." | "Not like city hotels, not like business hotels - for this love hotel we had a 3-4% drop but otherwise we have kept a 400% occupancy rate." |
| That means each room is, on average, used four times a day. | That means each room is, on average, used four times a day. |
| The sheer variety on offer for couples is huge. There are mock castles, perched by motorway intersections. | The sheer variety on offer for couples is huge. There are mock castles, perched by motorway intersections. |
| One love hotel is decorated on a theme that combines soft toys and bondage. In others, visitors can dress up as doctors and nurses. | One love hotel is decorated on a theme that combines soft toys and bondage. In others, visitors can dress up as doctors and nurses. |
| The hotels cater for all, even fans of the film Titanic | |
| Some rooms look like school classrooms or train carriages. | Some rooms look like school classrooms or train carriages. |
| There's even a love hotel for fans of the film Titanic, shaped like a cruise liner with life-size statues of Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslett on the prow. | There's even a love hotel for fans of the film Titanic, shaped like a cruise liner with life-size statues of Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslett on the prow. |
| With 25,000 across Japan, there is one to suit every fantasy. | With 25,000 across Japan, there is one to suit every fantasy. |
| Seedy reputation | Seedy reputation |
| British businessman Steve Mansfield sees great potential in the industry which has traditionally been shunned by big Japanese corporations put off by its seedy reputation. | British businessman Steve Mansfield sees great potential in the industry which has traditionally been shunned by big Japanese corporations put off by its seedy reputation. |
| The rooms in his hotels are rather straightforward. He says he aims to create the ideal living area which people would have at home if money was no object. | The rooms in his hotels are rather straightforward. He says he aims to create the ideal living area which people would have at home if money was no object. |
| There is a bed, of course, a flat screen television and a projector, a karaoke machine and an outdoor bathroom in the more expensive suites. | There is a bed, of course, a flat screen television and a projector, a karaoke machine and an outdoor bathroom in the more expensive suites. |
| There are also payment machines by every door in case guests want to leave unseen. | There are also payment machines by every door in case guests want to leave unseen. |
| Steve Mansfield is looking to invest in more love hotels | Steve Mansfield is looking to invest in more love hotels |
| Mr Mansfield's company, Japan Leisure Hotels, listed on London's AIM market, already runs six hotels, and he would like many more. | Mr Mansfield's company, Japan Leisure Hotels, listed on London's AIM market, already runs six hotels, and he would like many more. |
| "When we looked at it and saw the fragmentation - 90% of owners have five or fewer hotels - we thought this is interesting," he says. "Here is a massive industry that has no market leader and there is a great opportunity here for consolidation." | "When we looked at it and saw the fragmentation - 90% of owners have five or fewer hotels - we thought this is interesting," he says. "Here is a massive industry that has no market leader and there is a great opportunity here for consolidation." |
| Steve Mansfield does not like the phrase love hotels. He prefers "leisure hotels", pointing out that what goes on in his premises happens in every other hotel in the world. | Steve Mansfield does not like the phrase love hotels. He prefers "leisure hotels", pointing out that what goes on in his premises happens in every other hotel in the world. |
| Whatever they are called, Japan's short stay hotels remain busy with customers. | Whatever they are called, Japan's short stay hotels remain busy with customers. |
| The Japanese may have cut back on many things in the downturn - but not on a few hours to spend alone with a loved one. | The Japanese may have cut back on many things in the downturn - but not on a few hours to spend alone with a loved one. |