Love hotel’s rotating bed in Reiwa is gaining popularity as it looks good!

The Showa era LOVE legacy still lingers on social networking sites

2021-10-08

Aine Kashiba (Nara)

This vintage building was installed more than 30 years ago and was once broken, but was repaired in 2004. The blue lights shine on the bright red pillars and beams.

The “rotating bed,” which was created in the Showa era as a playground equipment for adults, is now booming again among young people in Japan.

(Kiko Mizuhara (30) introduced it on Amazon Prime’s program “Kikokikaku” as a way to enjoy the glittering retro atmosphere of the Showa era, and social networking sites are filled with images of college students and office workers enjoying girls’ parties in the rotating bed rooms. It also seems to have become a spot for cosplayers to enjoy photo sessions.

Amami Aine, 36, a love hotel explorer who has actually visited and researched more than 600 hotels, explains the appeal of love hotels.

Amami Aine, 36, a love hotel explorer who has actually visited and researched love hotels, explains the appeal of love hotels: “After all, the unique atmosphere and tricks are interesting. The bed looks like a UFO floating in space, and the way it moves up and down is something you don’t see today. The rotating bed is a symbol of the unique Showa era love hotels. The flashy and unusual space looks new to today’s youth.

Rotating beds come in many shapes and sizes. Among them, the rotating bed at Aine Kashiba in Nara Prefecture (photo above) is a mysterious space that looks like you are in a kaleidoscope. The room’s beams are stretched out in a radial pattern, and the sides of the bed have flashing light bulbs that reflect off the mirrors on the walls and make the whole room glitter.

As for unusual shapes, the Rolls Royce-shaped bed (second photo) in Utopia in Shizuoka Prefecture is outstanding. At first glance, you might wonder if it really turns, but when you turn it on, the front lights light up and the body turns slowly as if it were drifting.

“In the past, men used this curiosity as an excuse to lure women to their hotels. In the past, men used this as an excuse to lure women to their hotels, and the mirrored walls and rotating bed were installed as a set. At a time when adult movies were not readily available, it was refreshing to see the reflection of a man and woman in a mirror.

However, the number of revolving beds peaked in the early 1980s and has since declined. However, the number of revolving beds peaked in the early 1980s and has been decreasing, becoming a rarity that is hard to find nowadays.

The main reason is the enforcement of the new Entertainment Establishments Control Law in 1985. Until then, love hotels had been mere lodging facilities, but with their revolving beds and mirrored equipment, they were now under the jurisdiction of the Entertainment Establishments Control Law. Many love hotels did not like this and removed their revolving beds. They are now legally allowed to operate as inns. There are also other reasons for the decline, according to Mr. Ohne.

“In the mid-1980s, urban design became popular, and as flamboyant decorations were discontinued, revolving beds gradually disappeared. However, with the Showa era and the popularity of flashy hotels, the surviving revolving beds are now attracting attention again.

The number of revolving beds has decreased and they have become even more valuable. It seems that the nature of young people who are attracted to curiosities has not changed in either the Showa or the Showa era.