I always see images and videos of abandoned love hotels in Japan. Is it really common to find lots of abandoned love hotels all over the country? And if so, why are they abandoned? Is the love hotel business slowing down?
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/vcg3ng/why_so_many_abandonded_love_hotels/
14 comments
All the love has gone. 🙁
Covid probably didn’t help. Current news highlights a decline in people seeking relationships. And the cleaners had finally had enough.
Its a business. There are costs. You see a lot of it online cuz it gets clicks. Also location. Probably in a dying area so no redevelopment like in cities
There are abandoned buildings everywhere. Hotels, homes, businesses, schools. You just see more videos of the love hotels.
Japan’s population is shrinking. Actually aged people are increasing but the younger population is shrinking much faster. Plus, people are getting more and more poor. If a couple don’t have money they won’t bother to go to love hotels just for doing it.
Most abandoned love hotels are from like 80s or 90s, when the country was full of rich-ish young people. Dreams of bygone days…
Because of population centralization. When everyone is moving to the big cities, businesses in rural areas die out, including love hotels.
Another reason is that during the bubble economy of the late 80’s and early 90’s a lot of people bought up property for investment purposes and running a love hotel was a good way to save up on taxes. Now the property boom is bust and owners aging, leaving the abandoned hotels behind.
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People just don’t have that much money to spare anymore.
Although some love hotels seem to be doing great by losing the weird deco (which I kind of like, to be honest) and doubling as fancy(ish) hotels for tourists on a tight budget but who want more comfort, space and amenities than a business hotel. See the “Best Delight” chain, for example.
Dating in general is expensive.
Not enough business.
Love Hurts
I think most of the abandoned ones you see on urbex sites were built in the crazy bubble era, and closed together with the rest of the countryside as the youth urbanized. Inner city love hotels are living on as usual.
It’s very common to see abandonned buildings in general in some areas. Everytime I go to slightly remote places in Japan, I see empty buildings everywhere. I also see more and more in cities too.
most of them are probably in more rural areas. Those areas in general are declining