Ayumi Nabe’s book Hotel Mejiro Emperor is a photographic compendium of active and abandoned Japanese love hotels.
Nabe’s exploration of these overtly extravagant and kitschy places opens the door to the weirdly fascinating and secretive rooms that play a major part in Japanese culture and sexuality and are usually less accessible to Westerners. From among the 350 love hotels the photographer has visited so far, those that were designed during the Showa era, from the 1960s to the 1980s, were specifically chosen for this anthology.
Tokyo Kirara, 130pp, 15cm x 21cm, illustrated paperback, 2025