Darlo's World

Warning, this post may not be appropriate for young’uns.

So I’d briefly mentioned about Love Hotels in my Kinky in Kinki post back in January, and definately wanted to see inside one at some point out of general curiosity. Being told various things like “the rooms have karaoke and game consoles in them” definately added to my curiosity. After finding a friend who was also curious about the goings on, we decided to check out one of them in Umeda.

For those that don’t know, in a nutshell a Love Hotel is a hotel designed for couples to enjoy some quiet alone time, and can be paid for by the hour or overnight.

I’d just like to take this moment to say that we did not do anything of an adult nature at the hotel. ಠ_ಠ

Before meeting up at Umeda Station, I had a nose around Umeda’s Love Hotel area looking at prices by the hour. Prices really varied depending on the grandeur of the hotel, and at times the rooms had different charges dependant on theme or popularity. The cheapest I’d found was 2,000 yen (£13.38) and most expensive over 8,000 yen (£53.51), with the common price being around the 3,000 yen mark (£20.06). Ironically the least expensive hotel appeared to be one of the less dodgy, but as I’ve seen many times in Japan appearances can be deceptive.

After having a bit of food we headed over to the cheapest establishment. We must have been there at a relatively busy time as we saw one couple leaving (satisfied smiles on faces), and another couple heading in (excited smiles on faces). Apparently the 2,000 yen room had been taken so we opted for the next cheapest room at 2,500 yen (£16.73). At this particular hotel (might be different in others), when you walk in there’s a large wall with pictures of the different rooms and buttons to make your selection (pretty much like a vending machine). It then prints you out a ticket and you head to your room; there’s a little flashing light above your door. When your time is up you pay at a window which is partially obscured to protect privacy, however the security cameras kind of make it directly inadequate. Perhaps it’s to give the customer peace of mind that they don’t have to look in the eye of the cashier.

We headed to our room, conveniently on the bottom floor, and after taking off our shoes we slid the door open to reveal a quaint Japanese style tatami room. Off to the left was the rather nice looking bathroom, complete with washlet and various accessories standard of normal hotels; shampoo etc. Through another door was a large bath and shower area (plenty of room for 2 ^_~), which had a window giving a view of the main bedroom and vice-versa. By flicking a certain light switch, the whole room went red. Romantic for some, this just seemed to remind me of many blood stricken horror films.

And then the main bedroom. A huge futon bed taking up the majority of the space that I could easily have just stayed in all day. Perhaps it’s because my dorm bed isn’t wanderful, but this bed felt great. The only thing that marred it for me was the knowledge of “I know what people have done in this bed” >_<. After flicking on the TV and getting a screen full of boobs and pixels (in Japan certain aspects of pornography are illegal, so those aspects are generally pixelated or blurred) using a series of complex remote controls we managed to flick through some of the other channels, trying to find the karaoke and games. Yes, we did have karaoke, and yes there was a game system; not a PS3 like I'd been led to believe, but perhaps that's in one of the more expensive rooms.

Generally the room itself was really nice, and had it not been for the condoms at the head of the bed instead of the customary chocolate mints, I'd have been none the wiser. But it was time to get to action and do what we'd set out to do by coming to this Love Hotel. I opened my bag, and pulled out my copy of Kanji in Context and cracked on with some revision. What? Did you forget I have an important exam on Friday? My friend also had some work she needed to do so we both got on with it for a bit.

Finishing the hour with a little karaoke we left the room; the room itself was probably very dissapointed with us.

Love Hotels are something I’ve only really seen or heard about in Japan. When I spoke to some people at home about them they instantly got the wrong idea, thinking of brothels or a hotel where people just did it any old where. To be honest I probably won’t visit another one during my remaining couple of weeks, and it’s doubtful I’ll ever go to another one. However, we were really curious about what the more upscale rooms or hotels would be like.

In other news, today is Children’s Day.

Tadaima!

I’ve just got back from the Koya-san (Mount Koya) trip, and I’m incredibly knackered … but I’m still going to try and write an entry about it. Naked teachers, Japan’s best curry rice, and a trip to Higurashi will all feature in this journal … if I can remember it.

So it all started yesterday at god-knows-what-o’clock (about 6:30 … ish) when I got out of bed. Thankfully I’d packed the night before, and had also, efficiently, left a list of things to pack in the morning; toothbrush etc. Leaving the dorm just before 7 meant that I did miss out on breakfast, but this was soon substituted by a trip to McDonalds in Okamoto (Kobe). After meeting up with the group at … some train station whose name escapes me (this will be a common feature in this entry), we then proceded to go via the JR Line to Koya-san. With the exception of a few DS games and an 8 player tournament of Mario Kart (which I’m unmodestly proud to say I was the clear winner of ^_^), we arrived at the correct train station and went via cable car up the mountain. Bar a few comments about the cable car wire snapping, the trip up was quite mellow. It did have some awesome views and I think I got some pictures.

For the record, I will be uploading the pictures eventually… not today though ^_^.

Staying at the Ho-on-in Temple, we got to experience a more humble life, eating mainly simple vegetarian meals (which were mostly awesome) and sleeping on a futon in a tatami room, something I’d wanted to do even though I don’t think it’s on the list. After lunch, shortly after arrival, we headed by bus(es) to a large temple … maybe a shrine. I’m not going to lie to you guys, over the last two days I saw a lot of temples and shrines, so my descriptions and names (and memories) may not match the actual places to which they refer.

No … wait. We didn’t go to a shrine or temple (ish) but to the biggest cemetary on Koya-san. Lot’s of interesting pictures were taken, and I bought 2 Koya-sanvenirs (bad pun); a small statue, and a charm supposedly to help me study. I don’t think it’s working at the moment, seeing as I have homework due tomorrow (everyday), a kanji test, and here I am writing this up. It did surprise me to see how many Japanese companies had memorials for members of staff who had passed away. It was very touching, but then I come to realise that if members of staff aren’t living to retirement, perhaps I should avoid trying to work there.

After the cemetary we went back to the temple for dinner, a bath, and general chilling out. After dinner, and before playing various card games before going to bed it was time for a bath. For some students this was the first time using a Japanese style bath, so were quite nervous about showing their nakedness in front of their peers. I on the other hand was experienced with using the bath, so went in first. For a while I thought I was going to be the only one in there, until I was joined by one of our teachers. That’s right readers in the UK, a bath session with a teacher! *SHOCK* But no before you run to your phones and call the police, authorities and Tracy your neighbour, first thing to remember is that we’re University students, not 8 year old kids (and for the record there’re no ‘Chiyo-chans‘ here), and secondly things are done differently over here. Yes people do bath together, and yes it’s less boring because you can have a conversation. Not that there’s anything wrong with talking to yourself when bathing at all. Shortly after, we were joined by some other students … then photographed for the yearbook … in the bathroom … bathing … it’s going to be an interesting yearbook this year!

The next morning called for an earlier than usual start, roughly 6am, we were required to participate in a morning Buddhist ceremony. Whilst the participation didn’t physically amount to doing anything beyond meditation, it felt good to think that just a persons presence can attribute to a ceremony thusly. After breakfast (again, very tasty) we were to participate in an Ajikan, which is a sitting meditation similar to zazen. What’s zazen? Let’s ask wikipedia! Though my legs were tired, stiff and aching, I did try to assume the correct position. However, this lasted all of 6 minutes before I had to revert to the ‘at school’ cross-legged position. Although I’m not generally good at clearing the mind and focussing on my breathing, as is what I believe you’re ment to be doing when meditating, I did use the time to think about the new Lotaku project with The Withered One and so on. Still not releasing any spoilers yet, except to say I’m working on the possibility of a game. However for now I’m still leaving the old Lotaku site up.

Following the meditation, we went on to Kongobuji by foot. Kongobuji Temple is home to the Shingon Sect of Buddhism. That’s all I really remember, so click here for more information on it. After here we had free time for a few hours before heading home. I used this time to go off for a walk with a friend to take some pictures, and yes I took plenty of pictures! After some wandering we came upon a little place that really stuck out for me.

We found Higurashi!

Ok, so we didn’t find the village of Hinamizawa (though some of the mountainous areas we passed through on the train did look a lot like it), nor did we find the village of Shirakawa that Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni’s famous village is based upon (which by the way is on my to do list), but we found a cool little coffee restaurant that goes by the name Higurashi! Feeling hungry, we stopped off for some food. I can’t remember what my friend had, but I went with my old favourite of Curry-Rice. Now I’m no connoiseur when it comes to Japanese variations is indian dishes, but I have to say for a fact that Higurashi has the best damn curry rice I have ever had! It was so good that I ended up buying two servings, and would have gone for a third had we not been limited by time. With that being the case, I am going to proclaim that Higurashi at Koya-san has the greatest curry-rice in all of Japan!

The rest of the day wasn’t as eventful, except for me finally getting bitten by mosquitos (not that I wanted them) and someone getting left on a train, so that is where I will leave you. If I think of anything else to add, chances are I’d have forgotton it long before I can get back online.

Goodnight!