Ayumi Nabe – Hotel Mejiro Emperor

Ayumi Nabe’s ‘Hotel Mejiro Emperor’ can be seen both as a classic photobook and a wacky encyclopaedia of active and abandoned Japanese love hotels. The photographer’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.