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All's fair in love hotels and war
By Ryann Connell
February 10, 2005
The scene of one of Japan's most historically significant battles is currently
the center of another bitter fight as local residents wage war to stave off
plans to build a posh love hotel there, according to Shukan Shincho.
At first glance, little appears out of the ordinary with the contentious
stretch of coastline in Kobe's Suma-ku, but it's actually the site of a
decisive 12th century battle between the Genji and Heike clans, with the victor
Yoshitsune Minamoto eventually going on to become arguably Japan's most
powerful samurai ever.
But the 21st century battle over the site is now being fought between Suma-ku's
denizens and a construction company the weekly doesn't identify, which wants to
build a whopping huge love hotel right atop the historic site, giving randy
couples a place where they can have a few grapples of their own.
"Just near the planned site of the hotel is the Antoku Shrine, where the
remains of Emperor Tokihito (1178-1185) are interred. Going southeast of the
shrine toward Suma Park there's a bit of coastline called 'Tatakai no Hama
(Battle Beach)' where the Genji and Heike clashed," a spokesman for the Suma
Tourist Association tells Shukan Shincho. "This area has been painted by some
of the country's most famous artists. It's even such a famous place, Japan's
greatest haiku poets Matsuo Basho and Yosa Buson composed poems about it."
With such a history of conflict, it comes as a bit of a surprise that there's a
company looking to turn the area into a haven of love. Nonetheless, some say
there's an element of treachery at work with the planned love hotel.
"The company behind the plan has already received building approval from the
Kobe Municipal Government, but that's ostensibly for a tourist hotel. During a
meeting with residents last year, the company told outright lies, saying that
people should consider their venture like 'a miniature version of the (posh)
Okura Hotel,'" a Suma-ku resident tells Shukan Shincho. "Residents told the
company we didn't want the thing. There're already enough tourist hotels in the
area as it is. Besides, the place that wants to build the hotel is running a
love hotel in (adjacent) Nada-ku and it also issues these shady prepaid cards
people can buy to get access to disreputable matchmaking sites."
And making the love hotel project even more unpopular is its association with
money put up by North Korea, whose kidnappings, spying and nuclear threats
haven't quite made it a favorite among Japanese.
"The bank funding the project is a Pyongyang-backed credit union, which took
over from the Chogin Kinki Shinyo Kumiai, a credit union that went bust within
three years of being formed out of the bankrupt Chogin Osaka Trust Bank," the
Suma-ku resident tells Shukan Shincho. "It's already received an injection of
over 400 billion yen in public money to keep it afloat, but when I hear that
some of that money is going to be used to pay for the construction of a love
hotel, the mere idea of having to pay taxes makes me sick."
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