Make Believe Bonus: Hotel New Akao In Atami

Showa Pros: Very Shiny; Showa Cons: Might As Well Sleep In An Ashtray

Hotel New Akao lobby, where I wrote this post about Namie Amuro a month ago.

Showa-era nostalgia exists as a fantasy. I feel safe saying the majority of online-first people who have fallen for city pop, neon lights and retro anime in recent years did not, in fact, live through any part of the 1970s or ‘80s in Japan. Probably true of most Japanese people with images of endless taxi rides and big-shouldered suits dancing in their heads. They were probably born in the dying days of the Bubble times, so it’s an imagined world they lust after in the less sparkly 2020s.

For most, the closest they can indulge in this period is through approximation. It could be a neon-soaked neo-yokocho, Tower Records Tatsuro Yamashita pop ups or those Roppongi-based limo rides offering the feeling of faux wealth that were popular a few years ago. It’s easy to engage with the imagined past.

But it’s also surprisingly easy to slip back and experience something closer to the real deal. All it takes is a 90-minute train ride and, in my case at least, some really good online deals nabbing you a suite room for low, low prices.