Who Needs a Love Hotel When There's a Book Hotel? Meet Book and Bed Tokyo

You’ve probably heard of Japanese love hotels — a.k.a., rabuho: short stay, no-tell motels with rooms you can rent in the name of love. But if you’d rather cuddle up to Dickens or a Brontë or A Gentleman in Moscow, we’ve got the hotel for you. It’s called Book and Bed Tokyo, and it lets you sleep inside a bookshelf.

This collection of six hotels in Tokyo and Kyoto opened in 2015 and is devoted to reading (and a little bit of sleeping). Its slogan: Have a book day. Have a book night.

For less than $50 per night, you get a sleeping cubby — built into the dozens of bookshelves lining the walls — that includes a reading light, a safe, an electrical outlet, and a little curtain you can pull closed when the only company you want is your book. Except for the Fukuoka location, which offers a bunk double-bed for two people, all of the sleep-read nooks are designed to accommodate just one person. Think of it as the anti-love hotel.

The sleeping experience is deliberately no-frills: ‘The perfect setting for a good night’s sleep is something you will not find here. There are no comfortable mattresses, fluffy pillows nor lightweight and warm down duvets. What we do offer is an experience while reading a book (or comic book).’ It’s the ideal set-up for a book lover who wants to stay up late to finish just one more chapter.

In addition to thousands of books in Japanese and English (to borrow, not purchase), there’s free wi-fi, a front desk with 24-hour service, scrupulously clean (and chic) bathrooms, and Book and Bed’s signature blue sofas. You can also buy goodies to make your stay comfier, including toiletries, slippers, a ‘no coffee’ mug, and striped PJs with a front pocket that’s sized just right for your favorite paperback.

Each neighborhood that boasts one of the hotels has a distinct personality, so you can supplement your reading time with quality sightseeing:

• Ikebukuro puts you in walking distance to irresistible ramen and the ultra-modern Sky Circus Observatory
• Shinjuku invites you to relax at the soothing Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine and the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
• Asakusa is close to the stunning red Sensō-ji Buddhist temple
• Kyoto lures you outside with cherry blossoms, the bamboo groves at Arishiyama, and Nijo-jo Castle
• Shinsaibashi is the best place to find offbeat souvenirs at the Mandarake Chaos Shop or tchotchkes inspired by Alice in Wonderland at Alice on Wednesday
• Fukuoka tempts you with sea air, the Fukuoka Castle ruins, and the Nanzoin Temple with an enormous reclining Budha

If you go…

For all six locations, rates, and contact info, visit the Book and Bed Tokyo website. And don’t miss their seductively bookish photos on Instagram.