There is this unusual trend in Sapporo with some establishments [clubs, lovehotels, but also normal restaurants] having intensely picturesque facades. On the first picture you can see the most famous specimen among them: a nightclub King XMHU designed as a chaotic array of oversized aztec-inspired sculptures. I suspect that the appearance of this building encouraged the owners of other businesses nearby to be more daring and indulge in their wildest fantasies, so further down the street you’ll find an equally impressive Noah’s Ark restaurant that looks like an AI-produced mix between Greek temples, Etruscan tombs, English garden grottoes, a 18th century sailing ship and a modern ferry with Egyptian eyes slapped on it. Is this how they usually build stuff in Disneylands? I could study these buildings forever.
Well... It is a multilevel parking garage. With a huge crowned salamander emblem of King Francis I [information from one very inquisitive subscriber] and a protruding plastic gothic rose window-like decoration. It seems the owner was reassured by all the other entertaining buildings nearby and decided that his parking can be slightly more eccentric than those usual grey boxes.
Welcome to Susukino, a prominent red light district with blurry borders located right in the heart of Sapporo.
It was appointed as a legal prostitution area in 1871 when the Japanese had just started developing Hokkaido and was shut down in 1920 with all brothels relocated elsewhere for the sake of elementary schools and women’s colleges nearby. However, right after WWII many local restaurants started illegally offering adult “add-on” services. This continued even after the Prostitution Prevention Law was passed in 1956, that specifically banned "intercourse with an unspecified person in exchange for payment”. Yet Japanese sex industry is as thriving as ever because such definition allows for a lot of loopholes and interesting interpretations. Nowadays you have an option to pay for a conversation (hostclub, kabakura, girls’ bar), a massage (herusu - health) or even a bath (sopurando - soapland) that can be accompanied by a vast variety of “non-intercourse” sexual acts. But since these shops have to distinguish themselves from normal bars and spa centers, the street facades become extremely important. The most common gesture is the imitation of Western architectural elements that bear a strong connotation of luxury and classiness in Japan. Do you notice any visual patterns in these entrances?