ENJO KOSAIJapan is a land full of euphemisms. One of my favorites is enjo kosai, which translated literally means "compensated dating". What it really means is schoolgirl prostitution. It doesn't refer to the under-age girls working in the sex or pornography industries; there are plenty of young runaways who find their way to working as sex-workers, and it is not unheard of for loan sharks to force their debtors to have their daughters turn tricks to pay off the debt, what enjo kosai refers to is free-lance, amateur prostitution by junior high, and high school girls. Media interest in enjo kosai peaked in the 1980's, the height of the economic bubble, and the materialism that flourished in Japan at that time is blamed for the lax morality of these schoolgirls, for while Japan has a long history of young girls entering prostitution, traditionally this was done to support their poor families, whereas today's schoolgirls choose paid sex to enable the purchasing of designer and brand name goods. The exact number of girls practicing enjo kosai is hard to fix, media scare stories of the eighties gave the impression that every other girl was doing it, but a reasonable estimate would be 5%. That figure would still mean the equivalent of every classroom having a teenage prostitute. Indicative of Japan's morality and materialism, one survey of 14 and 15-year-old girls found that 20% of them saw nothing wrong or immoral in enjo kosai. Shibuya, an area of Tokyo, is renowned as a place where middle-aged men visit to "date" schoolgirls, but the preferred method of meeting is through internet dating sites and cell-phones. A new law was passed recently making it illegal to solicit anyone under 18 for sex, and convictions have increased slightly since then, notably of policemen and schoolteachers, but Japanese men have a firmly established Lolita Complex, so enjo kosai is unlikely to disappear or even diminish.
FASHION-HEALTH In the 1980s a new type of sex business began to take prominence and eat into the Soaplands' share of the lucrative sex-market. Fashion-Health Massage, or Health for short, now comprises about one third of the market, and gets around the anti-prostitution law by offering a multitude of services that all stop short of traditional 'sexual intercourse'. The major service is oral sex, but as the menus in front of the parlors attest, a dazzling array of variations is possible, with some parlors specializing in anal sex. With prices starting at $60 for 40 minutes, but averaging about $100, the parlors are well within the price range of the average salaryman. Since the mid 90s Health Delivery services have become even more popular, and it is estimated that more than 5000 of these businesses now exist. Health Delivery is basically a Call Girl service, you phone the company, request the kind of woman you want, and a taxi delivers her to your home or, more probably, a Love Hotel. The price is 2-3 times that of a visit to a parlor, but "full service" is one of the options. Flyers advertising the delivery service can be found covering telephone boxes and telegraph poles in the entertainment districts, and it's not uncommon to find them in your mailbox.
HAPPENING BARS & SWINGERS BARSThe Japanese consumer has an insatiable thirst for the new. If it’s new, they want it. For example, every year each of the major breweries market several “new” brands of beer that are indistinguishable from last years brand. And they sell. Consumers of the sex industry are not immune to this trend, with ever-more specialized forms of establishment catering to their desires being marketed. One of the latest types of establishment is the “Happening Bar”. Similar in most ways to Swingers Bars, which have been around a lot longer, the only difference being that Happenings Bars will allow in single people while Swingers Bars only allow in couples. There are reputed to be about 40 such clubs in Tokyo, about evenly split between Happening and Swingers. After paying a hefty membership fee followed by an entrance fee (females only pay a nominal fee) you enter a bar area. What happens next is up to you and the other patrons who are present. Maybe you try on one of the many costumes that may be available, or join a group in one of the smaller semi-private rooms, but the general rule seems to be “anything goes”, with S&M being fairly popular. Obviously, in such a public space it attracts many of those with a voyeuristic or exhibitionistic bent.
IMAGE CLUBSIme-kura (from imeji=image and kurabu=club) are a recent development and can be considered as upscale fashion-health parlors. The difference is that each room is decorated according to one of a number of themes: office, doctor's surgery, etc. By far the most popular are the classroom and the train carriage. The "masseur" is dressed in the appropriate costume, the first most requested being the sailor suit worn by schoolgirls, with OL (office lady) uniforms coming a close second, and nurse and policewoman also being popular. This is sexual fantasy role-play taken to its logical conclusion. There is even a "Take-out" service where the girl, dressed as an OL or schoolgirl, will accompany the customer on a public train and allow him to grope her.
LOVE HOTELSThe words 'love' and 'hotel' combined in the English language conjure up romantic images of energetic weekends away, breakfast in bed, walks in the woods, dinner by candlelight with champagne - and whatever else springs to mind - by an open fire. In Japan, however, the resultant image of the same combination of words is somewhat different. The services offered by a 'love-hotel' result from necessity.
With a population of around twice that of the UK in a similar land-size, 85% of which is mountainous, space is at a premium. Also, until recently, most people lived with their families until marriage, often with three generations under one roof, separated by only paper screens. Without a private space for the most private of acts, the streets wouldn't be a decent place to walk.
Often located near train stations or on out-of-town intersections, love hotels provide rooms by the hour, usually up to three hours for "rest" or for overnight stays. Theme rooms catering to various fantasies, including SM are common in more up market establishments, as is outlandish exterior architecture, though city center love hotels tend to be more discreet in appearance.
Interaction with staff behind frosted glass is kept to a minimum with guests often choosing a room from photographs by pushing a button on a panel.
PINK INDUSTRYIn Japan things of a sexual nature are associated with the color pink, rather than the 'blue' used in the West. The Pink Industry, sometimes known as the 'Ejaculation Industry', is Japan's sex industry, and is huge by any standard. Estimates as to its economic size vary wildly, but 20 billion U.S. dollars p.a. is the average. If Japan's sex industry was a country, it would have the world's 60th largest economy. Surveys suggest that half of all Japanese men have paid for sex, and 10% patronize the Pink Industry regularly. For men in their 20s, that figure jumps to 20%. There seems to be no difficulty finding women to work in the pink establishments either. There are 3 weekly papers comprised solely of want-ads for sex workers, and numerous "alibi" businesses that provide a cover for sex-workers who wish to hide their vocation from family and friends. One news magazine extrapolated that one in sixteen women between the ages of 20 and 24 work in the industry, and while this figure may have been calculated for its sensation value, it compares with official government statistics from 1929 that counted one in every thirty women between the ages of 18 and 29 as licensed prostitutes. Japan has a long history of legal licensed prostitution, predating even the famed pleasure quarter of Yoshiwara in old Edo, but in 1956 (on April 1st, which may be significant) prostitution was made illegal. However, for the purpose of the law, sex is defined quite narrowly as the conjoining of genitals, which means that manual sex, oral sex, even anal sex, are not covered. Incidentally, a woman paying a man for sex is not illegal either. Despite the anti-prostitution law, brothels still operate openly. In Tobita, an area of Osaka not marked on English-language maps, 100 traditional brothels still operate, but most sex businesses now are called Soaplands, Fashion-Health massage parlors, Pink Salons, or Image Clubs and may be found in any town.
PINK SALONSPink Salons are at the bottom end of the price range for sex establishments in Japan, with prices being typically $60-80, but sometimes as low as $40 for a 30 minute "play". A Pink Salon is typically just one large room, like a bar or coffee shop, usually dimly lit, with a series of sofas and sometimes booths with partitions. After choosing your course from a menu, a girl (or sequence of girls if that is the course you chose) will come to your booth and "play". Oral sex is the norm, although, as with other pink establishments, it has been known for the girls to break the law. The male member is usually "cleaned" with a moist towel - an oshibori - and the ejaculate is not usually swallowed. The girl then leaves to wash and brush up before attending to the next client.
SOAPLANDWhen prostitution was made illegal in 1956, the brothels closed down and promptly re-opened as Toruko (from Turkish Bath). Following a complaint from the then Turkish Ambassador to Japan, the name was changed to Soapland, and is usually abbreviated to simply Soap. On entering a Soapland, you pay up front for an "assisted bath". Following the bath you then pay your naked "assistant" directly for further services, including full intercourse. Because you pay the woman directly, this is seen to be a transaction between two consenting adults, therefore not illegal.
Soapland workers have the reputation of being the most beautiful and most skilled, but since the 1980s the number of Soaplands has decreased to an estimated 1200, due largely to the high cost, typically $500 for full service.
YELLOW CABSYellow Cab Girls was a term coined by a Japanese journalist (male) in the 1980s to refer to the increasing number of young Japanese women who, with large disposable incomes from the economic bubble, traveled to foreign locations, notably New York City, and engaged in promiscuous sex with Western men. Yellow Cabs referred to the notion that "anyone can ride them". The term degenerated to mean any Japanese women who engaged in casual sex with Western men. The term has now been supplanted by Roppongi girls, Roppongi being an area of Tokyo with many nightclubs and discos frequented by Western men and Japanese women seeking each other's company. |
