Sexnomics: Japan’s 100 Billion Dollar Sex Industry

[Nando]

http://www.japansubculture.com/sexnomics-japans-billion-dollar-sex-industry-and-the-pink-zone/

If you are an anthropologist, an economic researcher, or simply interested in the seedy side of the sun, then(edit) this book is a treasure trove of strange and useful information. For example, the “fashion health” (euphemism for sexual massage to include fellatio/hand-jobs/frottage) industry, which is perfectly legal in most places, brings in ￥678,000,000,000 a year (8 billion dollars).  That’s only a fraction of the sex industry. In addition to “fashion health” there are also “image clubs”, in which similar sexual services are provided but the women wear uniforms (maid, nurse, policewoman, office worker, pregnant mother etc) and the sex shop often has special facilities, like a subway car.  Think of mini-sexual theme parks and you have a good idea of what an image club is like.

According to the book, based on field studies and calculations, an established  fashion health/image club brings in roughly 3 million dollars a year in revenue, is visited by 32, 5000 customers, is open 12 hours a day, and the average waiting time for service is 20 minutes. There are 1,021 such shops in Japan. In recent years, S & M sex shops, have also seen a booming business. Dominatrixes (女王） are more well-paid than girls working as “the slaves” because it requires a certain level of dramatic skill and physical strength to be a dominatrix.

[SamIAm]

I might as well toss in a reply.

I live in Fukuoka city, which is in Kyushu, and I walk alongside the city's giant red light district almost every day on my way to work. I've never gone inside any shops, but I have male friends who have, and also female friends who work or used to work in there.

To me, it's all really sad. You might look at the variety and the scale of the sex industry and think that the Japanese are a bunch of liberated, fun-loving party animals while people in the west are Christian prudes, but that's just not right. Of course this is all relative, but people here in Japan are lonely, oppressed and miserable. Communication and expectations between the two genders are terrible. Fewer people are in satisfying relationships, fewer people are having sex that they don't pay for, and even when they do pay, it doesn't help the fact that Japanese people have relatively little human contact.

It's a deep-rooted part of the culture that people keep high physical and emotional barriers around themselves, but this creates problems, and the sex industry is basically the symptom. People buy and sell affection because they're starved of it. Women buy it, too, although they pay less for sex and more for simple conversation. Where else in the world do people regularly spend hundreds of dollars just to have someone be really nice to them for an evening? Other East-Asian countries, I suppose. Call me a narrow-minded westerner, but I think that is really f*cked up.

I'm sorry to get so negative on the Japanese. It's a beautiful country, with kind and intelligent people, as well as a clean and safe living environment. The lack of crime is amazing. It's not easy to find happiness, though. In June, I went back to America for the first time in a few years, and I had forgotten, partially, how different it is back home. I was so startled by the shift away from these problems when I got off the plane that it's made me think more about moving back than anything else has since I arrived.

[esteban]

I might as well toss in a reply.

I live in Fukuoka city, which is in Kyushu, and I walk alongside the city's giant red light district almost every day on my way to work. I've never gone inside any shops, but I have male friends who have, and also female friends who work or used to work in there.

To me, it's all really sad. You might look at the variety and the scale of the sex industry and think that the Japanese are a bunch of liberated, fun-loving party animals while people in the west are Christian prudes, but that's just not right. Of course this is all relative, but people here in Japan are lonely, oppressed and miserable. Communication and expectations between the two genders are terrible. Fewer people are in satisfying relationships, fewer people are having sex that they don't pay for, and even when they do pay, it doesn't help the fact that Japanese people have relatively little human contact.

It's a deep-rooted part of the culture that people keep high physical and emotional barriers around themselves, but this creates problems, and the sex industry is basically the symptom. People buy and sell affection because they're starved of it. Women buy it, too, although they pay less for sex and more for simple conversation. Where else in the world do people regularly spend hundreds of dollars just to have someone be really nice to them for an evening? Other East-Asian countries, I suppose. Call me a narrow-minded westerner, but I think that is really f*cked up.

I'm sorry to get so negative on the Japanese. It's a beautiful country, with kind and intelligent people, as well as a clean and safe living environment. The lack of crime is amazing. It's not easy to find happiness, though. In June, I went back to America for the first time in a few years, and I had forgotten, partially, how different it is back home. I was so startled by the shift away from these problems when I got off the plane that it's made me think more about moving back than anything else has since I arrived.

Hey .

I don't doubt what you say, but I think this critique can be leveled at most countries...and it is certainly a popular theme in film, literature, philosophy, etc.  It is the plight of "modern man" (ha!), as they say.

That said, I'm sure there are cultural differences, some nuanced, some obvious, across time and across regions.

You should watch The Hunted to see a sensitive portrayal of Japan. It is a believable, heart-warming tale of modern angst and alienation in the heart of Japan. It will lift your spirits.

[SuperDeadite]

I might as well toss in a reply.

I live in Fukuoka city, which is in Kyushu, and I walk alongside the city's giant red light district almost every day on my way to work. I've never gone inside any shops, but I have male friends who have, and also female friends who work or used to work in there.

To me, it's all really sad. You might look at the variety and the scale of the sex industry and think that the Japanese are a bunch of liberated, fun-loving party animals while people in the west are Christian prudes, but that's just not right. Of course this is all relative, but people here in Japan are lonely, oppressed and miserable. Communication and expectations between the two genders are terrible. Fewer people are in satisfying relationships, fewer people are having sex that they don't pay for, and even when they do pay, it doesn't help the fact that Japanese people have relatively little human contact.

It's a deep-rooted part of the culture that people keep high physical and emotional barriers around themselves, but this creates problems, and the sex industry is basically the symptom. People buy and sell affection because they're starved of it. Women buy it, too, although they pay less for sex and more for simple conversation. Where else in the world do people regularly spend hundreds of dollars just to have someone be really nice to them for an evening? Other East-Asian countries, I suppose. Call me a narrow-minded westerner, but I think that is really f*cked up.

I'm sorry to get so negative on the Japanese. It's a beautiful country, with kind and intelligent people, as well as a clean and safe living environment. The lack of crime is amazing. It's not easy to find happiness, though. In June, I went back to America for the first time in a few years, and I had forgotten, partially, how different it is back home. I was so startled by the shift away from these problems when I got off the plane that it's made me think more about moving back than anything else has since I arrived.

It's still all relative though.  Everytime I visit the old 48, I get more and more annoyed by the stupid I find.  Japan is full of stupid, but here at least it isn't constantly thrown in your face.  Part of it is living in the gaijin bubble of course, but in the end a little ignorance can be a true blessing.  Sure a lot of Japanese people are quite miserable and just bury it like they have been traditionally trained to, but for most adults, it's all they know how to do.

As for the sex thing, it's just sex.  Sure there are many Japanese who are probably far more comfortable with a prostitute then with their actual lover, but that's a choice really.  It's up to you to make your relationships (physical and emotional) work, sure your typical local here gets very little practice with dealing with the opposite sex until they are already married, but it's there choice to just accept it or work for something better.

[Nando]

It certainly puts Maid cafes in a different light, from the companionship point of view.

Regarding living in Japan; I have heard both angles before from JP expatriates and foreigners that have lived/live there. At the very least one can say, "some but not all of the japanese..."

On the sex bit. If a person decides to work in the industry then all the power to them. It is the sex slave trade that all countries have to be ashamed about.  As for Japan, I found this scary and sad.

"The book also explores Japan’s teenage prostitution problem asserting that 1 in 10 Japanese men has a “lolita complex” (pedophiliac tendencies) and that 15% of the male population has viewed child pornography, while over 10% of the male population owns child pornography. The statistics were not pulled out of thin air but come from a Japanese government survey. In addition, the book notes that there are an estimated 170,000 junior high and high school girls engaged in prostitution each year in Japan, charging higher than the standard market rate (30,000 yen) or roughly 50,000 yen ($600) per customer. The teenage prostitution market is estimated to be as high as 54,700,000,000 yen per year (approx. 70 million dollars)."