Kamimachi girl runaways sell sex in Tokyo for a place to stay

We’ve all seen them: cute, aimless-looking young girls hanging around Shinjuku, Shibuya, or other big city areas. They often have lots of bags. They don’t really look homeless but they certainly look a bit vulnerable.

They’re known as “kamimachi girls” (神待ちガール), which literally translates as “god-waiting girls.” Wow, that sounds religious! No fear, the truth is much more interesting.

After leaving home in a hurry these lasses find their ways to the big cities with no job, no home and no cash. What are they gonna do? Well, a lot of them sleep in internet cafes and surf internet boards looking for sugar daddies to help them out. These ladies will do anything for a place to stay and a man to buy them dinner.

They go online onto these “runaway sites” (ie-de saito) and hook up with a man (that’s the “god” in this equation, because he calls the shots). If all goes well, he will be taking her out, letting her stay at his place — for a few “favors” of course. Laws officially preventing under-18s from participating in these sites are apparently not very effective, but these are not all “bad girls” or sluts, you know — some are just normal girls who will do anything not to have to go back home.

We’ve had these kinds of things before, right? I’m sure regular readers to this blog will know about enjo kosai, where school girls sleep with guys for the cost of dinner and a handsome tip (how else can they get the latest Louis Vuitton bag?). What is it about Japan, young girls and the craving for cash that will make them do just about anything? There are estimated to be five or so kamimachi sites, plus a plethora of others operating “de-ai” (出会い) encounter sites or just plain old call girl services!

For more, we recommend Tetsuya Shibui’s A True Account: Underground Web Sites Crime Report (Jitsuroku: Yami Saito Jikenbo). Also, see below for an example of kamimachi girls hooking up with a male protector…