70% of Japanese flight attendants report experience of illicit photographing

The flight attendant is, of course, a much-fetishized occupation. They rank highly among male fantasies, whether that’s joining the mile high club mid-flight while receiving some extra service, or having a liaison at an airport hotel during a stop between flights. Themed costumes are one way to sate your appetite for flight attendant sex role plays (and if you’re alone, how about a flight attendant pocket pussy?).

Other guys adopt a different approach, it seems.

According to a report from the Kyodo news agency, around 70% of Japanese flight attendants say people have taken photos of them secretly.

This phenomenon, a type of voyeurism known as “tosatsu,” is a significant social problem affecting women in many walks of life, and is linked to upskirting, where photos are taken under a woman’s skirt (sparked by a fetish for glimpses of a woman’s panties, known as panchira).

Flight attendants were asked about their experiences and 38% said that they knew that pictures had been secretly taken of them, and another 33% thought pictures had been taken but were not certain.

The Japan Federation of Aviation Industry Unions says this is a rise of 9% since the previous such survey in 2019. The survey was conducted online between November and December last year among flight attendants belonging to member unions. It received responses from 1,573 cabin crew.

The illicit photos were mostly of cabin crew’s faces and full body (in uniform, natch), though a few reported experiences of being upskirted or even people taking close-ups of their chest or behind.

It seems there are few repercussions for the photographers, though, perhaps in part because they are often the customer in the situation.

Of those who reported being photographed, 57% said they did nothing about the offense. A small percentage of flight attendants said they gave a verbal warning or requested that the offending photo be deleted.

“It is a very serious issue,” said the chair of the union federation at a press conference last week. He noted that “tougher penalties” were needed to deter people from taking illicit photographs. At the moment, upskirting and secretly taking photos of genitalia are not punishable under Japan’s Penal Code.

The report about this issue is somewhat undermined by a bizarre inclusion of “allegedly dangerous conduct” that may not seem dangerous. Over half of the 1,573 flight attendants said they were subjected to such conduct, but the examples provided are “persistent complaints or reprimands” or customers “deliberately” not wearing a face mask despite antivirus rules during the pandemic.