After the government and media demonized mizu-shobai (host and hostess clubs, and similar businesses) as Covid superspreaders, the industry reacted by working with officials to spread information about how to avoid affection.
Others, though, fought back. A member of the sex industry sued the government for its refusal to provide handouts to adult businesses, despite giving such funds to private citizens and small businesses in "respectable" industries. As we wrote when legal proceedings began at Tokyo District Court in autumn 2020, the woman who filed the suit argued this was in violation of ...
A Japanese married couple has pleaded guilty to forcing a 25-year-old single mom into prostitution.
The single mother was staying with them. As payment for laundry and other costs, they made her work as a prostitute, according to media reports of the trial at Tokyo District Court, which began in May.
There were 334 acts of alleged prostitution in six months. The mother was apparently brainwashed by the couple and sent out into the local area to pick up clients.
Prosecutors are seeking a custodial sentence of 2.5 years for the couple.
The single mother was working as a hostess and giving ...
Parco, a leading department store chain in Japan, has issued an apology after it used a "sex booth" to promote an event.
The installation was decked out in the style of the "free information" kiosks (muryo annaijo) that are found in certain city districts for providing listings, referrals, and recommendations about various forms of sex services (fuzoku), including blowjob parlors, delivery health, and soaplands, and also hostess clubs and girls bars.
Though less common as they were in the days before everyone had access to the internet on their phones, such adult booths are still found in ...
It's almost time to declare taxes in Japan, so we were particularly amused by this story in the news. Tokyo Taxation Bureau has announced the punishment of a 27-year-old female employee at one of its branches for breaching its rules on civil servants having side jobs.
The nature of the side job probably didn't help.
The unnamed woman was actually working at a soapland as a sex worker. For her troubles, she has been handed down a nine-month suspension, the bureau announced at the end of January.
She was working at soaplands from October 2020 to January 2022 at weekday nights and on days ...
It's probably Tokyo's most famous and futuristic pieces of architecture: the Nakagin Capsule Tower.
Despite its repute, it's an endangered species: demolition of the Metabolist landmark has been scheduled for a long time.
People have continued to reside in the pod-like pied-à-terre living units or use them as office spaces. Or for other uses, it seems.
We had never heard of this before but it seems that certain capsule rooms in Nakagin were used by prostitutes to service customers.
In Tokyo, a brothel-style fuzoku service typically has its own little place with basic facilities. ...
Around the end of December, people started tweeted about a "worrying" new development in Akihabara, the Tokyo district known for electronics and otaku culture.
The restaurant Kitchen Jiro has been replaced by a "free guidance place" (muryo annaijo) -- essentially a sex industry information center, where you can get introductions on nearby soaplands, massage parlors, and other types of brothels. Such modestly sized places are common in areas like Kabukicho or Ikebukuro in Tokyo, Namba in Osaka, or just about any downtown area in a major Japanese city.
Does this, as people seem convinced, ...
These days, we aren't going out much, but we might be persuaded to make an exception here.
Tokyo Weekender published a photo report on the recently opened SOD Land, which is publicized as a porn theme park.
As previously reported, the complex opened in the Kabukicho area of Shinjuku in central Tokyo back in October, and features five floors devoted to adult video.
Tokyo Weekender's report emphasizes the "safety" aspect of the visit, in how the site has adapted to the risk of the coronavirus through face masks, disinfecting visitors from head to foot, and a special UV filter in the ...
Top Japanese porn producer Soft on Demand has opened its mini theme park complex in Kabukicho, Tokyo, which, despite recent gentrification, remains one of the centers of the adult and sex industry.
As previously reported, SOD Land is five floors devoted to porn. Visitors can get food and drink served by actual adult video stars or sex workers in several different types of establishments.
Here are some pictures from when the site opened to the public on October 10. People were lining to get in, despite the pre-typhoon rainy weather.
The "silent bar" on the top floor is the ...
The Japanese government has stepped in with cash handouts for both citizens and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic in an attempt to offset the worst effects of the economic fallout. Offering a maximum of ¥2 million in a one-off lump sum to help pay rent, the money has been a lifeline for small companies like shops and restaurants.
But what about the sex industry? So far, operators of such services have been excluded from the relief program.
One woman has taken matters into her own hands, filing a lawsuit against the Japanese national government as well as two firms overseeing the ...
The Weekly Playboy bar in Kabukicho was a big success back in 2017. We were reminded of it -- and how few chances there are to encounter the adult industry in a bricks-and-mortar setting other than just a shop in the likes of Akihabara -- when we read the exciting news that top Japanese porn production and distribution company Soft on Demand is opening what is essentially a sex theme park in Tokyo.
Ostensibly, the building will host restaurants and bars staffed by genuine porn performers, following the precedent established by Weekly Playboy's bar, where real gravure idols served ...
