Course:CSIS200/2024/Sex Work in Japan

Author's Bio

　　Hello everyone, I'm the author of this page, Sara Nishiyabu. I am a second year and full-year exchange student from Japan. Since I do not have any major, I take various courses from different areas such as psychology, history and this gender class. I spent my school years in Indonesia and Singapore for 6 years in total. While seeing with a lot of people abroad, I began to question things that Japanese people believe as normal, especially about sexuality. In Japan, there is a great demand for sex work and the country is famous for its well-developed sexual culture, yet many people are reluctant to talk about sex. By seeing various classmates in this class talk openly about sex and their experiences, I wanted to be more open about my own sexuality. The reason for focusing on sex work in Japan is that, as noted above, Japan is famous for its large demand for sex work. As a Japanese, I was looking for a topic that could relate sexuality and Japan in some way, and I chose sex work as a topic because I found the class session on sex work interesting. When I actually looked into it, it was interesting to find that the law was more involved in why sex work is considered dirty in Japan than I had expected, and that it was very different from how it used to be. I learned that there are many things we need to know in order to solve the stigma of sex workers in Japan from now on. I hope you enjoy reading this wiki page because you don't know much about Japan!

Quick Guide for Key Terms

	terms	meaning
1	kyaba-cula	A type of sex-related business. A type of establishment between a cabaret and a club. ※It is not officially considered as sex work, but in this page, I will treat kyaba-cula as a part of sex work.
2	shunga	A painting depicting sex with a men and a women.
3	the Edo period	One of Japanese periods from 1607-1867.
4	yujo (遊女)	Prostitutes found in officially recognized brothels and inns in the Edo period.
5	oiran (花魁)	Highest ranking prostitutes.
6	soap land	A private, special bathhouse with sexual services for sale.

Introduction

Fig1. Muryō Annaijo (無料案内所)

　　My artifact is the place called Muryō Annaijo (無料案内所) (Figure 1), where people can gain information about some drinking spots but, mostly sex industries. In that place, the clerk finds and matches sex industries to customers’ needs. This artifact shows that there are huge demand of sex work in Japan even though prostitution was officially banned by the law in 1956. As a Japanese, I have felt sex work or even talking about sexuality is taboo in Japan. Then, why sex industries in Japan persist and thrive despite its stigmatization? This project examines how sex work in Japan reflects and shapes modern views on gender role, sexuality, and labor through its historical and social roles.

How Japanese People See Sex Work

　　In Japan, discussing sexual topics in public is often seen as taboo or inappropriate. My research into government surveys on attitudes toward sexuality or sex work revealed that the most recent data dating back to 1985—nearly 40 years ago. This reflects a societal discomfort with such topics. As survey says, 80.5% of people disagreed with the question “Pictures, photos, texts, and other expressions about sex should be completely free”. Particularly about sex work, people see it as a dirty and bad thing because women have sex with unspecified men outside of the marriage to make money . According to the 1985 report asking about how people see prostitution and sex work, 64.6% of 3,000 participants answered “unacceptable”. The reasons are varied such as influencing adolescents, public morals, or treating women as sexual objects is bad. In total, 85.3% of them feel the necessity of punishing those who commit prostitution. Furthermore, there is bias that has only recently surfaced that sex work is short-term and well earned job. Since some advertisements foster young girls to get sex work as a temporary job to earn great amount of money for a short period of time, people assume that sex work is easy job so that people working there are usually considered as unserious or just want money (Figure 2). Thus, Japanese people in both the late post-war period and current society generally feel uncomfortable about sexual things and see sex work from a negative point of view.    

　　On the other hand, the past Japanese did not see sexual things from same way as current Japanese see. The traditional creative paintings called Shunga (Figure 3), which usually depict real sex clearly demonstrates the openness about sexuality at that time. Shunga were usually collected in a book, and they were available from book lenders. They carry Shunga from house to house especially when the new ones come out, for a reasonable price and with many copies. The Shunga was enjoyed by a wide range of people, not only by men, but also women, of any age, and social status. This is because Shunga was not only aiming to stimulate sexual desire but also showing a variety of sexuality such as an educational book. In addition, Shunga was even given as a bridal and New Year’s gift, especially for New Year’s one, people distributed small copies of them to relatives or friends. This open attitude and accessibility towards erotic paintings differ from what we think about sexual things in modern Japanese society. However, as mentioned earlier, Japan has a large demand for the sex industry, which can be expected because the industry plays some important role in Japanese society.

Fig2. Advertisement

Fig3. Shunga (春画)

The Role of Sex Workers and Its Demand

-In the modern society

　　Although sex work is seen as a dirty or bad thing in modern Japanese society, there is a huge demand for it, which makes sex work continue to exist. This demand stems from the large role played by sex workers, "healing" customers. According to the interview and observation conducted by Gabriele Koch, Mika, who is a sexual massage instructor, embodied well in providing “iyashi” (healing) to a customer during a sexual massage demonstration. She explained that since male who use the sex industry seek warmth, she needs to behave like their mother, by providing a warm embrace and words. When one of the male customers attending a training session ended the shower, she wrapped his head with a towel and treated him like a child. This "healing" role highlights the emotional support given by sex workers, addressing the stress males have from Japanese working society beyond physical satisfaction.

　　Furthermore, their role of healing is significantly tight to men’s productivity in modern society. Since men are tired of the work culture in Japan being popular as having long working hours and a harsh hierarchical environment, they need some place to be healed. What is more, because of this working culture, more and more people cannot manage time for having a relationship, which increases the demand for sex work. Particularly, middle-age customers seek energy from young girls and refresh to go back to their work. These gendered norms that women heal working men, lead female sex workers to believe that they are contributing to society. In addition, people believe that men’s productivity is connected to their sexuality. In 2013, the governor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto said that comfort women were needed to manage and suppress the excessive energy and sexual desires of soldiers at that time. He also mentioned that soldiers are under great pressure and they need to be supported by female sex workers. Though those comments are inappropriate and rude for comfort women, the notion that a female’s sexual support helps a male’s well-being and fostering work has been the dominant theory for legitimating sex work.

Fig4. Yujo (遊女)

Fig5. Oiran (花魁)

-In the Edo period

　　In the Edo period, although there are only three legal areas in Japan to run sex industries, the culture of sex work and prostitution has been public and popular. Women who worked as sex workers are called yujo (遊女) (Figure 4), and most of them were sold by their family mostly to make money. There are several levels of yujo, and the highest one was called oiran (花魁) (Figure 5), who were seen as “queen” in sex industry. In the story of oiran, the staff of sex industry says that if oiran gets pregnant, it is a huge loss of face, because the “queen” is defeated by having sex with an “ordinary” man. Because oiran had different and high status, customers only can have sex after going to see them at least three times by paying enormous amounts of money. The short clip from the movie about oiran shows how they interact with customers. For the first time, customers are not even have conversations with oiran, moreover, if oiran do not like them, they would never be allowed to see again. However, it was fine for customers because their purpose of visiting sex industry was not only having sex, but also showing their economical power to see a "queen". They usually dress well to be liked by oiran, show generosity and continue to visit regardless of price. One of ways yujo can get out of the sex industry was to be “bought” by a customer, which demonstrates the intimacy of the relationship between yujo and the customers. For oiran, or other high status yujo, they also need to satisfy customers because most men come to an expensive sex industry were rich and educated well. Yujo are required to be educated and talented in arts such as Calligraphy, Koto, Go and Shogi, Chinese poetry and Shamisen so that they can gain more repeat customers . In short, the majority of target customers of sex industries in the Edo period were men having high social status and women working there also needed to be educated. Moreover, the legal framework of sex work mitigate the guilty and dirtiness of sex work.

How Sex Work in the Past and Previous Society Differ and Share Similarities?

-Differences

price and background

　　By comparing to past sex work, the reason men use sex industry, and the roles sex workers play in modern society are slightly different. As I argued in the previous passage, males seek healing in modern society, while men in the past used the sex industry to show their economic power or meet their need for approval. The price is one of the major reasons why the current sex industry and past ones have different roles. The price difference is significant when I compare similar sex work in the same place, Yoshiwara in Tokyo where major sex industries prospered in the Edo period. According to the website that compares the price of one of the popular sex industries where customers are allowed intercourse, called soap land, it costs 70,000 yen for 160 minutes for the most expensive shop. On the other hand, during the Edo period, only choosing oiran costs around 150,000 yen, and men need to pay more for the Geisha fee, drinking fee, and tips for satisfying women there, which sometimes cost more than 1,000,000 yen per night. This clearly illustrates that accessibility of sex work was largely different between now and past. In addition, what made them work as sex workers differ as well. Whereas sex workers in the Edo period were usually sold by their parents to repay a debt or compensate for poverty, women in the modern era started working in sex industries just out of curiosity, social experience, or earning extra money. Although still many sex workers are in poverty and have no choice other than working in the sex industry, the influence of advertisements or media treating sex work as easy, short-term, and earned a lot, which makes reasons for being in that industry vary. Thus, the ease of use sex work and the motivations for starting it differ between the past and the present.

-Similarities

Fig6. Former porn star modeling colored lenses

sex work is "skilled" job!

Fig7. Runway by women work in kyaba-cula

　　 Even though some advertisements spread the assumption that anyone can do sex work, a great amount of efforts are needed to be popular in the industry both past and the present. For instance, to be a top sex worker in the Edo period, they needed to be educated, and have good manners, which was not common for women at that time, especially for those who were abandoned by their parents . Likewise, because women who work in kyaba-cula or lounge are especially required high communication skills, they use their free time for researching male trends, and seeking erotic ideal traits for women . To satisfy customers and make them return repeatedly, sex workers need to make some effort, which are not always easy. Furthermore, the fashion of sex workers in the modern era and the Edo period were both seen as cutting-edge trends contrary to the negative impression they have particularly in modern society. Since oiran wore gorgeous kimonos, which changed every season, hair accessories, shoes, and make-up, women during that time were attracted by their gorgeous styles. In the current fashion industry, because sex workers usually have pretty faces and attractive bodies, they use some famous sex workers as models for fashion products. One example that got a lot of attention was the modeling of colored contacts by a former famous Japanese porn star (Figure 6). She is admired and supported by young generations as a role model for their "ideal face." Other than her, women working in kyaba-cula were on the stage of fashion collections in Osaka in 2023 (Figure 7). Though criticism and negative comments were made for their appearance on stage, many audiences were captivated by their glamorous appearances and confident demeanor. In short, sex workers in both eras have continued making effort and being a fashion leader.

Difficulties Sex Workers Face

　　Though there is a huge demand of sex industry, sex workers in modern Japanese society face difficulties such as unclear laws and social judgment. First of all, prostitution, defined as sexual intercourse for money, is illegal in Japan under the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956. Although some legal work such as kyaba-cula is widespread in Japan, even those works are in a gray area because they have a system of “after” service. Since stores have a status for not allowing sexual intercourse, this legal status often puts workers in a difficult position. This is because even if workers there experience some sexual violence by customers or infected venereal disease, it is not easy to sue for harassment when considering the liability of a store that tacitly condoned sexual activity . For illegal sex workers such as street sex workers, situations are worse. Because prostitution has been banned under the law, they cannot receive any support when they get diseases, and their wage is not guaranteed. In Japan, sex work is treated as a part-time job, they only receive about half of the earnings that they bring in except for popular workers, and their salary is often paid with cash.

　　Moreover, many sex workers in modern Japanese society experience stigma. Even though sex work in certain areas was legal in the Edo period, and people were more open as we can see from Shunga, the perception of sex work has changed dramatically to a dirty thing after World WarⅡ, by accepting Western ideas. In the past, since visiting the legal sex industry was better than having sex with random women, there was less prejudice against people working as sex workers. On the other hand, because of the illegal framework in modern society, sex workers are seen as breaking the law by selling their bodies, which considered as dirty. Especially for those who work in low-level stores or online tend to be stigmatized more than those who work in high-level stores or popular workers, because those who are in low-level stores are considered to be inferior in terms of appearance and age than those who are in high-level stores. Thus, sex workers in modern Japanese society, regardless of whether they illegally or legally work, struggle with not being protected by legal standards and experiencing stigma.

Conclusion

　　Overall, sex work in Japan reflects the complexities of legal, cultural, and social dynamics, evolving while maintaining certain enduring characteristics. As the artifact of Muryō Annaijo (無料案内所) illustrates, sex workers meet the huge demand of the sex industry in Japan, and play an important role in supporting men’s productivity. However, they face challenges despite their contribution to society. While sex work was normalized and legalized in the Edo period, they are stigmatized and legally ambiguous positions today. The treatment of sex workers in Japan and the stigma they face stem from the ambiguity of the country's legal framework and socially constructed biases. Addressing these issues requires understanding and open dialogue about the role and recognition of sex work in modern Japanese society.