Prostitution in Japan has a long and varied history. While the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956 made organised prostitution illegal, various loopholes, liberal interpretations of the law and loose enforcement have allowed the sex industry to prosper and earn an estimated 2.5 trillion yen a year. That equates to 1% of Japan's GNP and roughly equals the country's defense budget.^[1] Whore redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Japanese 10 yen coin (obverse) showing Phoenix Hall of Byodoin Yen is the currency used in Japan. ...

Terms

Many terms have been and are used for the sex industry in Japan.

Baishun (売春, Baishun^?), literally "selling spring" or "selling youth", has turned from a mere euphemism into a legal term used in, for instance, the name of the 1956 Anti-Prostitution Law (Baishun-bōshi-hō (売春防止法, Baishun-bōshi-hō^?)); the modern meaning of the word is quite specific and is usually only used for actual (i.e., illegal) prostitution.

Mizu shōbai (水商売, Mizu shōbai^?), the "water trade", is a wider term that covers the entire entertainment industry, including the legitimate, the illegal, and the borderline. Mizu shōbai (Japanese: 水商売), or the water trade, is the traditional euphemism for the night-time entertainment business in Japan, provided by geisha, hostess or snack bars, bars, and cabarets. ... Mizu shōbai (Japanese: 水商売), or the water trade, is the traditional euphemism for the night-time entertainment business in Japan, provided by geisha, hostess or snack bars, bars, and cabarets. ...

Fūzoku (風俗, Fūzoku^?), lit. "public morals", is commonly used to refer specifically to the sex industry, although in legal use this covers also e.g., dance halls and gambling and the more specific term seifūzoku (性風俗, seifūzoku^?), "sexual morals", is used instead. (The term originates from a law regulating business affecting public morals; see Legal status below.) Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. ... Gamble redirects here. ...

History

The Shinto faith does not regard sex as a taboo, while the impact of Buddhist teachings regarding sex has been limited. Shinto ) is the native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Buddhism, a Dharmic faith, is usually considered one of the worlds major religions, with between 230 to 500 million followers. ...

Shogunate era

Map of the Yoshiwara from 1846.

In 1617, the Tokugawa Shogunate issued an order restricting prostitution to certain areas located on the outskirts of cities. The three most famous were Yoshiwara in Edo (present-day Tokyo), Shinmachi in Osaka, and Shimabara in Kyoto. Events Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed I (1603-1617) to Mustafa I (1617-1623). ... The Tokugawa shogunate or Tokugawa bakufu (徳川幕府) (also known as the Edo bakufu) was a feudal military dictatorship of Japan established in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family until 1868. ... Prostitutes on display in Yoshiwara during the Edo Period This movie set in Kyoto recreates the appearance of a red-light district such as Yoshiwara. ... This article is about the history of the city now known as Tokyo. ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ... Shinmachi (新町) was a courtesans district in Kyoto until prostitution was outlawed in Japan in the middle of the twentieth century. ... For other uses, see Osaka (disambiguation). ... Shimabara is a district of Kyoto. ... For other uses, see Kyoto (disambiguation). ...

Prostitutes and courtesans were licensed as yūjo (遊女, yūjo^?), "women of pleasure", and ranked according to an elaborate hierarchy, with oiran and later tayū at the apex. The districts were walled and guarded to ensure both taxation and access control. Rōnin, masterless samurai, were not allowed in and neither were the prostitutes let out, except once a year to see the sakura cherry blossoms and to visit dying relatives. An oiran preparing herself for a client, ukiyo-e print by Suzuki Haronubu (1765). ... An ukiyo-e print of an Oiran Oiran ) were high-class courtesans in Japan. ... Graves of the forty-seven Ronin at Sengaku-ji Ronin robbing a merchants house in Japan around 1860 (1) For other uses, see Ronin (disambiguation). ... This article is about cherry blossoms and their cultural significance to the Japanese. ...

Meiji era

The Opening of Japan and the subsequent flood of Western influences into Japan brought about a series of changes. Japanese novelists, notably Higuchi Ichiyo, started to draw attention to the confinement and squalid existence of the lower-class prostitutes in the red-light districts. In 1908, Ministry of Home Affairs Ordinance No. 16 penalized unregulated prostitution. History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei Pre-History/The Origin of History Jomon Period Main... Higuchi Ichiyō (樋口 一葉 Higuchi Ichiyō, May 2, 1872 - November 23, 1896) is the pen name of the Japanese author Higuchi Natsu (樋口奈津 Higuchi Natsu). ... Year 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Escaping poverty in their own land, many Japanese women, known as Karayuki-san (唐行きさん, Karayuki-san^?) (lit. "Ms Gone-overseas"), worked (or were sold) as prostitutes in some of the world's thriving cities and ports of the time, where traders of all sorts and from all over the world would come and go. Karayuki-san were present in Southeast Asia (especially Singapore and the Philippines), Siberia, Hawaii, Australia, and even some parts of India and Africa. Many of these women are said to have originated from the Amakusa Islands of Kumamoto Prefecture, which had a large and long-stigmatized Japanese Christian community. Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... This article is about Siberia as a whole. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... The Yatsushiro Sea and surroundings Amakusa (天草) is an island belonging to Japan, 26½ miles long and 13½ in extreme width, situated about 32°20N, 130°E, on the west of Kumamoto Prefecture (formerly the province of Higo on the island of KyÅ«shÅ«), from which it is separated by... Kumamoto Prefecture (熊本県; Kumamoto-ken) is located on Kyushu Island, Japan. ...

The recent surge in the number of Asian women who go to Japan to work in the sex industry has resulted in the neologism Japayuki (Ms Gone-to-Japan) being coined on the model of the older Karayuki, who traveled in the opposite direction.

War era

Main article: Comfort women

During World War II, the Japanese military procured prostitutes for its soldiers in China. More than half were Korean, but the other were gathered from other countries occupied by Japan. Many if not most of these so-called "comfort women" were tricked or coerced into service. Some of them were kept until they contracted diseases and then discarded. Many survivors are still seeking compensation in Japanese courts. Alternate Japanese name Chinese name Korean name Alternate Korean name Comfort women is a euphemism for women forced into prostitution and sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels during World War II.[1][2] Around 50,000 - 200,000 are estimated to have been procured, but there is still some disagreement... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Alternate Japanese name Chinese name Korean name Alternate Korean name Comfort women is a euphemism for women forced into prostitution and sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels during World War II.[1][2] Around 50,000 - 200,000 are estimated to have been procured, but there is still some disagreement...

Postwar

Immediately after the war, the Recreation and Amusement Association was formed by the Japanese Home Ministry to organize brothels to serve the Allied armed forces occupying Japan. However, SCAP abolished the licensed prostitution system (including the RAA) in 1946. In 1947, Imperial Ordinance No. 9 punished persons for enticing women to act as prostitutes, but prostitution itself remained legal. Only the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956 (No. 118, passed May 24, 1956)—reportedly spurred by alarming rates of sexually transmitted diseases among troops—made organised prostitution illegal, at least in some forms. The Recreation and Amusement Association (RAA, 特殊慰安施設協会), or more literally Special Comfort Facility Association, was the official euphemism for the prostitution centers arranged for the U.S. armed forces in Occupied Japan after World War II. The RAA was created on August 28, 1945 by the Japanese Home Ministry to contain... Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) was the title for Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation of Japan following WWII. The title did belong to Dwight David Eisenhower during WWII, however, he had nothing to do with the attacks on Japan. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A car from 1956 Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sexually-transmitted infections (STIs), also known as sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), are diseases that are commonly transmitted between partners through some form of sexual activity, most commonly vaginal intercourse, oral sex, or anal sex. ...

Prostitution today

Legal status

Article 3 of the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956 states that "No person may either do prostitution or become the customer of it", but no judicial penalty is defined for this act. Instead, the following are prohibited on pain of penalty: soliciting for purposes of prostitution, procuring a person for prostitution, coercing a person into prostitution, receiving compensation from the prostitution of others, inducing a person to be a prostitute by paying an "advance", concluding a contract for making a person a prostitute, furnishing a place for prostitution, engaging in the business of making a person a prostitute, and the furnishing of funds for prostitution.

However, the definition of prostitution is strictly limited to coitus. This means sale of numerous sex acts such as oral sex, anal sex, intercrural sex and other non-coital sex acts are all legal. The Businesses Affecting Public Morals Regulation Law of 1948 (Fūzoku eigyō torishimari hō (風俗営業取締法, Fūzoku eigyō torishimari hō^?)), amended in 1985 and 1999, regulates these businesses. It has been suggested that Duration of sexual intercourse be merged into this article or section. ... Oral sex consists of all sexual activities that involve the use of the mouth, which may include use of the tongue, teeth, and throat, to stimulate genitalia. ... Roman men having anal sex. ... It has been suggested that sumata be merged into this article or section. ... Sexual behavior is a form of physical intimacy that may be directed to reproduction (one possible goal of sexual intercourse) and/or to the enjoyment of activity involving sexual gratification. ... This article is about the year. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ...

Types

The sex industry in Japan uses a variety of names. Soaplands are bath houses where customers are soaped up and serviced by staff. Fashion health shops and pink salons are notionally massage or esthetic treatment parlors, and image clubs are themed versions of the same (see Cosplay). Call girls operate via delivery health services. Freelancers can get in contact with potential customers via telekura (telephone clubs), and the actual act of prostitution is legally called enjo kōsai or "compensated dating" in order to avoid legal trouble. Soapland ) is a Japanese word for a type of brothel where men (hereinafter called client) can be bathed with female prostitutes (hereinafter called companion)(there are a few for female clientele). ... Fashion-Health Massage, ファッションヘルス, or Health for short, is a form of Japanese brothel that manages to avoid the anti-prostitution law by offering a range of services that stop short of full intercourse. ... A pink salon, ピンクサロン, or pinsaro for short, is a type of brothel in Japan which specialises in oral sex. ... An image club, イメージクラブ, or ime-kura, are a type of brothel in Japan similar to fashion health parlors. ... Cosplayers Cosplay ), a portmanteau of the English words costume and play, is a Japanese subculture centered on dressing as characters from manga, anime, tokusatsu, and video games, and, less commonly, Japanese live action television shows, fantasy movies, Japanese pop music bands, Visual Kei, fantasy music stories (such as stories by... A call girl is a prostitute who is not visible to the general public, like a street walker, and who does not usually belong to an institution like a brothel. ... Delivery health ) is a form of prostitution in Japan similar to fashion health, the difference being that the brothel has no premises and is essentially a call girl or escort service. ... Telekura ), an abbreviation for telephone clubs ), are telephone-based dating services originating in Japan. ... Enjo-kōsai (援助交際) or its shortened form enkō (援交), in which enjo means subsidy or support and kōsai means company or association, literally translates to subsidized dating or compensated dating. ...

Over 150,000 non-Japanese women are in prostitution in Japan, mostly Chinese, Thai, Filipino and Eastern European women. Japanese men constitute the largest number of Asian sex tourists.^[2] One "sex zone" in Tokyo, only 0.34 km², has 3,500 sex "facilities"; strip theaters, peep shows, "soaplands," "lovers' banks," porno shops, sex telephone clubs, karaoke bars, clubs, etc.^[3] Sex tourism is tourism, partially or fully for the purpose of having sex, often with prostitutes. ...

Notes

References

• Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific Facts and Statistics Trafficking and Prostitution in Asia and the Pacific, See under Japan category. Accessed online 27 September 2007.

See also

• Akasen

Further reading

• Araki, Nobuyoshi. Tokyo Lucky Hole. Köln; New York: Taschen, 1997. ISBN 3822881899. 768 pages. Black and white photographs of Shinjuku sex workers, clients, and businesses taken 1983–5.
• Associated Press. "Women turn to selling sexual favors in Japan". Taipei Times, December 9, 2002, p. 11. Accessed 11 October 2006.
• Bornoff, Nicholas. Pink Samurai: Love, Marriage and Sex in Contemporary Japan. New York: Pocket Books, 1991. ISBN 0-671-74265-5.
• Clements, Steven Langhorne. Tokyo Pink Guide. Tokyo: Yenbooks, 1993. ISBN 0-8048-1915-7.
• Constantine, Peter. Japan's Sex Trade: A Journey Through Japan's Erotic Subcultures. Tokyo: Yenbooks, 1993. ISBN 4-900737-00-3.
• "The Day the Red Lights Went Out in Japan". MSN-Mainichi Daily News. April 1, 2008. Accessed April 2, 2008.
• De Becker, J. E. The Nightless City ... or, The "History of the Yoshiwara Yūkwaku.", 4th ed. rev. Yokohama [etc.] M. Nössler & Co.; London, Probsthain & Co., 1905. ISBN 1933330384.
• De Becker, J. E. The Nightless City: Geisha and Courtesan Life in Old Tokyo (reprint). Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2007. ISBN 0486455637.
• De Mente, Boye Lafayette. The Pleasure Girls and Flesh Pots of Japan. London: Ortolan Press, 1966.
• De Mente, Boye Lafayette. Sex and the Japanese: The Sensual Side of Japan Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, 2006. ISBN 0804838267.
• De Mente, Boye Lafayette. Tadahito Nadamoto (illus.). Some Prefer Geisha: The Lively Art of Mistress Keeping in Japan. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1966.
• Fitzpatrick, William. Tokyo After Dark. New York: McFadden Books, 1965.
• French, Howard W. "Japan's Red Light 'Scouts' and Their Gullible Discoveries". The New York Times. November 15, 2001. Accessed 11 October 2006.
• Goodwin, Janet R. Selling Songs and Smiles: The Sex Trade in Heian and Kamakura Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2007. ISBN 0824830687, ISBN 0824830970.
• Japan The Trafficking of Women.
• Kamiyama, Masuo. "The day Japan's red lights flickered out". MSN-Mainichi Daily News. February 25, 2006. Accessed 11 October 2006.
• Kattoulas, Velisarios. "Human Trafficking: Bright Lights, Brutal Life". Far East Economic Review. August 3, 2000. Accessed 11 October 2006.
• Longstreet, Stephen, and Ethel Longstreet. Yoshiwara: City of the Senses. New York: McKay, 1970.
• McMurtrie, Douglas C. Ancient Prostitution in Japan. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1425372066. Originally published in Stone, Lee Alexander (ed.). The Story of Phallicism volume 2. Chicago: Pascal Covici, 1927. Reprinted Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0766141152.
• MSN-Mainichi Daily News. "Ambiguous attitudes vex kiddy sex laws". MSN-Mainichi Daily News. December 20, 2001. Accessed 11 October 2006.
• Seigle, Cecilia Segawa. Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of ihe Japanese Courtesan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993. ISBN 0824814886.
• Sinclair, Joan (2006). Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubs. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0810992590. 
• Talmadge, Eric. Getting Wet: Adventures in the Japanese Bath. Tokyo ; New York: Kodansha International, 2006. ISBN 4770030207.
• Yokoyama, M. "Analysis of Prostitution in Japan". International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 19, no. 1 (1995): 47–60.
• Yokoyama, M. "Emergence of Anti-Prostitution Law in Japan—Analysis from Sociology of Criminal Law". International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 17, no. 2 (1993): 211–218.