A Prostitute here in Japan is described as 'Women who sell Spring' .
I decided to head down-town, out of town - anywhere away from the corporate wealth of this huge city. I was prepared for where I was heading, but even so I was shocked. This is a nasty place but the risk I took was worth it. This place should not exist and the likes of social media are promoting it. More people should be highlighting the plight of these women instead of adding it to a rating system.
Here in Osaka, the Tobita Shinchi red light district apparently still works very much in the same way as the old Yoshiwara did before they were closed down. Here, the businesses openly display their working girls to casually strolling, potential customers.
Japan has had anti-prostitution laws since 1958 and closed down all red light districts. The Tobita Shinchi district closed down for one night then reopened as a shop the following night, this time operating as a Restaurant Association. The Association is probably closely connected to the highest political levels in the city as they agreed to close for a recent G7 Summit.
The shopping arcade, leading into the Tobita Shinchi, feels like walking through a ghost town – the stores and restaurants have hardly changed since the 70’s. The arcade is quiet, many shutters are closed and the prices for the wares offered are at the lowest end. It is here though that you find bars and restaurants run by women, attended by men. They are probably closely guarded by behind-the-scenes establishments.
The streets of Tobita Shinchi are lined with 2-storey buildings, one attached to the other. Each building is marked with a white lantern, lit up at night, spelling out the name of the business it houses.
The ground floors of each building have wide doors revealing a box area - the genkan - entrance area.
Two women sit in the genkan - a ‘working’ girl, and the Mama-san, the manager of the business. She is older and watches through mirrors and strategically placed kettles for people coming up the street.
The guest will be served tea and snacks (such as a lolly pop) to comply with the restaurant status rules. Since 1958 Japanese prostitution has become a tolerated grey area where the sex business operates legally by registering as restaurants, baths and massage establishments operating under a so called veil of secrecy.
Japan does not have a large underclass of drug addicts, so many prostitutes and sex trade workers are housewives or women or girls from otherwise respectable families. Many of the these women are recently divorced or unemployed, or are working to pay off mortgages or credit card debts.
Women looking for such jobs answer ads in magazines promising "part time jobs with high income" or are recruited on the streets by young pimps. When the alternative is being paid $8 an hour to work in a fast food restaurant or a convenient store many women find the offers of $300 a day or $6,000 a month too good an opportunity. The ads also often promise flexible hours, transportation fees, employee housing, alibi services, and day care for young children.
Here at Tobita you will find ‘No Photo’ signs at virtually every prostitution-related building. Especially prohibited are photos taken of the genkan with the working girl and the mama-san present. Since their customers are predominantly Japenesese men I wonder who these signs are really for?
A Mama-san realised that I was a potential photographer and as I expected she and four others darted out of their genkens and aggressively confronted me. The women came at me from all angles when they saw my camera hanging from my shoulder. Showing them it was switched off wasn’t enough, they demanded the lens cap was put on. They are quick and they are sharp.
The Mama-san who raised the alarm on me.
What a complete contrast to the city I had seen that is presented to the everyday visitor. I was shocked and saddened by what I was seeing. The blatant and derogatory way these girls are treated is wholly unacceptable and shouldn’t be allowed, even within the law’s ’grey areas’. Some young tourists jeered at the girls which was demeaning to see.
Social media rates Tobita Shinchi third on a search in our neighbourhood. Using Google translate some of the reviews appear to say about their experiences of renting a prostitute and others talk about how it’s a way to see old cultural issues of the Edo period of Japan.
Going home back through the arcade and there were still some businesses open.
Closed.
We felt it necessary to challenge the social-media travel company and downgrade this ‘attraction’ by posting our viewpoint. Social media refused to carry our review about the area. They replied to us saying ‘it breached their rules on race and culture’.
This is shocking. They claim to believe in the ‘right to write’, but we were told ‘not allowed to comment on cultural issues’.
So, positive reviews on prostitution are fine according to social media. There in lies another debate - one about social media.