“A man grabbed my arm and took me by force to a hotel. He started filming and groping me. I was afraid. I ran away before he undressed me. » Perched on high heels, in a pink miniskirt sprinkled with sparkles, her gaze lost, the teenager hesitates to cross the entrance to the Kabukicho police station, in the district of Shinjuku, in Tokyo.
Frail, barely 18 years old, she is one of the hundreds of teenagers and young women who prostitute themselves in the red light district of the Japanese capital, to repay a debt, make ends meet or simply survive. Their presence has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic, during which many lost their jobs or suffered domestic or family violence.
Lined up in the alley, between the white facade of Okubo hospital and the gates of the eponymous park, the young women wait for the kimoi ojisan (“unhealthy uncles”), their clients, who will pay between 5,000 and 20,000 yen (between approximately 30 and 120 euros) for an hour of paid sex in one of the neighboring “love hotels”. After 10 p.m., some will head to the themed bars, dressed as a nurse, a lolita or a maid. These girls most often stay in internet cafes in the heart of Kabukicho, at a rate of 4,600 yen (28 euros) per night for an individual cabin.
Family abuse on the rise
The police arrested 35 of these young women in September – 80 since the start of the year, compared to 51 in 2022. Of the 35 arrested, around fifteen were in debt to “hosts”, young men working in clubs reserved for women. Costumed, made up and slicked up, they spot their victims – single women, often from the provinces – on the Internet, seduce them then encourage them to frequent their club. They end up spending crazy amounts of money there, up to 200,000 yen per evening.
“The hosts have mind control tactics. They are literally trained by the club managers for this”, explains Ayaka Shiomura, of the Constitutional Democratic Party (PDC), who raised the issue in October in Parliament. To pay her debts to the host, the victim prostitutes herself. In January, police arrested Takuya Akiba, 27, a host who allegedly forced a woman to work in bars to repay her 10 million yen (61,400 euros). “I wanted to be number one at my club”he allegedly told investigators.
Another reason for women’s prostitution is linked to extreme poverty or family abuse, which increased by 1.8% in 2022 to reach 84,496 cases, a record. Fleeing their homes, many of these young people find themselves in Kabukicho, a flashy neighborhood, never sleeping. On its central Toyoko square, in front of the brand new Tokyu Kabukicho tower, boys with red, green or pink hair and black outfits, or girls in schoolgirl outfits wander, drink, heckle among cans of alcoholic drinks and packaging empty cakes. These “Toyoko Kids,” as they are called here, often end up falling into drugs and prostitution.
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