From ‘princess’ to prostitute: how Japan’s host clubs are driving young women into debt and sex work
- Young women are ‘brainwashed’ into racking up huge bills at host clubs and are forced into prostitution when they cannot pay off their debts, an activist says
- Support groups say there must be tougher policing on host clubs and the sex industry in Japan, but are not optimistic that change will come: ‘they are hyenas’
Yuno was 18 years old when she was first talked into entering a Japanese host club in Yokohama’s nightlife district. A “catcher” on the street convinced her that it would be harmless fun, chatting and drinking with good-looking men.
Within months, Yuno had run up a tab of around 1.5 million yen (US$10,600) and a host, who had convinced her that he loved her and promised they would open a restaurant together, was demanding that she pay up.
As she did not have the money, the club passed her onto the ever-hungry sex industry in Tokyo.
Now 20, Yuno is both scared and scarred. Being forced into prostitution in Tokyo’s notorious Kabukicho district has left a mark, while she has still not been able to pay off a bill that continues to mount as the club charges interest.
In desperation, last month she contacted the Liaison Council of Parents Protecting Youths (Seiboren), which has provided support and advice, as well as assigning her a lawyer. But wherever she goes in Tokyo, Yuno is still worried she could bump into someone from the club or from the groups that run Kabukicho’s sex industry. She has already had one close call.