Osaka’s maid cafes offering below-the-belt services

There was a time when Osaka’s Nipponbashi area — Kansai’s answer to the Tokyo geek paradise of Akihabara — provided a “healing experience” for fanatics of electronics, anime, manga, and maid cafes. But nowadays, reports Shukan Jitsuwa (Dec. 13), the district is being overrun with clubs offering sex on the side.

This is most evident at the various “costume” clubs that line Otaku Road. The availability of erotic services supplied at these establishments, where female staff members dress in a variety of uniforms, continues to increase unabated.

Shukan Jitsuwa says that the trend can be traced back to Akihabara, where joshi kosei, or simply JK, reflexology massage parlors featuring female high-school student masseuses, started to appear. Osaka’s maid establishments have copied that business model, and now a full-blown battle has erupted.

“Even though not promoted, it’s normal for the clubs to offer customers services whereby he can receive a deep kiss, a hug, an opportunity to sleep next to the girl, or have her rest on his arm,” says a local writer covering the fuzoku biz, which is commercial sex.

But the clubs have now escalated their offerings to include taking a ‘stroll’ with a staff member through Nipponbashi and use her as a guide while she is dressed normal street clothes. “In other words, she’ll take the customer to a love hotel, where various other ‘underground’ options will be available,” continues the source. “It’s a way for her to earn pocket money.”

The weekly sees a girl handing out leaflets for her shop, and she describes just how far things can go. In addition to the stroll translating into a romp at a hotel, the sleep-together option can result in a blow-job for a mere 1,000-yen supplemental fee. “The shops cannot guarantee confidentiality (for staff members),” she says. “So right now, it is all about the money. Nobody cares about anything else.”

That can be said about the customers as well. The magazine points out that strolling with a girl for shopping, dining, and sex is enjo kosai (or compensated dating), which is illegal under the Anti-Prostitution Law.

The aforementioned fuzoku writer says the current state of affairs is the result of increased competition. “Sex shops that have been shut down in (Osaka’s) Minami area have moved to Nipponbashi,” says the writer.

Something of a wild west atmosphere has emerged.

“When girls apply for jobs, the shops don’t check their identification papers carefully,” says the writer. “Also, bars and clubs that routinely rip-off customers operate freely, and shops offering full-service sex are on the rise.”

Shukan Jitsuwa longs for those “healing” days of yore. (K.N.)

Source: “Fuzokuten ga zoku zoku sannyu Nipponbashi meidoten ga mokunin suru ’1,000 en ura saabisu,’” Shukan Jitsuwa (Dec. 13, page 51)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

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