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Shinjuku gals going all-out for the gold

“The ‘box-type’ sex shops such as image clubs and seikan (sensuous) health emporiums have declined sharply, and out-call sex services have become the mainstream,” the editor of a specialty magazine tells Shukan Shincho (Aug. 14-21). “But shops pushing new ideas seem to have popped up just for the duration.”

In keeping with the spirit of the Olympic games, it seems, sex businesses in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district are showing a true spirit of creativity. As a hook to lure customers inside, the weekly magazine reports, some shops are offering price reductions or special deals on days when Japanese athletes win medals — especially a gold medal — or the day immediately afterward.

Shukan Shincho wonders if “costume play” options at any of the area’s image clubs have yet to cloak female staff in the new hi-tech swimsuits.

“The special limited-time cosplay is popular,” says a source familiar with deri heru (out-call) services. “Customers are enjoying ‘play’ with girls wearing swimsuits and judo outfits. Badminton or table tennis uniforms are popular as well. They can’t get their hands on the authentic Olympic uniforms, of course, but they’ve assembled a wardrobe of pretty good approximations.”

Shukan Shincho Aug. 14-29
Shukan Shincho Aug. 14-29

“They may appear like regular massage parlors on the surface, but Chinese-type massage joints usually don’t beat around the bush when it comes to pushing ‘optional’ services,” says another source. “In the Taiwan-style shops, which tend to boast more beauties, it depends on what you can negotiate. The police cracked down and those places completely vanished for a while, but perhaps because of the Olympics they’ve re-emerged.”

In the spirit of fraternal competition, the same street touts will direct customers to either Chinese or Taiwanese type — serving, perhaps, as further evidence of the ongoing rapprochement between China and Taiwan.

Even the most sullen Chinese females, Shukan Shincho remarks, will immediately pep up when given an economic incentive. So let the games begin — Faster! Stronger! And cheaper!