Collectively referred to as “Abenomics,” the initiative is packing Osaka’s SM clubs.
A veteran employee says that monthly revenue at his establishment is now between 10 and 12 million yen. At this time last year, sales were roughly half of those figures.
“Around 1990, I heard about monthly revenues of 20 million yen,” says the employee in comparing the current era to that of the “bubble” period. “There are whispers about a return to those days, but hopes are not high. The drawn-out recession caused a such a huge cut in prices that reclaiming those levels will be difficult.”
For 60 minutes of fun at a club two decades ago, customers were charged 20,000 yen. Nowadays, that same pleasure (or pain) can be enjoyed for a mere 12,000 yen.
Customer numbers are up by 50 percent. On weekends, clubs are pulling in 600,000 yen in revenue, while on weekdays the daily proceeds range between 100,000 and 200,000 yen — figures that are double that of one year ago.
Costs are also being kept in check. Crackdowns on the existence of “playrooms” in Kansai have left many clubs with no choice but to dispatch whip-wielding females to hotel rooms to meet waiting clients.
In addition to a boost in the number of first-time customers, regulars are opting for longer periods of pleasure, possibly 90 or 120 minutes, which require outlays of 18,000 and 24,000 yen, respectively.
“There has been a surge in the number of customers, even those not choosing the longer courses, who stop by to bring lipstick, sweets, and souvenirs,” says a dominatrix working in Osaka.
