For years, young women in Japan seeking quick cash could find employment in one of Japan’s “naked” industries in times of need. That might not be the case today.
In a special series on women earning money through somewhat dubious means, Spa! (Apr. 8-15) says that, in spite of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts, deflation within illicit professions — fuzoku sex worker or adult video (AV) actress, for example — is not abating.
In taking a closer look, the magazine probes the porn industry.
“Salaries for actresses have dropped as far as possible,” says an employee at an AV production company in the Kanto area. “Sales are down and actress applications are up. It is a buyer’s market. Compared to just a few years ago, salaries are now 50 percent less.”
The insider says that low-end actresses are receiving as little as 20,000 yen per shoot. Top performers can garner one million yen, but that figure is 500,000 yen less than that of 2009.
For Kansai, the situation is particularly bleak for “underground” productions, in which genitalia is not censored. Whereas an actress could earn 600,000 yen in such a film five years ago, nowadays the figure has dropped to 50,000 yen.
An AV employee in Kansai describes how it has happened. “I wouldn’t say it is cheating, but there are a lot of cases where women will give their consent to that amount of money,” says the employee, referring to the 50,000-yen figure. “We just won’t mention that the particular film will not include an obfuscating mosaic.”
Certainly, this era’s low wages will go down in history, says Spa!, with the flood of applicants being the culprit. The aforementioned Kanto employee says that he’ll get more than 20 girls each month arriving at his office for an interview.
But why are women so keen now to “spread their legs” for the industry?
“AV and sexy actresses are now being thrust into the public view as idols,” says a 15-year AV veteran. “So, there’s no shortage of women looking to enter the business.”
Plus, it can be an enjoyable way to earn a buck.
“It’s tough to make 30,000 yen a day in the fuzoku biz,” the writer says.
Source: “Kansai AV joyu gyara hikaku,” Spa! (Apr. 8-15, page 27)
