TOKYO (TR) – A booming underground industry catering to the sexual and emotional needs of Japanese women is sweeping the nation, but insiders warn of a dark underbelly where lonely housewives are being bled dry by manipulative male therapists, reports weekly tabloid Friday (Aug. 8-14).
Currently, an estimated 400 to 500 “josei-yo fuzokuten” (sex establishments catering to women) establishments are operating across Japan, employing roughly 7,000 male sex workers.
Keiko Momojiri, manager of the Shin-Okubo branch of the women’s sex service OASIS, says the customer base is rapidly expanding.
“More women are using our services than ever before. We see everyone from women in their 20s to those in their 50s and 60s. The clientele ranges from office workers to housewives,” Momojiri said.
The services are evolving beyond mere physical intimacy. Recently, a “rental boyfriend” event offering two hours of companionship for 10,000 yen proved highly popular.
“Customers also call us asking for a handsome man to drink with. Today, we dispatched a therapist to a high-end Ginza restaurant for a 90-minute dining-only course,” Momojiri added.
Staggering scale
According to industry portal site Kaikan, the number of listed shops and therapists has more than doubled since 2022. When factoring in massive unlisted networks like the Secret Base Group and OASIS, the true scale of the lucrative trade is staggering.
“Rino,” a married part-time worker in her late 40s, admits to previously being a heavy user, dropping large sums on overnight trips with therapists. She typically spends 30,000 to 40,000 yen for a 180-minute “massage and date” package.
“My husband is exactly why I can’t talk about certain things. Right now, the therapist is the only person I can truly bare my soul to,” she said, claiming she does not view the paid encounters as infidelity.
However, this intense emotional reliance often leads to a dangerous phenomenon known in the industry as numaru—getting “hooked” or sinking into a swamp of addiction and genuine romantic attachment.
“Women develop feelings when they are healed both physically and mentally,” explained “Kumi,” an office worker in her early 30s who constantly cycles through different men to avoid falling in love. “I’ve nominated nearly 30 different therapists just to keep things strictly business.”
Predatory practices
Emi, a company president who trains male therapists, warns that predatory practices remain rampant. Malicious male sex workers deliberately manipulate clients into falling in love to extract exorbitant sums of cash.
“It still happens,” Emi said. “The main targets are women in their 40s and 50s, like company presidents’ wives, who will rent out a man for the entire day for hundreds of thousands of yen. But usage varies — some women just want pure pleasure, others just want to co-sleep, and some just want to show off that they are walking with a handsome man.”
While the women’s sex industry is gaining mainstream recognition through TV dramas and social media influencers, the shadowy reality of predatory therapists and addicted clients proves the booming trade is still grappling with its dark side.
