Sexual slavery

[thomas]

The article was published in August 2000 but hasn't lost its topicality.

Bright Lights, Brutal Life

"Each year, criminals smuggle thousands of women into Japan. They arrive with hopes of finding honest work--only to find a life of sexual slavery awaits them"

Untitled

I remember that once on my way to Tokyo our plane had a stop-over in Manila. There, dozens of young Philippine ladies boarded, all of them excited and made up as glamorous as can be. I had the chance to talk to one of them sitting next to me. She told me she had a six-week contract as a "dancer". She was 28, married with children, but since her husband was jobless, she'd try to raise money in Japan. Hmm, I wonder if she really believed in her dancing career. That really left me thinking...

 

[moyashi]

Almost all are recruited through the yakuza. They end up in Japan without their passports working hostess bars, cabarets, prostitution only to be busted by police raids every so often.

Aparently, even after paying off their highly inflated buy back contracts they still can go home and build a new house.

Gee, look at Anita!

 

[Tiger]

It's not all bad. There's a few Philippinos work in a hostess bar near where I live. I met a couple of them in the local izakaya and it seems they earn more than I do!!!

 

[Hoyu]

Yeah... but what do they have to do for it?

 

[Tiger]

Talk to businessmen, pour their drinks for them and clap when they sing badly on the Karaoke. Yep - that's really all there is to 95% of hostess bars.

 

[Maciamo]

Originally posted by Tiger
Talk to businessmen, pour their drinks for them and clap when they sing badly on the Karaoke. Yep - that's really all there is to 95% of hostess bars.

Probably and I don't think Filipinas, Chinese or Thai girls usually work as hostesses. They'd need good Japanese abilities and know exactly Japanese customs, manners and politeness. I think they often work in soap lands, as dancers, etc. instead (no language skill needed).

 

[Hoyu]

Tora, Tora, Tiger my son...

It's kind of hard for me to imagine that the Yakuza would go to all the trouble to smuggle girls into the country, for the sole purpose of giving them legit jobs where they ONLY talk to businessmen, pour their drinks for them and clap when they sing badly on the Karaoke. Maybe we are not talking about the same thing here. This thread was started in regard to the prevalence of sexual slavery of gaijin women in Japan.

Did you actually read the article "Bright Lights, Brutal Life"?

 

[Maciamo]

Activists, however, estimate that between 500,000 and 1 million women have been enslaved since the yakuza moved into the trade in the early 1980s. That's at least four times the number that historians believe the Japanese military drafted as "comfort women" in the 1930s and 40s. Yayori Matsui, a prominent human-rights activist, describes Japan's sex slaves as "contemporary comfort women" to her nation's "corporate warriors."

That's quite incredible.

Moreover, while many women used to flee captivity, today few dare. In part, that's because Watanabe and other yakuza cooperate in capturing women who make a run for it. In particular, they routinely photograph their slaves and fax around their pictures in case one escapes--a system Watanabe says helps him recover nine out of every 10 women who flee.

When human are treated as slaves or cattles and the authorities turn a blind eye, is that a modern form of concentration camps ? The war is over, but Japan still dominates and exploit its neighbours secretly. Do we really know what's going on in each of our home country, where ever it is ?

Fearing that her next beating might be her last, she decided to flee. As the man guarding her apartment slept the next morning, she ran to the local police station. Gonzalez says that she explained her situation to a Spanish-speaking officer and was told the matter was not police business. The following day, she sneaked out to see immigration officials. This time, she says, she was told that since she had a valid 90-day tourist visa they couldn't help her. (Activists say they often hear similar tales; however, police and immigration officials deny them.)

Police and immigration, that is the only authorities that could help... That's disgusting how petty officials can behave with people in danger by fear of getting involved.

 

[thomas]

Let me just add that girl trafficking exists in Europe too. Thousands of Eastern European girls are lured in to the EU by their fellow countrymen every year. They are promised profitable positions as waitresses, dancers etc., but end up in brothels without passport and never manage to pay back their "debts". Authorities though usually take an aggressive stance against such gangs.

 

[tosh]

Reminds me of communism: It looks great on paper, but when you factor in human nature... (sigh)..How to win the war and lose the peace in ten easy steps... Some other thoughts about pyramid schemes...

 

[Tiger]

Re: Tora, Tora, Tiger my son...

Originally posted by Kakuzen
It's kind of hard for me to imagine that the Yakuza would go to all the trouble to smuggle girls into the country, for the sole purpose of giving them legit jobs where they ONLY talk to businessmen, pour their drinks for them and clap when they sing badly on the Karaoke. Maybe we are not talking about the same thing here. This thread was started in regard to the prevalence of sexual slavery of gaijin women in Japan.

No we're not talking about the same thing. I made an off-the-cuff remark about a couple of Philippinos I know who work in a hostess bar and someone asked what they had to do for their money. I was simply clearing up the issue that in the majority of cases, hostess bars are not the same thing as strip clubs (in order to answer his question).

 

[Tiger]

Originally posted by Maciamo
Probably and I don't think Filipinas, Chinese or Thai girls usually work as hostesses. They'd need good Japanese abilities and know exactly Japanese customs, manners and politeness. I think they often work in soap lands, as dancers, etc. instead (no language skill needed).

Actually a huge number of them are non-Japanese. There's a pretty big hostess bar, just off the main street where I live. I would estimate from the 'girlie menu' by the entrance that there are about 50 girls work there, and at least 40 of them are Philippino. Alternatively there's a small bar just around the corner from my house. I've been in there twice, on the way home from a night out for an hour of whisky drinking karaoke madness before bed - 3 of their 5 girls are Philippino.

 

[Maciamo]

Originally posted by Tiger
Actually a huge number of them are non-Japanese. There's a pretty big hostess bar, just off the main street where I live. I would estimate from the 'girlie menu' by the entrance that there are about 50 girls work there, and at least 40 of them are Philippino. Alternatively there's a small bar just around the corner from my house. I've been in there twice, on the way home from a night out for an hour of whisky drinking karaoke madness before bed - 3 of their 5 girls are Philippino.

Well, I don't know if we are talking about the same hostess bar that entertain salarymen (especially big bosses) in Ginza. I have never heard of any non-Japanese working there. When you see them in the street, it's very easy to make the difference between a Japanese and Philippina (for I have been to the Philippines too, and I had 2 Philippinas in my Japanese class in Tokyo). Chinese are more difficult to spot, but there style and accent and also radically different (I spend 6months with 20 Chinese in my Japanese class in Tokyo and I can recognise them straight away now).

 

[Tiger]

Originally posted by Maciamo
(I spend 6months with 20 Chinese in my Japanese class in Tokyo and I can recognise them straight away now).

Well that's clever, because if you ask most Japanese people they'll tell you that even they can't tell the difference until the Chinese person starts talking. But then every gaijin thinks they're an expert on this topic.

 

[thomas]

Well, we've had that little test a while ago

All look the same?

Hehe, the better half and I just did the test: can you say who's Chinese, Japanese or Korean just by seeing their faces? http://alllooksame.com/ Scores: My better half: 3 Thomas: 8 (yep, mostly guessing)

jref.com

My wife insists that without particular features such as clothes or hair style it's nearly impossible to differentiate Japanese from Chinese and Koreans.

 

[Anastasia]

oh yah i got very bad, obviously you cant tell the difference....heheh oops!

 

[Maciamo]

Of course you can see differences. Even between Chinese the difference between a Manchurian and a Cantonese is as clear as between a Swedish and an Italian. South Chinese are darker with rounder features. A guy of my class actually made me think of a half-Bengali, half Chinese (but was pure Chinese from Guangzhou). Now it would be extremely dificult to see the physical difference between a Taiwanese and a Chinese, except if they are "aborigenal Taiwanese" rather than mainland Chinese. But the mentality is very different. The Taiwanese I have met were much more reserved, shy and "gloomy" than the strong-minded, talkactive and energetic Chinese (especially Manchu). People from Shanghai were quieter and kind of more sensitive and mannered though.

Koreans have squarer jaws and overall flatter faces and smaller eyes than Japanese. If you take the plane from Tokyo to Seoul, the difference is striking.

I believe that the people selected in the test above were all Americans or Canadians so they have lost a lot of their original characteristic.

 

[thomas]

Currently, UNICEF is holding an International Symposium on Trafficking of Children in Tokyo.

Asia's sex trade is 'slavery'

[...] In Asia and the Pacific alone, more than 30 million children have been traded over the last three decades. A combination of poverty, globalisation, organised crime and discrimination against women encouraged the trade. The victims are usually teenage girls who end up working in sweatshops or brothels. [...] In some countries, police, who are supposed to stop these crimes, are involved in crimes by offering protection to criminals. Pimps and middlemen get protection from the police." Japanese parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs Shinako Tsuchiya urged more co-operation between non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the field. More than 100 delegates attended the conference sponsored by Unicef and the Japanese foreign ministry.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Asia's sex trade is 'slavery'

 

[ghettocities]

Is this sponsored by Nova or what? wheres the dotted line?!!

Josh



--

 

[westsan]

The asian sexual slavery is old and out of date...

... the new trend in Japan is to enslave the eastern europeans.

 

[ghettocities]

Originally posted by westsan
The asian sexual slavery is old and out of date...

... the new trend in Japan is to enslave the eastern europeans.

... and skinny american skateboarders.

Josh




"He is simply a dick on wheels, rolling infinitesimally close, but never reaching, the object of lust." CS, 3/1/03

 

[deniss]

Russian girl Olesya in Tokyo - hostess or... ???

Hello,

please help me to know who is my loved girl... He worked in Tokyo as hostess (she said so, but I do not belive it). Her name is Olesya... May be someone know the truth about her?

Thank you in advance.

Deniss

 

[ghettocities]

Re: Russian girl Olesya in Tokyo - hostess or... ???

Originally posted by deniss
Hello,

please help me to know who is my loved girl... He worked in Tokyo as hostess (she said so, but I do not belive it). Her name is Olesya... May be someone know the truth about her?

Thank you in advance.

Deniss

Ok, you want to know your loved girl, but wait, he worked as a hostess?! ok, maybe she? next, she said so, but you don't believe it and her name is Olesya... hmmmm, she isn't Japanese huh? You should go and search for her maybe, it's easy to see find those girls if you know (where in Tokyo,) they are at,, just walk around after 8pm in the general location of your lost loved one. Good luck!

Josh

 

[James8880]

The sex slave thing is true, I have seen it first hand. And they're not working in bars talking to business men.

There is a "strip club" in Hachinohe Japan and another in Aomori where every week you will find a different set of columbian "dancers" All with the same story if you talk to them. They were promised a career if they moved to Japan, had their passports taken from them and have to "work" to get them back. There are more clubs like this around Japan and the women move from one to the next every week.

You pay 6000 yen and you can take them in the back and have sex with them. In some clubs it's free if you do it on stage in front of everyone.

No I'm not making this up. It's really sad and disgusting. These women are forced into sexual slavery and for some reason no one is doing anything about it.

 

[ricecake]

There are many thousand young Russian and Ukrainian girls working as " hostesses or sex providers " in Japan and Taiwan plus S Korea.