Sociology
Well! I'm intrigued by this thread, to say the least. I was actually searching for information on Soaplands. I'm a sociology major and am considering doing some research and a paper on the sex industry in Japan in general. I am interested in it, like I am interested in most facets of Japan, regardless of whether I do anything academic with it or not. And I think sex is just sort of interesting anyway...
If there are still people in this thread (I didn't see when the last post was made), allow me to pick your brains. I know a lot about Japan and Japanese culture, but I've never been there, and my knowledge on the sex industry is lacking, not for lack of trying, but simply because the information is just not all that available, honestly. And I suppose understandably. Japan's sex industry is not publicized like Japan's religion, menu, language and whatever else is. I mean it makes sense, right? And that just makes me more curious, ha.
For starters... There must be soaplands (although probably much less common) that feature males as the... er... "washers" (soapers?), correct?
I have general questions about the Japanese sex industry, too, and I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask those questions. I don't know where else to ask, though, nor would I know who to ask.
For instance, it is my understanding that the age of consent is 16 in Japan (as opposed to the United States' age of 18). Is this correct? If it is correct, does that mean that there are 16 year-olds featured in pornographic material? And if so, that would probably mean pornography that is legal in Japan would be considered illegal elsewhere (for instance, the United States).
I've found absolutely no information on topics such as these.
Let's see, what else do I want to ask... I don't know, that should do it for now. If anyone can lend me their knowledge, or point me to a better place where I could ask questions about "dirty" sex in Japan, I'd be much obliged!
Also, as a student of Japan, let me comment that
Shinto and Buddhism don't exactly place the same kinds of milieu and stigma upon sex as, say, most forms of Christianity would. For any of us in an occidental nation to say the Japanese are more "promiscuous" is a little ludicrous. The culture has grown up differently. Its foundation is totally different. And if you want to talk about STDs and what not, Japan is pretty big on "safe" sex. I don't know the particular statistics, but they use a lot of condoms, to say the least.
I'm looking forward to replies.