Soaplands

[thomas]

Always good for an article...

From soaplands to streetwalkers: Japan's sex industry sells dreams, desperation

[...] For more women, Japan's red-light underworld is increasingly a last resort, not an opportunistic break. Record unemployment, soaring bankruptcies and stagnant growth are forcing more into the flesh trade 窶 at cheaper rates and in more desperate conditions. For Hitomi, a 24-year-old Thai streetwalker, it's about survival, not spending sprees. She was laid off from a refrigerator factory, stripped of her work visa and company housing. Now, a good night for her means recouping the 8,000 yen (US$66) in protection money she shells out to gangsters on her street 窶 and not having to work until dawn.

[...] Smut has been a near recession-proof industry in Japan, despite the country's decade-long economic slump. All told, the nation spends an estimated 1.7 trillion yen (US$13.9 billion) a year on sex. But hard times are putting the squeeze on the sleaze. Pricey soaplands, where hourly stints soar to 100,000 yen (US$820), are giving way to the fast-growing sectors of low-end "pink salons" and cut-rate foreign prostitutes. Cheap thrills there go for as low as 8,000 yen (US$66).

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[Maciamo]

Now, a good night for her means recouping the 8,000 yen (US$66) in protection money she shells out to gangsters on her street ﾂ・and not having to work until dawn.
...
Cheap thrills there go for as low as 8,000 yen (US$66).

8000yen is what some English teacher are paid per hour (in some highschools or companies). I can't believe working in a soapland is paid so little. I have read in some WaiWai stories that even schoolgirls get from 20.000 to 50.000yen for one "uri" (for having sex once with a "oyaji", which is less than an hour). Even hostesses (who normally don't have sex at all) get sometimes more per hour (you can find hourly wages for each hostess club in the recruiting section on their homepages, BTW).

 

[thomas]

I think 8.000 ¥ is just the sum she has to pay to her "protectors" per night. Did you read this:

"If I get five customers, that's a good day," the 25-year-old says, flashing a confident smile from beneath a dyed-red bob that matches her checkered sundress. [...] Given Japan's sour economy, she calls it a smart career move. It floats her 200,000 yen (US$1,640) shopping binges and the dream of retiring at age 30 with her own house.

Retiring at 30 doesn't sound bad. She'll probably become mama-san herself.

 

[Maciamo]

There seem to be some contradiction. Some (Japanese ?) get a really good pay, but others (Thai ?) seem to be into more trouble :

So she took a tip from a friend and started selling herself outside an hourly rate hotel with peeling wallpaper and no towels. It's just enough to pay rent for the one-room apartment she shares with four other Thai women.

A one-room apartment shared with 4 others should cost no more than 15.000 yen/month each. Then you see what other get paid :

A two-hour visit to Rika's costs 45,000 yen (US$369), modest by soapland standards. Rika takes home half.

Working 2h/month would be enough to pay the rent. A "good day" makes up for the food and transportation as well.