i

JAPANS SEX INDUSTRY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING:

A SOCIO-CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE DEMAND



__________



A Substantial Research Paper

Presented to

the Josef Korbel School of International Studies

University of Denver



__________




by

Mitsuko Ikeda

August 2008

Advisor: Professor Claude dEstree
i
ABSTRACT
Author: Mitsuko Ikeda
Title: Japans Sex Industry and Human Trafficking: A Cultural Analysis of the Demand
Advisor: Professor Claude dEstree
Degree Date: August 2008


The sex industry in Japan is a big paradox: it is highly secretive, yet very public and accessible.
As a multi-billion industry closely tied to yakuzas, the sector generates a demand for young
women, including those trafficked from other countries. Central to this study is a question,
What is it about social and cultural framework in Japan that supports and contributes to the
development of the sex industry and trafficking of foreign women in the country? Through the
review of relevant literatures and websites, as well as original research conducted in Japan, this
study argues that the very essential elements of culture in Japan although it seems
contradictory first directly and indirectly form a context in which the demand for sex translates
into trafficking and enslavement of foreign women.
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction 1

Overview of the Sex Industry and Human Trafficking in Japan: An Open Secret? 3

Historical Contexts: Understanding the Deep Roots 7

Methodology 13

The Results and Analysis: Three Socio-Cultural Constructs of Demand 14

Cultureof Shame 16

Stress andSuppression of Sexuality 20

TheNotion of Otherness 23

Toward Effective Anti-Trafficking Measures in Japan 31

Limitations of the Study and Areas for Further Research 35

Conclusion 37

Bibliography 40
1
I ntroduction
The commercial sex industry (fuzoku)
1
in Japan is a big paradox. On the one hand,
the countrys very traditional values and politeness, which continue to be prominent in
Japanese society today, seem to contradict with the prosperity of the sex industry and violent
images of pornography. Sex is not an appropriate topic of discussion in most realms of
society. Yet, on the other hand, the sex industry shows its faces in every corner of the
country. It is in fact not a hidden aspect of the Japanese society; it is a major industry that
appears in peoples everyday life. As a multi-billion dollar industry, it is closely connected to
the Japanese organized criminal network (or the yakuzas) and other networks worldwide. A
wide range of services are available, and as represented by the love hotels in cities and
pornographic images on internet, they are easily accessible.
The paradox and duality of the industry is well described by James Farrer, associate
professor of sociology at Sophia University in Tokyo:
The world of fuzoku is both very public and yet highly secretive, legal in most of its
outward forms, yet illegal in some of its core practices. It is a world in which men
can live out their wildest fantasies, through often set in the most banal spaces of
everyday life, such as commuter train cars and offices. It is a world of asobi (play) but
is so, so serious in its obsessions. It is a world of appearances and costumes that is
simultaneously obsessed with the reality of sex. Finally, it is a world in which the
customer (usually male) is king but expected to follow strict rules that Westerners
would find startling both in their sexual explicitness and in their detail.
2


This coexistence of contradicting factors and antitheses in the sex industry in Japan owes
heavily to the countrys social and cultural framework, which is a focus of this study.

1
In Japan, the commercial sex industry is called fzoku. The industry involves arange of services, including the
ones where actual intercourse between women and men does not happen (e.g. hostess clubs).
2
Joan Sinclair, Pink Box: InsideJapan'sSex Clubs(New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2006), 810.
2
The sector generates a high demand for young girls, and Japan is today a destination
country of many trafficked persons,
3
mainly women, recognized by the international
community. Trafficked individuals are forced to work in various industries, such as mining,
agriculture, domestic work, and sex trade throughout the world. For the purpose of this
study, exploitation of foreign women in the sex industry in Japan is discussed as an example
of many forms of trafficking. While this study uses the definition provided by the 2000
Trafficking in Persons Protocol, in many cases it is hard to determine who falls under the
category, due to the hidden nature of the industry, lack of information, and other factors.
Japan, unfortunately, has not ratified the Protocol.
Despite the immensity of the sex industry in Japan and the magnitude of human
trafficking involved, not many research projects regarding the issue have been conducted in
the past. Most of the existing literatures and research compiled mainly by international
organizations and NGOs concentrate on how individuals get trapped in the hands of
traffickers, the abuse and coercion suffered by the victims, and the lack of legislation and
political will on the side of the Japanese government. It is generally not well-understood
how the industry has become so big in the country, and why foreign women are being
brought from other countries. Not to deny that the center of this issue is the trafficked
persons, this study recognizes the need for exploring the other side of the picture: demand.
In addition, although it is true that those who engage in organized crimes take
advantage of women from developing countries and deceive them through the premise of

3
Trafficking in persons is defined in the UnitedNationsProtocol toPrevent, SuppressandPunish TraffickinginPersons,
EspeciallyWomenandChildren(2000) as The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of
persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception,
of the abuse of power or of aposition of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to
achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation includes, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual
exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of
organs.
3
good pay and better life, the issue also requires an explanation that goes beyond the
perspective of global economy and poverty. Kevin Bales, a leading expert in the field of
human trafficking and modern slavery, affirms that there is no single, silver bullet to end
slavery. He states, [T]here is a big box of different silver bullets, each one designed for a
particular country, type of slavery, or product chain.
4
A context of trafficking including
causal factors varies from one country to another, depending on its economy, history,
geographic locations, and other elements.
To fill these gaps, this study asserts that the Japanese sex industry requires an
explanation using the countrys social and cultural framework. Central to this study is a
question, What is it about social and cultural framework in Japan that supports and
contributes to the development of the sex industry and trafficking of foreign women in the
country? Through the review of relevant literatures and websites, as well as original
research conducted in Japan, this study argues that the very essential elements of culture in
Japan although it seems contradictory first directly and indirectly form a context in
which the demand for sex translates into trafficking and enslavement of foreign women. In
particular, three constructs within the Japanese society and culture are identified as key
factors which offer an insight to this paradox. Before the analysis, the following section
provides a brief overview and history of the sex industry and human trafficking in the
country.

Overview of the Sex I ndustry and H uman T rafficking in Japan: An Open Secret?
Located in East Asia, Japan is a small island nation and is a leading economy of the
region and the world. It is a homogeneous country, where 98.5 percent of the population is

4
Kevin Bales, eUpdate Archive - October 2007, Free the Slaves,
https:/ / www.freetheslaves.net/ NETCOMMUNITY/ Document.Doc?id=62.
4
composed of Japanese, and the two major foreigner groups Koreans and Chinese
account for less than one percent combined.
5
Despite its small size of the area (374,744
square kilometers, slightly smaller than the size of California), Japan has the population of
127,288,419 as of July 2008 estimate, ranking as the eleventh most populated country in the
world.
6
Its Gross Domestic Product is approximately $4.218 trillion, the third in the world
only to the U.S. and China, and is growing at the rate of 2.1 percent.
7

The commercial sex industry makes a remarkable contribution to the Japanese
economy today. The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women reported in the Factbook on
Global Sexual Exploitation in 1999 that the sex industry in Japan accounted for one percent
of the countrys GNP, which equaled the defense budget.
8
A more recent study reports that
the industry generates approximately twenty billion dollars per year.
9
The industry offers a
wide variety of services from a conversation with hostesses to sexual massage or
intercourse to different age groups. For the purpose of this study, the word sex club will
comprise all kinds of establishments, including the ones without actual intercourse. The
long list of services in the sex industry includes:
Hostess clubs typically a lounge where women keep customers company with
small talk, karaoke, and booze
10

Nude (or strip) theaters
Soaplands formally known as Turkish baths; bathhouse brothels that offer erotic
massage, oral sex, and intercourse
11

Pink salons oral sex parlors
Delivery health [a]n escort service that sends women to a customers residence or
hotel
12


5
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Japan, World Factbook 2008,
https:/ / www.cia.gov/ library/ publications/ the-world-factbook/ geos/ ja.html.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Donna M. Hugheset al, Japan, TheFactbook on Global Sexual Exploitation(Brussels and New York: Coalition
Against Trafficking in Women, 1999), http:/ / www.catwinternational.org/ factbook/ Japan.php.
9
Kevin Bales, EndingSlavery: HowWeFreeTodaysSlaves(Berkeley: University of CaliforniaPress, 2007), 108.
10
Sinclair, Pink Box: InsideJapan'sSex Clubs, 30.
11
Ibid., 66.
12
Ibid., 186.
5
Image clubs or imekura [f]antasy sex clubs equipped with costumes and specially
designed rooms,
13
such as class rooms, train, and office space.

In addition to these direct services, Japan produces approximately 30,000 titles of
pornographic videos every year.
14
It is reported that seventy-three percent of 238 internet
websites featuring images of female children originated in Japan in 1997.
15
Furthermore,
many Japanese men continue to participate in sex tourism in Southeast Asia, although the
number has declined over the years due to increased regulation.
The majority of the workforce in the countrys sex industry is Japanese, and it is hard
to estimate what percentage of foreign women in the sector are victims of trafficking.
However, given the magnitude of commercial sex in Japan, it is clear that the demand for
trafficked persons in the country is very high. In 1999, the International Organization for
Migration (IOM) reported that over 150,000 non-Japanese women worked in the sex
industry.
16
Approximately forty percent of all foreign workers in Japan did not have proper
documentation in 2001.
17

In the UN Office on Drugs and Crime report, Traffickingin Persons: Global Patterns,
Japan is listed as one of the ten countries where the reporting incidence of human trafficking
as destination is very high. Reported countries of origin include the Philippines, Russian
Federation, Thailand, Ukraine, and Colombia, and most of the victims are women and
children engaged in sex trafficking.
18
Fanny Polana Molina of the Esperanza Foundation

13
Sinclair, Pink Box: InsideJapan'sSex Clubs, 187.
14
SeiyaMorita, Pornography, Prostitution, and Womens Human Rights in Japan, in Not for Sale: Feminists
ResistingProstitutionandPornography, eds. Christine Stark and RebeccaWhisnant (North Melbourne, Austraria:
Spinifex Press, 2004), 68.
15
JuliaOConnell Davidson, Childrenin theGlobal Sex Trade(Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2005), 102
16
Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, HumanTraffickingfor Sexual Exploitation in Japan
(Geneva, Switzerland: the International Labour Office, 2004), 39.
17
Kinsey Alden Dinan, Migrant Thai Women Subjected to Slavery-Like Abuses in Japan, ViolenceAgainst
Women 8 (2002): 1114.
18
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, AppendicestotheReport, Traffickingin Persons: Global Patterns
(Vienna, Austria: UNODC, 2006), 133.
6
reports that women are recruited through newspaper ads, catalog of marriage, and false
scholarships in Colombia.
19
They enter Japan using forged documents arranged by
traffickers, often pretending to be Spanish, Peruvian, Brazilian, or French.
20
They typically
look for clients on the street, or work in strip clubs. The picture looks quite different in the
case of Filipino women. Aurora Javate de Dios of the Coalition Against Trafficking in
Women point out that as many as one in ten adults in the Philippines seek work
opportunities abroad.
21
Many women enter Japan using the entertainer visa, and in many
cases end up working in the sex industry.
22

In this profit-making, ever-growing industry, the Japanese organized crime syndicates,
or the yakuzas, play a significant role in the recruitment and control of the trafficked persons
and by and large the management of business. They exploit force and coercion to keep
recruited women in the business, and use their criminal networks to ensure that the
trafficked persons would not escape. International Labour Organization (ILO) describes the
system of trafficking and control adopted by the yakuzas:
Often the traffickers are linked to Japans organized crime networks, the yakuza, who
charge the trafficked victims large sums to get them into Japan, to place them in
work and to provide food and lodging. Debts of some US $ 50,000 are not
uncommon and the result can be an unbreakable cycle of debt bondage; even when
working so hard, many trafficked victims can hardly repay what they owe.
23


Growth of the commercial sex industry in Japan is further promoted by the countrys
legal system with many loopholes. For instance, Japan provides entertainer visas to
foreigners [i]n cases where the applicant is to engage in theatrical performances or musical

19
Kyoto YWCA APT, TraffickinginHumanBeingsandJapan asa BigReceivingCountry[Jinshin baibai to ukeire
taikoku Nippon: sono jittai to houteki kadai] (Tokyo, Japan: Akashi Shoten, 2001), 1920.
20
Ibid., 30.
21
Ibid., 66.
22
Ibid., 71.
23
International Labour Organization, Efforts Mount in Japan to Counter Human Trafficking, press release,
ILO Communication and Public Information Unit, January 5, 2005,
http:/ / www.ilo.org/ global/ About_the_ILO/ Media_and_public_information/ Press_releases/ lang--
en/ WCMS_075528/ index.htm.
7
performances.
24
The applicant has to [meet] the standards as set by a foreign national or
local government agency or an equivalent public or private organization, and has minimum
two years of education in a related field and two years of experience outside of Japan.
25

However, in reality, women are assigned to work in clubs and bars as hostesses to provide
sexual services to male clients. They are in many cases pressured to provide a service called
dohan,
26
through which women accompany clients to love hotels for prostitution. In 2003,
the number of individuals entering Japan on an entertainment visa was 133,103.
27
Although
the country has pledged to more strictly monitor the use of visa, the result is yet to be seen.
Moreover, many individuals entering Japan with the visa are said to overstay and seek
employment opportunities outside of the legal framework, increasing their risk to work for
commercial sex.

H istorical Contexts: Understanding the D eep Roots
In order to understand why the sex industry has flourished and is widely accepted in
Japan, reviewing its historical context is important. Development of the sex industry and
sexual exploitation of women has deep roots in the course of Japans history. In the Heian
Period of Japan (7941185), professional female entertainers called asobi performed sexual
services to male patrons in exchange for compensation in forms of clothing or other
valuables.
28
They were professional singers and dancers who played a significant role in the

24
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan, Appendix 1 Ministerial Ordinance to Provide for Criteria pursuant to
Article 7, Paragraph 1 (2) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, http:/ / www.mofa.go.jp/ j_info/ visit/ visa/ appendix1.html
25
Ibid.
26
A Japanese word meaning to accompany someone.
27
Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, HumanTraffickingfor Sexual Exploitation in Japan, 44.
28
Janet R. Goodwin, SellingSongsandSmiles: TheSex TradeinHeian andKamakuraJapan (Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 2007), 1-2.
8
social structure of that period, thus blurring the line between entertainment and sexual
services.
Later in the Edo Period (1603 1867), the Shogunate government passed reforms
that licensed and consolidated brothels into a single area of the city which was initially
remote from the center in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo.
29
The area in Edo, called Yoshiwara,
came to be known as ykaku, or the pleasure district, of Japan. This culture of ykaku, or
kuruwa in another expression, exclusively involved Japanese women. Patriarchal
benevolence was expressed in kuruwa culture where oiran [bonded young women] were
regulated by special codes of promotion that permitted them to aspire to respectable status
as tayus, that is, master entertainers.
30

In more recent time periods, Japans sexual exploitation of women was further
reflected in the issue of comfort women during the World War II. Forced to serve as sex
slaves for the Japanese troops, those women were predominantly Chinese or Korean. The
total number of comfort women is estimated to be between 200,000 and 300,000, and many
were abducted in their teens.
31
It is reported that the number of comfort stations
increased after the brutal incident of the Rape of Nanjing in 1937.
32
Moreover, [t]he
Japanese Imperial Army divided comfort women into a hierarchical order according to class,
race, and nationalityand according to the rank of the soldiers they were made to serve, and

29
Sweet Briar College Art Gallery, The Yoshiwara, Sweet Briar College,
http:/ / www.artgallery.sbc.edu/ ukiyoe/ yoshiwara.html.
30
Seiko Hanochi, Constitutionalismin a Modern Patriarchal State: Japan, the Sex Sector and Social
Reproduction, in Power, Production andSocial Reproduction: Human In/ securityintheGlobal Political Economy, eds.
Isabella Bakker and Stephen Gill (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003), 88.
31
BBC News, Sex Slaves Put Japan on Trial, BBC News, December 8, 2000,
http:/ / news.bbc.co.uk/ 1/ low/ world/ asia-pacific/ 1061599.stm.
32
Yuki Tanaka, Japan'sComfort Women: Sexual SlaveryandProstitution DuringWorldWar II andtheUS Occupation,
(London ; New York: Routledge, 2003), 1213.
9
Korean and other women were usually assigned to lower class soldiers, while Japanese and
European (mainly Dutch) women went to higher-ranking officers.
33

The Japanese defeat in 1945 did not mark an end to the exploitation. In place of the
state-run sexual slavery, a commercial sex under the supervision of military was created to
operate comfort facilities for occupying forces.
34
Moreover, this military institution of sex
business became later as a foundation of the global trafficking network in the region,
benefiting the organized crime syndicates who opened up the industry to nonmilitary
clients.
35

The commercial sex industry was thus supported legally by the government until
1956, when theAnti-Prostitution Lawwas adopted. However, the introduction of the law did
not benefit or help women in exploitative conditions of forced prostitution and slavery.
Rather, accompanied by the accelerated growth of the Japanese economy, the sex industry
flourished in a different form. The Anti-Prostitution Law had two consequences. First, as
the kuruwa system diminished, the sex market in Japan became internationalized, opening up
the door to non-Japanese women. Second, with the BusinessesAffectingPublicMoralsRegulation
Lawof 1948, which regulates the sex industry, many businesses have been registered as
public baths, bars, or restaurants. Sexual services, aside from sexual intercourse, are legalized,
provided that they are reported and taxed.
36
However, prostitution with intercourse is still
widely practiced in informal settings such as the dohan system, where formal evidence

33
Kazuko Watanabe, Trafficking in Womens Bodies, Then and Now, Peace& Change20, no. 4 (1995): 503
504.
34
Seiko Hanochi, Japan and the Global Sex Industry, in Gender, Globalization, andDemocratization, eds. Rita
Mae Kelly et al (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2001), 141.
35
Ibid.
36
Hanochi, Constitutionalism in a Modern Patriarchal State: Japan, the Sex Sector and Social Reproduction,
91.
10
cannot be obtained, and hence outside the legal control of the state.
37
This framework
shifts the blame on women, by separating illegal act of prostitution from the businesses.
Aside from the direct business within the sex industry, marriage was another area
where trafficking of women became prominent, especially in the mid 1980s to the early
1990s. During the time period, lack of young women became a severe problem in
agricultural households in rural villages. To secure young brides, they welcomed women
from Asian countries, including South Korea, Philippines, and Thailand. While those
women initially came through personal connections of some Japanese who had links abroad,
the recruitment of Asian brides soon became a target of those who sought to make business
out of it; during 1990, there were approximately 700 brokers for recruiting Asian brides.
38
In
many cases, women were recruited through false ads for trainees, and once they arrived in
Japan, they were forced to marry Japanese men as they owed brokers who had paid for
their travel costs. Paying a large amount of money for charge, men saw the Asian brides as
objects of their sexual desire.
39

The Japanese sex industry and the issue of human trafficking, however, are not
without criticism. The 2004 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, published by the U.S.
Department of State, placed Japan in the category of Tier 2 Watch List,
40
pointing out that

37
Kinhide Mushakoji, Social Reproduction of Exclusion: Exploitative Migration and Human Insecurity, in
Power, Production andSocial Reproduction: HumanIn/ securityintheGlobal Political Economy, eds. IsabellaBakker and
Stephen Gill (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003), 151.
38
Minoru Yokoyama, Social Problems with Internationalization [Kokusaika no shakai byori], in Pathologyof
MatureSociety[Seijuku shakai no byori gaku], eds. Shigenobu Yonekawaand Masami Yajima(Tokyo, Japan:
Gakubunsha, 2003), 69.
39
Ibid.
40
According to the U.S. Department of State, the countries placed in Tier 2 Watch List are:
Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPAs minimumstandards, but are making
significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards AND:
a) The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly
increasing; or
b) There is afailure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in
persons from the previous year; or
11
[the Japanese] government needs to increase its efforts to combat severe forms of
trafficking in persons, including increased investigations, prosecutions and convictions of
trafficking crimes and better assistance to victims.
41
Given this international criticism,
Japan was pressured to take concrete actions against human trafficking. In December 2004,
Japan adopted the National Action Plan of Measures to Combat Trafficking in Person. As
a consequence, the Japanese government began to enforce stricter regulations on the
issuance of entertainer visas in 2005. While this is a significant step, a staff member at one
of the Consulate Generals of the Philippines in Japan made an observation that the change
does not necessarily lead to a decrease in the actual number of trafficked women. According
to the staff person, the modes of trafficking have evolved over the past years, and due to the
regulations on entertainer visas, traffickers are now using other ways to bring women to
Japan. As the activities have gone more underground, it is even harder to identify trafficked
persons.
42

Later in the same year, 2005, the Japanese government amended its Penal Code to
include the crime of human trafficking. The amended Code:
directly criminalize[s] the conduct of buying and selling of persons, and the conduct
of transporting, transferring and harbouring of victims of kidnapping, abduction,
buying or selling. In addition, a statutory penalty of the conduct of kidnapping by
force or enticement, abduction, buying or selling of persons is raised.
43



c) The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance
with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps
over the next year.
41
U.S. Department of State, TraffickinginPersonsReport 2004 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, 2004),
96.
42
Interview with consulate general staff, July 15, 2008.
43
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, The Recent Actions Japan has taken to combat TIP (Trafficking in
Persons), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http:/ / www.mofa.go.jp/ policy/ i_crime/ people/ action0508.html.
12
Using this amendment, two traffickers from Indonesia were arrested in 2005.
44
The number
of the victims has been declining from 115 in 2005
45
to forty in 2007,
46
while this might be
due to the fact that other forms of trafficking are evolving, as indicated earlier. Moreover,
staff members at two consulate generals in Japan mentioned that their relationships with the
police have improved over the past years, especially following the change in the Code, as
without law, it is difficult for the police to cooperate.
47

Simultaneously, there are some shortcomings. The amendment did not make any
progress in terms of the protection of trafficked persons. It is, however, still remarkable that
now human trafficking by itself is considered a crime, and that Japan accepts the definition
adopted by the 2000 UN Protocol on trafficking in persons. These changes in the legal
system indicate that the placement in the TIP Report, while symbolic and political, has
significant effects on the government actions, at least in the case of Japan.
These historical factors have constructed a context where the sex industry became a
part of the regular working of society and the market for foreign women was created. The
contexts further illustrate how different forms of trafficking have evolved, given economic,
political, and legal changes in specific time periods. Building upon this section, the following
sections explore the social and cultural factors that lead to the continuing growth of the
industry and rising demand for women from other countries in a current context. By
looking deeper into the social and cultural aspects of Japan, the following sections attempt to

44
Immigration Bureau of Japan, Regarding the Victims of Human Trafficking in 2005 [Heisei 17 nen ni
okeru jinshin torihiki no higaisha nit suite], press release, Ministry of Justice of Japan, February 14, 2006,
http:/ / www.moj.go.jp/ PRESS/ 060214-1.html.
45
Ibid.
46
Immigration Bureau of Japan, Regarding the Victims of Human Trafficking in 2007 [Heisei 19 nen ni
okeru jinshin torihiki no higaisha nit suite], press release, Ministry of Justice of Japan, February 15, 2008,
http:/ / www.moj.go.jp/ PRESS/ 080215-1.pdf.
47
Interviews with consulate general staff members, July 8 and 15, 2008.
13
answer why Japanese men today commonly use services in the sex industry, and why foreign
women increasingly are on demand.

M ethodology
To answer the question on the relationship between social and culture factors and
the practice of sex slavery in Japan in a modern context, this study first reviewed existing
literatures and websites related to the topic. Three books in particular offer interesting
perspectives and shed light on the socio-cultural aspects of Japan and the sex industry: Night
Work: Sexuality, Pleasure, andCorporateMasculinityin a TokyoHostessClubby Anne Allison
(1994); Pink Box: InsideJapan's Sex Clubs by Joan Sinclair (2006); and EndingSlavery: HowWe
FreeTodays Slaves by Kevin Bales (2007).
Allison, a female anthropologist, worked in a hostess club in Tokyo named Bijo.
Through exploring the relationship between work and play in the Japanese society, her
research examines how the establishment facilitates bonds between male workers (salarymen
48
)
and serves the needs to corporations. Sinclairs book provides a variety of photographs in
sex clubs in Japan, as well as quotes from the workers and customers of the business. James
Farrer, an anthropologist at the Sophia University in Tokyo, provides an introduction with
brief history and explanation of commercial sex in Japan. Lastly, Bales provides a twenty-
five year plan on ending modern slavery in the world. In his chapter on the governments
role, Bales describes the cultural factors in Japan that accepts the practice of modern slavery
in Japan.
Websites reviewed for this research included reviews of foreign women working for
the sex clubs in Japan, a search engine for delivery health services, and websites on manuals

48
Literary, it means salaried men, male workers working for companies and firms in Japan.
14
to date white, blonde women. Japanese and English online forums, where individuals share
comments and opinions about different topics, were also searched. In particular, this paper
examined the expressions used in the websites to describe foreign women both in general
and in the sex industry from a perspective of the Japanese, and comments made by
individuals who have used services in the sex industry in the country.
In addition, original research including questionnaires and interviews were conducted
in 2007 and 2008. The initial pilot study was conducted in 2007. The questionnaire
included six questions on their perceptions and knowledge about the sex industry and
women working in the business. The questionnaire was distributed mainly via email, and
questions were written in Japanese.
In July 2008, a new questionnaire was distributed, revising the original
questionnaire used in the pilot study. This questionnaire asked nine yes-no or multiple
choice questions, which were used for collecting numerical data. Furthermore, nine open-
ended questions similar to the ones in the pilot study were asked. The questionnaire was
distributed in Japan in July 2008, and also via email.
Furthermore, also in July 2008, five semi-structured interviews were conducted
with professionals who have extensive knowledge about human trafficking situations in
Japan. Interviewees included two staff members of consulate generals, two NGO workers,
and a university professor. Interviews are conducted in July 2008 in Japan. Their
perspectives are provided as both supporting evidences and critical views to this study.

T he Results and Analysis: T hree Socio-Cultural Constructs of D emand
The original questionnaire in the pilot study was responded by twenty-six individuals
(seventeen males and nine females). The respondents were Japanese living in Japan or in the
15
U.S. at the time of the research. Their age varied between twenty and thirty-nine, and the
average age was 24.9. The educational attainment of the respondents was: ten university
students (38.5%); ten university graduates (38.5%); six current graduate students and
graduates of graduate-level programs (23.1%).
The new questionnaire was answered by thirty individuals (fourteen males and
sixteen females). The respondents were Japanese living in Japan or in the U.S. at the time of
the research. Their age ranged between twenty and thirty-nine, and the average age was 25.4.
The educational attainment of the respondents was: three high school graduates (10.0%);
four university students (13.3%); fifteen university graduates (50.0%); seven graduate
students and graduates of graduate-level programs (23.3%); and one unknown (3.3%).
Tables 1, 2 and 3 below describe the responses to the yes-no and multiple-choice questions.
Number of Respondents Percentage
Do you know anyone who has used services in the sex industry?
Yes 23 76.7%
No 7 23.3%
If yes, who are they? (Multiple answers per respondent possible)
Friend (Male) 19 87.0%
Friend (Female) 1 4.3%
Co-Worker (Male) 8 34.8%
Boss 1 4.3%
Classmate 1 4.3%
Table 1: Knowledge of Someone Using the Services in the Sex Industry
Number of Respondents Percentage
Which gender group do you think more often goes to sex clubs?
Male 30 100%
Female 0 0%
Why do you think individuals use the services in the sex industry?
(Multiple answers per respondent possible)
Lack of Sexual Partners 22 73.3%
Seeking Different
Experience
14 46.7%
Anonymity 5 16.7%
Convenience 4 13.3%
Other Answers 10 33.3%
Table 2: Perceptions on the Use of Services in the Sex Industry
16
Number of Respondents Percentage
Do you think Japanese women and foreign women in the sex industry work in
the business for different reasons?
Yes 16 53.3%
No 12 40.0%
Dont Know 2 6.7%
Do you think Japanese men in general have desire to have sex with foreign
women?
Yes 12 40.0%
No 6 20.0%
Dont Know 12 40.0%
Do you think a man goes to a sex club to have sex with a Japanese woman?
Yes 17 56.7%
No 6 20.0%
Dont Know 7 23.3%
Do you think a man goes to a sex club to have sex with a foreign woman?
Yes 13 43.3%
No 6 20.0%
Dont Know 11 36.7%
Do you think a man goes to a sex club to have sex with a Japanese woman for a
different reason than when he goes to a club to have sex with a foreign woman?
Yes 10 33.3%
No 9 30.0%
Dont Know 11 36.7%
Table 3: Perceptions about Women Working in the Sex Industry and Demand
In open-ended questions in the questionnaires, as well as in semi-structured
interviews, many keywords and themes seemed to appear in participants responses. These
keywords and themes were closely examined, and were categorized into three constructs: (i)
Culture of Shame; (ii) Suppression of Sexuality and Stress; and (iii) the Notion of
Otherness. The following section provides detailed analysis of each construct, using
research results and related literature as supporting evidences.

Cultureof Shame
Underlying Japanese culture is the concept of shame. As samurais were willing to
kill themselves in order to save their face, shame is an important concept that relates to ones
17
honor. Why is it not shameful for Japanese men, then, to use services in the sex industry,
especially in a country where sex is not openly discussed in public?
Often called as the culture of shame, Japanese culture values honor in the view of
others. In contrast to the culture of guilt, where one feels guilty of his or her wrongdoing
even when others do not know about it, the basis of morality in the culture of shame is what
others think about ones behavior, not what he or she really has done or believes in. Ruth
Benedict, in her famous TheChrysanthemumandtheSword, describes:
Where shame is the major sanction, a man does not experience relief when he makes
his fault public even to a confessor. So long as his bad behavior does not get out
into the world he need not be troubled and confession appears to him merely a way
of courting trouble. The shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good
behavior, not, as true guilt cultures do, on an internalized conviction of sin. Shame is
a reaction to other peoples criticism.
49


Thus, the source of virtue and good behavior in Japanese society is external, not internal.
The very nature of the sex industry anonymous and hidden seems to relate to this
concept.
Underscoring this notion, one female respondent (twenty-five years old) indicated in
the pilot study that in Japanese society it is considered acceptable to commit wrongdoing as
long as it remains anonymous. The commercial sex industry, where men can anonymously
purchase sex in exchange for money, may remain apart from shame and dishonor as long as
others are ignorant about the users behavior. In an online survey conducted by the
Dictionary of Men and Women, twenty-two percent (350) of 1,611 respondents answered
that it is fine for an engaged man to go to a sex club, as long as his fiance remains ignorant
about it, while thirty-six percent (586) thought it would be an act of betrayal.
50
There were

49
Ruth Benedict, TheChrysanthemumandtheSword: Patternsof JapaneseCulture(Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1946), 223.
50
Dictionary of Men and Women, Survey on Love: Sex Industry, 1, Shinko Engineering, Coop.,
http:/ / www.woman110.com/ dic/ manners1yes4.htm.
18
slightly more males among the individuals providing the first response; in contrast, among
the latter the majority of the respondents were females. To an extent, this attitude translates
into a notion that it is fine for men to go to sex clubs regardless of the morality involved
because everyone is going. In an online forum where a woman shared she would not want
to date someone who has bought sex, some people responded that most guys have done it at
least once, it is hard to find someone who has not, and there is nothing they can do about it
because it is a social thing for men.
51

Whereas only five (16.7%) of the respondents in the new questionnaire selected
anonymity as a reason for individuals to buy services in the sex industry (see Table 2), this
concept emerged in many descriptive answers in the new questionnaire as well. One male
respondent (twenty-three years old), for example, stated that Japanese men generally would
not want their female friends or girlfriends to know that they have strong sexual desires.
Hence, the sex industry would be appealing to those individuals as they can release the desire
without affecting their everyday human relationship.
Furthermore, due to the established anonymity in the sex industry, men can have
sexual relationship with multiple women without making it known to others.
52
This view
was echoed by a female respondent (twenty-four years old) who shared comments made by
her male friend. He stated he wants to have sexual relationship with multiple women, but
doing so with his female friends or other women in his environment would cause problems.
Thus, going to sex clubs is a viable option for him. Another respondent (male; twenty-five
years old) similarly mentioned that using the services in the sex industry, individuals can
express sexual preference or orientation that they cannot show to others.

51
Comments on Chiebukuro, Yahoo! Japan, comments posted June 2008,
http:/ / detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/ qa/ question_detail/ q1117148006 (accessed August 2, 2008).
52
A response by twenty-one-year-old male.
19
As seen in the responses above, when individuals have desires that they think would
be inappropriate in the view of others, they need a place to express them secretly. This
concept is implied in the observation of another male respondent (twenty-three years old).
He stated that Japanese society dislikes sexual or indecent matters in public. As a response
to this suppression against sexuality, the Japanese have historically created spaces such as
pleasure districts for play. As they are spaces publically established, the use of sexual
services there would not be considered immoral, and individuals would not be blamed for
being indecent. This response relates to the stress and suppression of sexuality, which will
be discussed in the next subsection.
The influence of the culture of shame on mens use of commercial sex is further
fueled by others indifference. Allison describes that almost no Japanese she met during her
research thought that the mizu shobai
53
was an appropriate topic for academic research. Many
including her professors insisted that it was a trivial, insignificant part of the urban
landscape, or a dirty side of the country, and the topic was antithetical to scholarship.
54

The attitude of Japanese people prevailed in this story explains the lack of scholarly research
in the field. Furthermore, if the industry itself is considered insignificant part of society, it is
likely that trafficking and exploitation of women involved is considered an insignificant
matter as well. In the social context where many do not even care about the issue, there is
no question of shame.




53
Literally, water business; the night life of Japan.
54
Anne Allison, Night Work: Sexuality, Pleasure, andCorporateMasculinityina TokyoHostessClub(Chicago and
London: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 11, 146.
20
Suppression of SexualityandStress
Another aspect of the socio-cultural framework of Japan is that of suppression and
stress. Such factors were mentioned by five respondents (four females and one male) in the
original questionnaire in the pilot study and seven respondents (five females and two males)
in the new questionnaire. The suppression of sexuality as a consequence of closed attitude
toward sex and busy, stressful life style serves as a driving force for the underground
business, in the view of the respondents.
A female respondent (twenty-four years old) stated that the traditionally closed
attitude toward sex in Japan may drive individuals sexual interests toward a more hidden,
underground realm of society. Another respondent (female; twenty-four years old) wrote
that Japanese society poses a framework of what is acceptable and tries to suppress those
who do not fit in it. Such suppression in her view drives individuals to express their
sexuality in extreme forms. These views are very similar to the one shared in the previous
subsection; due to the closed attitude toward sex and suppression, Japanese society has
created spaces for sex.
The strong desire caused by the suppression is further fueled by stress that men
experience in a daily basis at work. Japanese have very stressful lifestyle. A lot of business
men seem to enjoy buying sex in order to relieve their daily stress from work by going to
sex clubs where, for instance, women act as characters of cartoons, in order to fantasize
themselves in the unordinary world.
55
This escape to the world of fantasy separate from
the ordinary life was mentioned by two other female respondents (twenty-four and thirty-
four years old).

55
A response by a thirty-nine-year-old male.
21
The sex industry is strongly tied to the Japanese corporate world and work of
salarymen. In the Japanese society, as Allison points out, drinking and play are important
component of male bonding and after-business activities. She describes the practice of settai
(social activities in business relations) in which the use of hostess clubs is part of business
process.
56
According to a male respondent (twenty-five years old), many go to brothels or
other places for sexual services after going on drinking with others. He further stated that
there is an attitude among men to encourage the use of commercial sex saying Become a
man by experiencing it at least once, and bosses and older colleagues at work pressure the
younger ones. For men, going to sex clubs is considered an experience to know more
about society.
57

The Japanese corporate culture is often described as stressful, with long hours of
work, pressure from others, and high competition. With the demanding work environment,
men are forced to suppress their sexual desire because they are too busy,
58
and to relieve
stress, especially for those who do not have girlfriends, a sex club is a place to go to.
59
More
significantly, for many male workers in Japan, to relax and escape from stress does not equal
to spending time with their families. In Allisons book, Takada, a business owner in his late
forties, described family-shared Sundays and vacations as time that he endured rather than
enjoyed, and that he wanted more personal time away from work andhome.
60
Likewise, a
male respondent (twenty-nine years old) stated that what makes the sex industry attractive to
men is that they can release the stress from work and home.

56
Allison, Night Work: Sexuality, Pleasure, andCorporateMasculinityin a TokyoHostessClub, 9.
57
A response by a twenty-four-year-old female.
58
A response by a twenty-one-year-old female.
59
A response by a twenty-four-year-old female.
60
Allison, Night Work: Sexuality, Pleasure, andCorporateMasculinityin a TokyoHostessClub, 103.
22
Similarly, two female respondents (twenty-four and twenty-five years old) indicated
that she has an impression that those who go to hostess clubs or cabaret clubs to enjoy
conversation with women are ignored at home and work, and they need to go to such places
to feel superiority or to obtain attention of others. Relating to this aspect, Allisons book
provides a comprehensive analysis on Japanese masculinity and corporate world in relation
to the world of mizu shobai.
Stressful lifestyle at work and to some extent at home leads to loneliness and
separation. A male respondent (thirty-three years old) stated that due to stress from work
and social factors many Japanese today are not capable of good personal communication.
As a result, they accumulate further stress, and go to sex clubs to release it. Furthermore, in
a social framework where individuals care heavily about others perceptions, a place where
they can freely express themselves is needed. A female respondent (thirty-four years old)
commented that a man may see a sex club as where he can express a self, which he cannot
do in public. Correspondingly, another female respondent (twenty-nine years old) stated
that because in Japanese society individuals are expected to use honne(true feelings) and
tatemae(literally, front; socially expected responses) in different occasions, they need a
place where they do not have to act.
These responses are further echoed by an NGO worker, who stated that due to poor
personal communication and feeling of loneliness, many individuals in modern Japan are
feeling they do not have ibasho, a place to belong to.
61
Some girls who enter the sex industry
as workers are feeling very lonely, perhaps because of disunity in their families or other
personal problems, and are looking for affection. Similarly, men who buy sex might be
feeling lonely and are looking for a place where they can express their true selves.

61
An interview with an NGO worker, July 8, 2008.
23

TheNotion of Otherness
The notion of otherness develops when an individual separates oneself from
another person. The homogeneity of the Japanese society and closed attitude toward the
other, including foreigners, manifest as racism. In a collective society like Japan that
values harmony among individuals, it is important to look and behave in the same way as
others. On the contrary, those who do not belong to the group are considered the other,
who are foreign, different, and excluded. Bales draws upon this aspect of Japanese society:
Below the polite and polished surface of Japans hospitality lies a disturbing core of
racism. No law prohibits racial discrimination in Japan. Although Japan is not
exactly the world of Jim Crow, it does echo Alabama in 1960. Outside restaurants,
bars, public baths, apartment buildings, and nightclubs are signs of denying
admittance to non-Japanese. Foreigners are regularly discriminated against when it
comes to jobs and housing. A core concept of superiority and purity in Japanese
culture often translates into racist exclusion.
62


This attitude is prevalent in the world of commercial sex, too. Many users of the
World Sex Guide, an online forum for those who seek information on sexual services in
various countries, indicate that for gaijins [foreigners] it is very hard to gain access to sex
clubs in Japan.
63
Sinclair quotes a door man at a sex club, who explains a No Foreigners
sign, saying, Foreigners cause trouble and scare off the other customers. They cant
understand the rules, they cant communicate with the girls, they bring in AIDS, and they are
too big down below.
64
Although the door man is referring solely to male customers, it is
interesting to see that foreigners are described as those without the understanding on rules
and lack means of communication.

62
Bales, EndingSlavery: HowWeFreeTodaysSlaves, 114.
63
Hakujin, comment on The World Sex Guide, comment posted November 7, 2007,
http:/ / www.worldsexguide.com/ guide/ Asia/ Japan/ index.htm(accessed November 13, 2007).
64
Sinclair, Pink Box: InsideJapan'sSex Clubs, 18.
24
Foreign women working in the sex industry in Japan also face discriminations. The
Caouette and Saito introduce voices of Thai women working in the sex industry in Japan.
The women stated that they felt they were more discriminated against than other foreigners
in Japan because the Japanese associate Thai people closely with criminal activity,
prostitution and HIV/ AIDS.
65
They said Japanese men would touch their body on the
street, although they would never do that to Japanese women.
66

This racist attitude toward foreigners is observed in a broader context in Japan. One
of the most apparent examples is the policies of Tokyo Governor, Shintaro Ishihara, whose
comments about foreigners as third country nationals created a controversy in 2000. At
the core of insecurity in Tokyo, he believes, are crimes committed by foreigners illegally
entering and staying in Japan.
67
With this understanding, Joint Declaration on
Strengthening of the Measures against Illegal Foreign Residents Staying in Tokyo was
adopted in 2003 by the Immigration Bureau of Japan, the Tokyo Regional Immigration
Bureau and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, increasing the police force in Tokyo
and more actively deporting overstaying foreigners in the city. Electing Ishihara as
Governor for the third time, residents of Tokyo, too, seem to share this view and develop
conservatism.
68

This view toward foreigners is further reflected in the sentiments of general public.
In a public opinion poll conducted by the government in 2004, 70.7 percent of 2,075
participants expressed it is not good that foreigners who entered Japan as tourists or

65
Therese Caousette and Yuriko Saito, ToJapan andBack: Thai Women Recount Their Experiences(Geneva,
Switzerland: International Organization for Migration, 1999), 67.
66
Ibid.
67
Shitaro Ishihara, Security Initiatives [Chian taisaku], Sensen fukoku (Official Website of Shintaro Ishihara),
http:/ / www.sensenfukoku.net/ policy/ chian/ index.html.
68
Interview with university professor, July 7, 2008.
25
students are working as hostesses or laborers, increasing from 49.2 percent in 2000.
69
When
asked why it is not good, their responses included: because it leads to deterioration of
security and public moral (72.5%); because it leads to a violation of the rights of foreigners
due to prostitution etc (49.2%); because it is a violation of Japanese law (48.1%); and
because it provides financial resources for boryokudans, or yakuzas (45.2%).
70
Furthermore, as
crimes by foreigners in Japan tend to be violent ones such as robbery, the connection
between foreigners and insecurity is reinforced in the mind of the Japanese.
71

Regarding foreign women, difference in their physical appearance leads to a higher
demand in the sex industry. It becomes what Bales calls the unique selling point the
attribute or attributes that differentiate these new products from all others and that feed into
an existing or cultivated demand on the part of consumers.
72
The original questionnaire in
the pilot study asked if the respondents thought Japanese men in general have desire or
interests to have sex with foreign women, and fourteen of them (53.8 percent) answered
yes. In the new questionnaire, twelve respondents (40.0 percent) answered yes to the
same question. Those who answered yes explained that foreign women are physically
more attractive, glamorous, beautiful, exotic, more sexually active, and able to
provide different (and better) services. The notion that the foreign women through their
appearance and sexuality can offer services that Japanese women cannot, is what makes
them appealing. Moreover, men can talk and brag about their experience, just because they
had sexual encounters with foreigners.
73


69
Cabinet Office, A Public Poll on Receiving Foreign Workers [Gaikoku jin rodosha no ukeire ni kansuru
yoron], Government of Japan, http:/ / www8.cao.go.jp/ survey/ h16/ h16-foreignerworker/ 2-4.html.
70
Ibid. Multiple answers per respondent possible.
71
Interview with university professor, July 7, 2008.
72
Kevin Bales, UnderstandingGlobal Slavery(Berkeley, CA: University of CaliforniaPress, 2005), 158.
73
Responses from atwenty-four- and twenty-five-year-old females.
26
With the greater awareness among the international community on sex tourism, as
well as security concerns after 2001, Japanese men increasingly chose to stay home and
have the foreign women brought to them.
74
Thus the demand for foreign women in the
industry increases. Today, many foreign women work in delivery health services in Japan.
In the websites of the service providers, many women, with their pictures, are listed as
Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Russian, American, and Canadian. It is less likely
that those women whose pictures are shown online are trafficked persons, but their
nationalities do not seem legitimate. One review of foreign women in the sex industry in
Japan indicates that there have been some cases where the clubs introduce Russian women
as Eastern Europeans, and Colombians as Spanish, yet the reviewer feels that the
information on nationalities are more reliable lately. However, looking at the vast number of
Spanish and Italian women in the websites, it is still possible that many of them are from
Colombia, Russia or other countries. This coincides with the finding of the ILO that
trafficked Colombian women in Japan usually have forged travel documents, such as Spanish,
Italian, and French passports.
75

Aside from the delivery health services, foreign women especially those who are
from Colombia work in strip clubs. Unlike delivery health services, where it may cost
30,000 yen
76
for a sixty-minute service, a customer at the strip clubs pay about 3,000 yen for
sexual services from a woman, in addition to the entrance fee (which is about 6,000 yen).
Many places advertise the women as blonde, beautiful, and having big breasts, which are
common impressions of white women in Japan.

74
Bales, EndingSlavery: HowWeFreeTodaysSlaves, 118.
75
Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, HumanTraffickingfor Sexual Exploitation in Japan, 12.
76
U.S. $1 = 107.8 yen as of July 2008.
27
The difference in appearance of foreign women may pose an important cultural
implication. One male respondent (twenty-two years old) said that the difference between
foreign women and Japanese women in commercial sex is that foreign women may not be
able to understand the language to communicate. This point echoes the quote from
Sinclairs book by a door man foreigners are not able to understand rules or to
communicate. In the Japanese sex industry, as seen in hostess clubs and cabaret clubs,
womens ability to hold a conversation and entertain men is of importance. In contrast, the
value of the foreign women, seen as not having the ability to communicate with the
customers, is merely reduced to their bodies. Their inability to communicate or at least the
preconceived notion that they cannot and their appearance create an image of foreign
women as the other.
In addition to racism, another way through which the notion of otherness is applied
to the women working in the commercial sex is to consider those women as morally inferior.
Among the twenty-six respondents in the pilot study, only three mentioned that there is
absolutely no difference between the women engaging in sexual services and other women.
Some mentioned with sympathy that those women are more likely to have financial
difficulties (e.g. debt), yet many respondents had an impression that the women in the
industry place low values on sex and are able to have a sexual relationship without love.
Two male respondents in the original questionnaire specifically said that they could date
someone working in the industry but would not marry her.
In relation to morality, another frequent point made in responses was that the
women in the commercial sex are paid well, and that they know how to make money. When
asked why they think women work in the sex industry, respondents answered:
They work in order to earn money easily
28
Because they do not have enough money to live
For the high level of pay
A women working in a sex club states in Sinclairs book, It would take a year to earn the
money for my purse if I was working in an office.
77
The view that the women in the sex
industry earn a lot of money confirms the connotation that they are morally inferior women
who can sell sex for financial gain. However, no such negative impression is casted on men
who buy sex from the women; their morality is usually unquestioned. Furthermore, the view
overshadows the fact that many foreign women are trafficked into Japan and are forced to
provide sexual services, rather than doing it by choice and being paid for their work.
Furthermore, one female respondent (twenty-three years old) stated that in general it
is considered better to use services in the sex industry than to have affairs. It is also reflected
in the comment made by Yamazaki, a thirty-six year-old customer, in Sinclairs book: If you
pay for it, its not cheating.
78
This shadows Benedicts observation about the separation
between love and erotic pleasure in Japan. They are separate because one is in the circle of
a mans major obligation and the other in the circle of minor relaxation.
79
Some
respondents saw that the sex industry is attractive to men because it does not involve
responsibility,
80
and because they can skip all steps including feelings and relationships
before having sexual encounters.
81
This overlaps the survey result where seventy-three
percent of the respondents thought individuals use services in the sex industry because of
the lack of partners. By having monetary transactions for sex, men see women working in
the sex industry as separate from their realm of feelings and responsibility.

77
Sinclair, Pink Box: InsideJapan'sSex Clubs, 99.
78
Ibid., 96.
79
Benedict, TheChrysanthemumandtheSword, 184.
80
A response by a thirty-two-year-old female.
81
Responses by atwenty-four- and twenty-five-old females.
29
While many respondents did not recognize that foreign women are poorly paid, if at
all, some respondents mentioned that the difference between buying sex from a Japanese
woman and from a foreign woman is the price, that is, the latter is cheaper. In Japan, as
mentioned earlier, it is not cheap to go to sex clubs, and the price implies the quality of the
girls and services provided. It is very likely that a man pays more for just having a
conversation with a Japanese hostess in a high-class hostess club in Ginza than having sex
with a foreign woman at a sex club.
The price hierarchy within the industry is remarkable. Hanochi describes the
hierarchical system in the industry, and where women trafficked from other countries would
fall in:
The highest-ranking sex workers with respect to both societal recognition and
earnings are Japanese schoolgirls and students, often with excellent educational
qualifications, who only occasionally work as prostitutes via telephone clubs. Next
come the hostesses who work in luxury bars and cabarets, most of whom are
Japanese natives. The lowest rank is held by the illegal women who have been sent
to Japan to work in second-rate bars, soaplands, or clandestine, illegal brothels.
82


The yakuzas further threaten trafficked women by saying that if they try to escape, they
would be resold to more violent places without any pay.
83
In the framework where men
become buyers and women providers of services and more specifically, products
through monetary transactions, it is possible that the price paid for the service is considered
equal as the value of the person. Men may think that the foreign women working in the sex
industry have lower moral values than the Japanese in the same business, because they are
willing to sell sex at lower prices. Yet more research is needed to validate this view.
Although Japanese men have interests in having a sexual relationship with foreign
women, they are faced with a problem: Japan is a homogeneous country. They do not have

82
Hanochi, Japan and the Global Sex Industry, 144.
83
Kinsey A. Dinan, OwedJustice: Thai WomenTraffickedintoDebt BondageinJapan (New York, NY: Human Rights
Watch, 2000), http:/ / www.hrw.org/ reports/ 2000/ japan/ 6-sec-6-7-8.htm.
30
many opportunities to get to know foreign women as friends or girlfriends.
84
Furthermore,
many men seem to have what is called inferior complex against foreign women, especially
white women. Various websites and online forums mention that Japanese men are usually
unpopular among women abroad for being seen as feminine and not assertive enough.
Many point out that anywhere in the world it is more likely to see a couple of a Japanese
woman and a foreign man than that of a Japanese man and foreign woman. A male
respondent stated the Japanese have feelings of adoration toward the West. Another
respondent (female; twenty-five years old) suggested that Japanese men might be interested
in having sex with Western women because of their adoration and as a status of having an
experience which many other Japanese men do not, while their reason for having sex with
Southeast Asians might be to fulfill their desire to dominate.
Some websites promote manuals on how to develop a relationship with blonde
white women, such as A hundred-time easier way to get a blonde beauty: A seven-day
manual on international love relationship and overcoming foreigner inferiority complex,
and A complete manual on beautiful white women. The two manuals are both sold at
the price of 9,800 yen.
85
The promotional websites of those manuals state that the key is to
develop confidence as Japanese men, regardless of their poor language skills and other
problems. In contrast to those manuals, the commercial sex industry described by the
respondents of the questionnaire as easy, no need to build human relationships, and a
place to enjoy sex with various women provides opportunities for Japanese men to fulfill
their desire to have sexual relationships with foreign women. In fact, for many, this might
be the only way to achieve such desire.


84
A response by a thirty-four-year-old female.
85
See their websites: http:/ / www.blonde-type.com/ get.html; and http:/ / www.westernchicks.com/ .
31

T oward Effective Anti-T rafficking M easures in Japan
The previous section, through the review of literature and websites, as well as
questionnaires and interviews conducted in Japan, analyzed how three aspects of the
Japanese socio-cultural framework create a context for the growth of the sex industry and
increasing demand for foreign women. Recognizing and pointing out these contributing
factors is a necessary step to decrease the demand, but it is not sufficient. Many socio-
cultural factors discussed in this study are deeply connected with other realms of Japanese
everyday living, such as modern lifestyle, corporate culture, and homogeneity of the
population due to its geographic isolation. Some factors, such as sexual desire and interest in
experiencing the unknown, are innate in human nature, while others seem to be socially
constructed.
Some socio-cultural factors, as they are so deeply rooted in everyday life of people,
are often used as excuses for individuals use of services in the sex industry. For instance,
stressful lifestyle of salarymen and the practice of settai can easily be seen as a justification for
their going to sex clubs. Instead of using these factors as excuses for the demand for sex,
this study proposes that some aspects of the framework can be changed in order to create an
environment where use of services in the sex industry is not a social practice widely accepted
by the public and anti-trafficking measures can be effectively implemented. Moreover,
certain aspects of the socio-cultural framework might be utilized to initiate a change. Below
are some examples of how the changes may occur.
1. Otherness to Awareness
One of the sequences of the feeling of otherness is that individuals see themselves
separate from others problems. The public turns a blind eye to foreign women working in
32
the sex industry because they are seen outsiders.
86
Kyoto YWCA asserts that many Japanese
think human trafficking as a problem in the remote past, mainly in other countries, and it has
nothing to do with modern Japan. While it is a clear fact that Japan is one of the biggest
receiving countries of trafficked persons in the world, many turn away from the issue and do
not seriously try to solve it.
87

Among the twenty-six individuals answered the original questionnaire, only one
mentioned the possibility that women are trafficked and forced to work in the sex industry.
In the new questionnaire, which asked if the participants think Japanese women and foreign
women in the sex industry work for different reasons, many recognized that foreign women,
in contrast to Japanese women, have fewer choices in terms of employment and can be in
more difficult economic situations. Some mentioned that women could be deceived (two
respondents), forced to work against their will (two respondents), and trafficked (one
respondent). After taking the questionnaires, some respondents personally contacted the
author, asking if human trafficking is a problem in Japan at all.
One NGO worker in interview stated that without awareness, human trafficking
remains as others problem from a view of the Japanese. Another informant stated that
Japanese people usually interpret human rights as the enjoyment of ones freedom, and
rights of other people are something unrelated to them.
88
To bridge these gaps, raising
awareness on human trafficking situations in Japan is crucial. When individuals are informed,
they are more likely to take actions. A consulate general staff in Japan stated that once a
male client brought a girl from a sex club to ask for help, realizing that she was a minor.
89


86
Interview with NGO worker, July 11, 2008.
87
Kyoto YWCA APT, TraffickinginHumanBeingsandJapan asa BigReceivingCountry[Jinshin baibai to ukeire
taikoku Nippon: sono jittai to houteki kadai], 285.
88
Interview with university professor, July 7, 2008.
89
Interview with consulate general staff, July 8, 2008.
33
Asia Foundation has received some inquiries from Japanese men, who claimed that their
girlfriends might be victims of human trafficking.
90

Media plays an important role in this aspect. In the questionnaire, one male
respondent (twenty-four years old) stated he has read news articles about foreign women
being recruited by brokers in Japan or their countries of origin, and are forced to work
through unfair contracts. Furthermore, it is equally important to examine what messages are
communicated to the public. Respondents of the questionnaire pointed out that Japanese
media often portrays buying sex as a common practice and share mens comments about
their interests in having physical relationship with foreign women. In many cases, trafficked
persons are seen as powerless victims, and their voices are not reflected in public policies.
91

Instead of portraying depressing pictures of victimhood, public awareness campaign should
include elements of encouragement, through which individuals are inspired to take actions.
2. Changing the Legal Framework to Change Social Values
While adopting laws against prostitution or human trafficking does not necessarily
means those rules are enforced, one possible consequence of changes in legal scheme is their
gradual influence on social values. Drawing on examples of democratization of Japan
after the World War II and the increased equality of men and women after the establishment
of constitution, one informant suggested that Japan occasionally has transformed its core
values when a legal framework is strong enough.
92
Thus, combined with internal pressure
from the educated public, the recent changes in laws and codes to combat human trafficking
may contribute to a further change in the future. In the U.S., the movement against
domestic violence, reframing the issue from a private matter to a crime, is often seen as a

90
Committee on Judicial Affairs, Proposal for thePartial Amendment of thePenal Code, 162nd Diet, 22nd sess., June
10, 2005, http:/ / www.shugiin.go.jp/ itdb_kaigiroku.nsf/ html/ kaigiroku/ 000416220050610022.htm.
91
Interview with NGO worker, July 8, 2008.
92
Interview with university professor, July 7, 2008.
34
predecessor for the anti-trafficking movement. By labeling human trafficking a crime,
Japan may transform values of the public over the next decades.
3. Use of Shame as a Tool at the International Level
Socio-cultural factors, in some cases, could even be utilized to trigger Japans further
efforts to counter human trafficking in the country. In a culture of shame, for example,
what causes shame is others recognition about ones wrongdoing. This applies to not just to
individuals in Japan, but also to the country as a whole. Japan responds to international
criticism and public opinion quickly, in order to restore its self image in foreign affairs. As
mentioned earlier, the 2004 TIP report had a significant impact on Japans anti-trafficking
efforts in the following years. Similarly, Japan started to monitor child prostitution and child
sex tourism more strictly after the international criticism
93
at the first World Congress against
the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Stockholm in 1996. Using public shame
at the international level thus might be a viable measure to mold Japans efforts to end
human trafficking. The U.S., having significant impacts on Japans foreign policy, holds the
key in this aspect.
4. The Other Side of the Picture
Lastly, while this study solely focused on the demand side of the issue, it should be
recognized here that protection of the victims is of the utmost importance in anti-trafficking
initiatives. Shelters operate with very low financial support, and they struggle with healthcare
and other supports for the victims.
94
Processes for immigration and lawsuits take a long
time, increasing their stress as they cannot leave the shelters for security concerns.
95


93
Interview with university professor, July 7, 2008.
94
Committee on Judicial Affairs, Proposal for thePartial Amendment of thePenal Code, 162nd Diet, 22nd sess., June
10, 2005.
95
Ibid.
35
Similarly, consulate generals are faced with challenges in time constraints to fight cases for
visas and in financial arrangements to send the victims home safely.
96

Yet, the protection of the victims is still not considered an important element in anti-
trafficking efforts among the public. The 2005 public opinion poll on global issues,
conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asked in which areas of anti-trafficking
initiatives the government should put efforts. The answers included: strengthened
crackdown (55.5%); strengthened immigration control (48.2%); ratification of related
international treaties and legal system development (30.7%); protection of the victims
through safeguarding shelters etc (17.5%); and publicity and awareness-raising (8.9%).
Drawing on the result, Keiko Tamai of Asia Foundation claims that this lack of
understanding on victim assistance creates a hotbed for human trafficking in Japan.
97

Strengthening the protection of trafficked persons, in this sense, is not merely a reaction to
the problem, but also a tool for prevention.

Limitations of the Study and Areas for Further Research
This study surely has some limitations. First, the lack of previous studies and
research on this topic was a big constraint. As a result, arguments relied heavily on informal
sources, such as reviews of sex clubs and online forums. Furthermore, without any example
to follow, the analytic framework and methodology used in this study is very instrumental
and needs further revision.
The data collection through questionnaires had its own limitations. It was hard to
design questions that would bring out respondents perceptions on socio-cultural aspects of

96
Interviews with consulate general staffs, July 8 and July 15, 2008.
97
Committee on Judicial Affairs, Proposal for thePartial Amendment of thePenal Code, 162nd Diet, 22nd sess., June
10, 2005.
36
Japan. The ways in which some questions are formatted, as well as the information given in
the project information sheet, might have affected their answers. Some of the definitions
and word choices seemed unclear to respondents. For instance, some respondents were
confused about the word fuzoku. As the word is sometimes used to refer exclusively to
places where actual intercourse is performed, they were not sure if other places such as
cabaret clubs would be included. Moreover, most respondents were in their twenties with
higher education, and they may not represent the views of the general public.
Similarly, there were certain rooms for improvement in the interviews with experts
on human trafficking. The participants were selected from limited contacts, and most of
their work involved working with the victims. One way to diversify the participants would
be to interview scholarly experts on the sex industry and foreign workers in Japan and, if
possible, former clients. The questions related to demand can be asked, such as the
characteristics of clients, how they interact with the victims, and how the women were
advertised.
Given the scarcity of previous studies on this topic, there are many possible areas for
future research. In addition to revising and clarifying the questions in the questionnaire,
distributing it to other groups, and interviewing different types of experts, focus groups can
be conducted to assess general publics perception about the sex industry and foreigners in
Japan. Furthermore, the same questionnaire can be distributed to individuals in different
countries with distinct cultural backgrounds to examine if any differences are observed.
The three constructs discussed in this study, and some of the key words that
emerged in responses in the questionnaire, can be examined deeper as well. Some possible
topics for further analysis include:
Sexism and racism in Japan where and how the two intersect
37
Differences in the demand for various racial groups of foreign women
Differences between prices of Japanese women and foreign women, and
resulting differences in customers
The role of fantasies in the sex industry
Differences in perceptions on various hierarchical groups of women in the
sex industry

The list is not exhaustive, and socio-cultural factors should always be put in a bigger
framework, taking into account economic, political, legal, and other factors.

Conclusion
This paper has provided a broad overview of socio-cultural factors that facilitate the
growth of the sex industry in Japan and the demand for trafficked women from other
countries. The research was based on the argument that, although economic factors the
level of revenues generated by the industry and the income gap between Japan and the
countries of origin are of importance in understanding the phenomenon, socio-cultural
aspects of the country should not be ignored in the discourse. To assert that social and
cultural factors create a context for slavery and sexual exploitation, however, does not imply
that there is something morally wrong about Japanese culture. Rather, such socio-cultural
factors are manipulated by those who benefit from the industry, namely the users and
managers of the businesses, to generate their benefits and expand their activities.
One participant in the interviews questioned this approach to human trafficking with
a socio-cultural framework. The rationale was that what is common among most receiving
countries is the high level economic development. Victims are trafficked from developing
countries, using available routes; for instance, there was already a network between
Colombia and Japan for drug trade, prior to trafficking of human beings. Human trafficking,
surely, is a problem of poverty and economic disparity. It is about selling and purchasing of
38
human body at very low prices. Human trafficking certainly requires legal understanding,
because it is a criminal activity conducted by syndicates. However, the picture is not that
simple. Many factors are intertwined in a complex manner, and all of them are important
pieces of the whole picture.
To understand the demand side of the commercial sex and human trafficking in
Japan, the countrys culture has to be taken into consideration. Bales states, Japan has a
serious problem with slavery, and it is a problem that is insistently ignored.
98
A study by the
IOM reports that among the five countries studied (Japan, India, Italy, Sweden and
Thailand), respondents of the questionnaire in Japan had the lowest awareness on women
being trafficked into prostitution, although they were the most educated group of people,
with over eighty percent of the respondents having four or more years of university
education.
99
In a country like Japan, where the rule of law is strong, corruption among the
police is fairly low, and people are highly educated, the lack of awareness on the issue or
unwillingness to act stems from its deep social and cultural roots. The general acceptance of
the sex industry in Japan as a result of its long history and strong ties with businesses and
the understanding of sex as entertainment create an environment where the problem
remains invisible to the majority of the population.
This study is a small step toward a better understanding of the sex industry in Japan,
a world with full of dilemmas and dualities. It offers a perspective on human trafficking of
foreign women from one angle of Japanese culture and society. The gap in research on this
issue has to be filled, given the magnitude of human trafficking in Japan. It is the hope of
this study that this brief socio-cultural analysis will open a path for future studies on this

98
Kevin Bales, EndingSlavery: HowWeFreeTodaysSlaves, 118.
99
Bridget Anderson and Julia OConnell Davidson, IsTraffickingin Human BeingsDemandDriven? (Geneva,
Switzerland: International Organization for Migration, 2003), 23.
39
issue. Deepening the understanding on the socio-cultural framework in Japan is the key to
analyzing the demand side of the sex industry in the country, and further to end the
exploitation in the future.
40
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