This Asian City Is The New Sex Tourism Hub; Is Rising Poverty A Factor?

Last Updated:November 21, 2024, 15:42 IST

In this city, young women, driven by financial hardship, turn to sex work, facing challenges like multiple abortions. Half of their clients are foreign nationals

Young women seeking employment and a better quality of life in this city often find themselves driven to sex work due to mounting financial pressures. (Representative/AP File)

It is often believed that poverty is the primary driver of sex tourism in a coutry. Lack of employment opportunities, particularly for women from disadvantaged backgrounds, is cited as a contributing factor pushing them into prostitution.

However, the emergence of Japan, a developed nation, as a hub for sex tourism in Asia challenges this simplistic notion. This also raises questions about the socioeconomic factors at play and whether Japan’s status as a developed country is being compromised.

Japan once experienced a period of significant economic growth, attracting foreign currency and leading some Japanese men to seek extramarital relationships with women from economically disadvantaged countries.

However, according to The Star, the situation has reversed. Tokyo is now a destination for sex tourism, attracting foreign men seeking such experiences. This shift coincides with the weakening yen and rising poverty.

Yoshihide Tanaka, secretary general of the Japan Liaison Council Protecting Youths (Ciboren), painted a grim picture of the current situation. “Japan has become a poor country," he said speaking to This Week in Asia.

Tanaka’s organisation noticed a rise in the number of foreigners visiting the park immediately after travel restrictions were lifted following the pandemic.

“But now we are seeing a lot more foreign men; they come from many countries. They are white, Asian, black, but most are Chinese," he said. Tanaka said that with this influx, there has been a worrying increase in teenagers and women in their twenties turning to the sex industry to survive.

However, the rise in violence is also a cause for concern. Tanaka finds it disappointing that his organisation is limited in its ability to address the issue beyond its current measures.

Tanaka’s disappointment is unsurprising, as the situation is not new to him. According to TokyoHive, the business of prostitution has increased rapidly in Tokyo’s Kabukicho district in recent times. Tanaka recalls his decade-long struggle supporting young Japanese women drawn to the infamous district. He emphasises that vulnerable individuals continue to be exploited within the area’s labyrinth of bars, love hotels, and host clubs.

In Kabukicho, young women seeking employment and a better quality of life often find themselves driven to sex work due to mounting financial pressures. Once ensnared in this industry, they face immense challenges, including multiple abortions – a stark indicator of the harsh realities they endure. Significantly, half of their clientele comprises foreign nationals.

Furthermore, clients sometimes subject these women to violence, which remains widely unreported. The situation is exacerbated by the attitude of the police and government officials, who consistently fail to support women in the sex trade. This creates a vicious cycle from which escape is challenging. Disturbingly, there appears to be a lack of concern regarding this issue at higher levels of authority. It remains to be seen whether an improvement in Japan’s economic conditions will lead to any meaningful change in this situation.

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