Foreign Tourists Spreading…? Sex Workers’ Roundtable Discussion “STDs and Fearful Scenes” Syphilis Pandemic at the Worst Pace Ever!

The number of syphilis cases exceeded 10,000 nationwide. The number of cases exceeded last year’s 7,978 infections as of September, and by fall the number had surpassed 10,000. The infection is spreading at the worst pace ever. Some reports said that “foreign tourists are spreading the disease,” but what is the truth?

Four delicatessen and soap operators, who are battling the risk of STDs on the front lines every day, told their honest stories.

STD testing is “up to the girls

Sakura: “ It’s been five years since I started working as a delicatessen worker. I was in debt and divorced and felt like I had too much on my plate, so I jumped into the business out of curiosity.

Kaede: “I started working in a sex club while working as an office worker, and then I switched to working in a delicatessen and have been there for a little over three years now.

Sumire “ I’ve been in this industry for about 10 years in total, working as a nurse and working in and out of delirium ……

Yuri “ I work in the soap business.

Sakura “ Due to the new coronavirus, the number of customers itself is decreasing. Businessmen’s business trips and drinking parties have drastically decreased, and it has become difficult for them to have a night out.

Kaede: “ Even so, the girls who are selling well are still selling well. I have the impression that nominations are coming in regardless of Corona.

Yuri “ When a state of emergency is declared, soaps cannot operate. I heard that customers who couldn’t play in soaps flowed to delicatessen.

Sakura “ The delicatessen was open for business. But the number itself was not that large. The delicatessen girls were afraid of Corona, so there were not many of them coming to work. So why is it that syphilis is increasing so dramatically? How do you test for STDs?”

Sumire: “ There is a rule that in store-based sex industry, there is a monthly STD test and you have to submit the test results to the store. Some stores have a strict rule that if you don’t submit the test results by the end of the month, you will not be allowed to work the next month’s shift.

Yuri: “ This is exactly what happened at my store. If you don’t submit the test results to the store by the due date, you will be suspended from work. However, some stores don’t require you to submit the results.

Sumire: “In the case of delicatessen, sometimes the situation is left unchecked. ……

Sakura “ It depends on the girls whether or not they are required to submit to the test.

Sumire & Kaede ( nodding deeply)

Sakura “ I’m worried, so I test every month and post the results on my blog. I post the results on my blog to reassure my customers. I do two tests: a genital examination where I put something like a cotton swab inside the genitals to collect cells, and a pharyngeal examination where I examine the fluid I gargle with. For syphilis, we do a blood test.”

Sumire & Kaede: “ We also have monthly tests.

Sakura “ At least on the part of the sex workers, I wish the management would make the testing more thorough. I can’t ask a customer, “You don’t have STD, do you? I can’t even ask them. ……”

Yuri: “ The doctors who come for STD testing say, ‘STDs are on the increase, especially syphilis. Especially syphilis is very serious. It seems that there are a few cases of syphilis in the same industry.

Sakura “ My first STD in my life came from working in the sex industry.

Sumire “ Me too!

Sakura “ It was chlamydia, but I didn’t have any subjective symptoms. It was a shock.

Sumire “ My boyfriend had gonorrhea, but he only had it with me, so I thought, ‘You’re the source of the infection! I was more shocked by the infection than by the fact that I had contracted it. It was more difficult to find out that I was working in the sex industry than to be shocked by the infection (laughs).

Yuri: “ Chlamydia and gonorrhea are common.

Sumire: “ I once felt my throat was irritated, so I checked it out and found that I had gonorrhea of the pharynx. I was immediately put on an intravenous drip.

Kaede “ I was once infected with trichomoniasis. I had vaginal heat, strong itching, and yellowish-green oily discharge, but the smell was just too harsh. …… I have also experienced condyloma. The visual nastiness of the myriad of warts that form is ‘doesn’t it make you sick?’ but the surgical cutting of those warts was so painful that it almost made me sick that way. ……

Serving customers during the incubation period

Yuri: “ If you get an STD, will you take a break from sex work?”

Sakura, Kaede & Sumire “ I would take a day off”.

Yuri “ If you are diagnosed with an STD, there is a possibility that you may have infected the customers you served during the incubation period. In that case, would you contact them?”

Kaede “ I wouldn’t.”

Sumire “ I think that customers are aware of such risks to some extent when they come to play at ……. To protect myself, I have stopped services that involve contact with mucous membranes. I made barebacking OK but not manzuri. When I did that, infections decreased dramatically.”

Kaede: “When you do barebacking, do you wear a rubber?”

Sumire: “ If you say ‘please put a rubber on’ when you do a bareback, some customers may think they are allowed to insert their penis into your vagina. Fellatio is also dangerous because it is basically done without a rubber.

Kaede: “ It is transmitted through the mucous membrane of the mouth, isn’t it? Pharyngeal chlamydia is really common.

Sakura “ I have experienced pharyngeal chlamydia. There were almost no symptoms and it didn’t interfere with my life except that I couldn’t work in the sex industry.

Yuri “ Do you feel that syphilis infection is spreading explosively in the sex industry?”

Kaede “ My friend, a delirious prostitute, had syphilis and quit her job. ……”

Sakura “ I have also had syphilis. I had a rash on my thighs and went to a dermatologist, who initially diagnosed me with ‘pityriasis rosea Gibert’. I was told that syphilis usually causes a rash on the palms of the hands, but I was judged to have the wrong kind. I was given an ointment and went home, but my symptoms did not go away after two weeks, so I went to the gynecology department of my family hospital and was diagnosed with syphilis. I took some antibiotics and it went away, but I was worried because I had been taking clients until I was diagnosed. …… No one contacted me to tell me that I had syphilis, so I don’t think I contracted it.”

Going “out of town” to a foreign party

Yuri: “ There is a theory that foreign tourists are spreading syphilis. What about that?”

Sumire & Kaede “ We do not accept foreign guests! If they can’t speak Japanese, it’s difficult for them to understand the detailed NG items.

Sakura “ I don’t have any foreign customers either. I don’t know which ones, but judging from the situation, I get syphilis from Japanese customers.

Yuri “ Most of the soap stores also do not accept foreign customers, but there are some that do. I also hear about girls who are “dekasegi” (migrant workers). For example, they go to parties held by wealthy foreigners and play there. As far as I know, Chinese are the most popular. They say, ‘The play is light, and it’s easy because they let you go home even if there is still time left for service.

Kaede: “ The man who contracted trichomonas from me was addicted to dating at the time. I think that STDs are spread by amateurs who are unaware of the infection and don’t get tested.”

Sumire: “ Sex workers are ordered by their stores to be tested, and I am also worried, so I test myself. Papa Katsudo and dating girls are more dangerous. They are unaware of it.

Sakura “ Delhi customers notify the store of their cell phone number when they make a reservation, so they can’t do anything reckless. A regular customer said, ‘The girls are professionals, so I can play with them without worry. I have not heard of a sharp increase in syphilis in the industry, so I think that the number of cases is increasing among students who are doing daddy’s play, and among those who are not familiar with STDs.

Sumire: “ Then there are the stores that don’t follow the rules. When I went for an interview at a delicatessen, I was told by the manager, ‘We have a back-up option and we do the real thing, but are you okay with that?　If you can’t do that, you won’t get a nomination. When I ask, “If there is a police raid, will the store follow up? Some stores don’t make STD testing mandatory, and the ones spreading syphilis are the ones who are breaking the rules and making money.”

Yuri: “We have to defend ourselves. ……”

Sakura “ I don’t miss gargling and I inject a vaginal cleanser called Inclear gel with lactic acid before bed. I also import antibiotics and take them once a month. I know it doesn’t work against viruses, but it calms me down. ……”

Sumire: “ I also use inklear gel, too!　Also, I usually drink R-1 yogurt to keep my immune system strong. Again, I also try to avoid mucous membrane contact. I never drink saliva while playing, and I sterilize my clients’ vaginas until I am satisfied with the results.

Kaede: “ As a rule of thumb, if you have vaginal candida, you are more likely to catch other diseases, so I make an effort to strengthen my immune system. If I feel even the slightest bit of discomfort after playing, I put in some inklear gel.”

In fact, the sex industry is the safest place to be–this seems to be the false reality of the situation in Japan.

From the December 16, 2022 issue of FRIDAY