Gender-less Restrooms in Kabukicho Tower Became a “Papa Activity Site” because “Hotel Fees are Wasted”!
My friend said, “They’re having daddy-daddy sex there. She said she was doing it in the bathroom because she didn’t want to waste money on hotel bills. He said he gets about 5,000 yen just for talking.
The answer came from one of the girls who gather in front of Kabukicho in Shinjuku, known as the “Toyoko Kids.
Kabukicho Tower recently opened for business as a new landmark in Kabukicho, and with it, the “genderless restrooms” that have become a hot topic. Although the toilets were installed as gender-free public restrooms, various problems have emerged.
One of them is that tohyoko kids are using the tohyoko toilets as a place to have daddy-daddy activities instead of a love hotel.
Some of the tohyoko kids are engaged in “prostitution” activities such as “papa-katsu,” and they go out at night to Kabukicho like runaway girls to share the night with their friends in the tohyoko.
The gender-less restroom in question is located on the second floor of the Kabukicho Tower. It is located on the same floor as a tavern called “Shinjuku Kabuki Hall,” which is glowing with neon lights.
It is located near the plaza where the To-Yoko kids gather, and it is also located at the entrance to a busy area, so it would be difficult to find it even if it were being used in that way. It was these circumstances that must have caught the attention of the Toyoko Kids.
When I actually went there, I found the restroom at the end of the corridor next to the Starbucks on the left after going up the elevator. It is a public space that anyone can use freely, with only one security guard standing guard.
The men’s restroom is on the left and the genderless restroom is on the right, and near the entrance there is a poster with the hours of use written and a sign saying that the restroom is closed from 1:00 am to 6:00 am.
I was able to enter the restroom easily without being asked by the security guard what I was using the restroom for, as is commonly believed.
Once inside, there are 12 private rooms, and although there is a distinction between women’s and men’s rooms, they can be used by anyone.
The actual size of the restrooms is not much larger than a regular private restroom, but it would not be impossible to engage in “prostitution” activities such as “daddy-daughter” activities.
I spoke to a security guard standing in front of the restroom,
He said, “We get a great number of users every day, so if you go into the genderless restrooms to use them for such purposes, we don’t know (if you are doing daddy-daddy activities). But I think it would be difficult, though, because the alarms are set to go off if the restrooms are used for longer than a certain amount of time.”
He answered.
Knowing that such a system is in place, the way the Toyoko Kids are engaging in papa activities has become quite efficient, he said.
They attract customers through social networking services such as Twitter, and negotiations on the amount of money are also done through Twitter, so after meeting at the rendezvous point, they immediately go to the restroom. The method is used to shorten the time as much as possible and increase the turnover rate.
If prostitution has become systematic, it would not be difficult to use genderless restrooms as if they were love hotels.
A store official at the Kabukicho Tower described the current situation this way.
“I was curious to see what kind of restroom it would be, but it seems like a no-brainer. We (tenant employees) were talking about it, saying, ‘Oh, it’s definitely going to be used for something strange. I thought it was good that they were concerned about gender, but the location is too bad. Because this is Toyoko.”
Even before the tower opened, it was predicted by those involved that the tower would come under fire, and as expected, it is becoming a trend in Kabukicho.
It is unacceptable that a gender-less restroom designed to accommodate diversity is being used in such a manner. Prompt action is required.
Interview and text: Midori Shirakami