The police officers are a bit of a joke…women in prostitution lined up in front of the hospital…why the police station right next door “doesn’t work at all”.

Young women lined up in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Okubo Hospital in Kabukicho. Most of them were standing there to play “stand-up”. Why is this situation left as it is despite the fact that there is a police box nearby? We interviewed a woman who is actually standing there.

I heard that the street in front of Okubo Hospital is not a public street, so it is difficult for the police to crack down on them, so I started standing there. Besides, there are a lot of customers who call out to me, so I don’t have to wait that long.

Sometimes plainclothes policemen talk to me, but if I don’t say anything specific, they leave right away, so I’m a bit of a loser (laughs).

The area around Okubo Park in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, is known as “Kouen,” and is a bustling mecca for stand-up dancers.

The area has long been famous in certain circles as a spot for stand-up dances, but since last September, young women have been gathering here to engage in stand-up dances for the purpose of dating.

It seems that more efficient aid-seeking is taking place by utilizing social networking services such as Twitter and combining the Internet with street prostitution.

In fact, the road between Okubo Hospital and Okubo Park was crowded with many men. The women stood on the street in front of the hospital or in a dimly lit alley nearby, while the men sat on the guardrails and watched the women.

The women were looking down at their smartphones, waiting to be approached. Some of the women looked like college students, others were dressed in mine-kei fashion, and they appeared to be of all ages.

When I approached one woman who agreed to be interviewed, D, 23, said she comes here several times a month when she runs out of money.

I used to be a prostitute, but after I quit the sex industry, I ran out of money, so I came here. I do this while I’m meeting up with a friend, and I’m free until then, so it’s like a part-time job.

I sell for 10,000 to 20,000 yen, depending on the negotiation. But if I don’t like the person, I will try to push the price up to 50,000 yen, and if he says he is willing to pay me 50,000 yen, I will put up with it and go with him (laughs). Most of the people who approach me are in their 30s and 40s. In front of the hospital, there are a lot of ‘solid people’ who seem to be more conscious of earning money than I am, so I tend to stand a little further away from them.”

Ms. D said that most of the women here are willing to negotiate up or down in price. The price is often lowered, and some women are willing to pay as little as 10,000 yen.

The reason for standing up is, after all, “I need money right now. Money to go out with friends, money to buy clothes. In the sex industry, you have to wait for customers, and the store takes out an intermediary fee. But with stand-up dances, you can get cash immediately, so it’s fine. Some of my friends have been able to pull in as much as 1 million yen a month from the dads they have met here. Well, I call it “daddy hunting,” but it’s more like dating.

There are many cases where people meet a guy through companionship and then become his father. Once a relationship is established between a man and a woman, he has priority in making reservations, and some men will spend a lot of money on a single woman.

There are many girls who really want to make money in a short time, but depending on the day, they may not buy anything at all. Some days, however, they don’t buy us at all. But we don’t want to go home with no money. So at about 23:00, we lower the price. I really don’t want to go home empty-handed, so I prioritize my desire to at least bring home 10,000 yen.”

For these girls who work standing around, not making enough money for the day is a matter of life and death. They can’t just go home empty-handed when the last train is about to leave. When that happens, they lower their own prices to get the money. Some men wait until the price is lowered, hoping to get a young woman at a discount.

It is said that standing girls can earn money more efficiently than working in a brothel, but there are dangers too. If it is a sex industry, the store handles complaints, etc., but because of the nature of tachinbo, you have to take care of everything yourself.

I was on the rubber, but suddenly the rubber was removed. I was on the pill, so I was fine, but it was scary. I am afraid of getting sick, so I always ask them to wear a rubber. I also have a friend who ran away from a hotel after a man pulled out a knife and didn’t pay him. You are alone together in a hotel or a rental room. Then the woman’s side has no choice but to cry herself to sleep over the violence.”

It seems that some customers haggle after entering a hotel room, and when this happens, many women take the terms because they have gone to the trouble of getting a customer. However, there are also criminally malicious customers, so they choose their partners carefully when taking customers.

Although they are aware of the crime and often face danger, many women still stand in this place. Administrative intervention is required before this becomes a major incident.