Some stores operate in “the building where the murder took place”… Horrifying facts about “Kabukicho’s illegal sex industry” targeting foreign tourists.

Shinjuku Kabukicho is one of the largest entertainment districts in Japan. Catch and touts call out to people here and there on the street, and many people who have been to Kabukicho may have been surprised at the amount of heat they generate.

Many catchers and touts are hired by izakaya (Japanese-style pubs) and cabarets (cabaret clubs), but there are also catchers who lead customers to questionable establishments in off-the-beaten path areas.

This time, we will introduce “backstreet brothels” operating without a license, where you can only go if you are guided by a professional catch.

Backstreet brothels in Kabukicho have been gaining momentum on social networking sites such as X (formerly Twitter) since last year due to the increase in inbound tourism after the COVID-19 crisis. There is a history of these illegal brothels being exposed and weeded out. However, there has been no government intervention in these backstreet brothels, and recently they have been expanding their power by opening new establishments one after another.

These backstreet brothels are located in the buildings of Kabukicho, each in a different location, and some of them are in buildings where murders have occurred and other unsafe situations have occurred, embodying the fishiness and danger of the term “backstreet sex industry”.

Some of them are located in commercial buildings, and the tenants do not put up signs, making it difficult for the general public to find them. Even if one could find the place, the door of the store is locked, so the door will not be opened without an introduction.

Therefore, in order to go here, it is essential to be introduced by a catch, of which there are many in Kabukicho.

In addition, there is also a person who looks like an employee, who places a chair in front of the store door like a store keeper and monitors to make sure that you are really welcome as a customer, so it is not easy to enter the store. The current situation is that the business is being conducted under careful surveillance as a measure to avoid detection.

The form of such a store is what is called an ippatsu-ya. Such brothels called Ippatsuya are called “Chon-no-Ma,” and used to be scattered all over the country as places where one could perform a real sex act, but due to a succession of exposures, the number of such places has drastically decreased, and as a result, the number of backstage sex shops has gradually begun to increase.

The backstage brothels introduced here offer a health course for 6,000 yen and a sexual intercourse for 10,000 yen. The store was originally planned to operate for inbound customers, and many of the staff members are women who have migrated from overseas.

Once inside the store, a foreign woman in a revealing dress with a discernible figure appeals in broken Japanese to the customers to nominate her.

Today, with the growing inbound demand in Japan, many foreign tourists visit Kabukicho. Businesses targeting foreigners who are unfamiliar with Japanese adult entertainment laws are also emerging.

Appropriate action, such as detection and administrative guidance, is required before the bad image of Japan spreads abroad.