<figure id="attachment_366458" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366458" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d13740a1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/ff73edf9702adc0e411db9874653a08d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366458" class="wp-caption-text">Teleclub billboards abounding in Shinjuku in &#8217;97 (Photo/Kyodo) Some images have been doctored.</figcaption></figure>
<p> Teleclubs were popular in the 1980s and 1990s as a pioneer of the dating system. The system was for men to pay a fee to enter a private room, wait for a call from a woman, enjoy conversation, and even meet someone. At its peak, there were several hundred of them in Tokyo, and they were very popular. However, with the rise of matching apps, the number of stores has decreased over the years, and only two stores in Tokyo are currently in operation.</p>
<p> In this age of easy dating with a smartphone, do they really get phone calls? What kind of women are calling? With this kind of curiosity, I went undercover at a store in a certain location in Tokyo.</p>
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<p> The fee is relatively reasonable, starting at 2,000 yen per hour. After paying at the reception desk, I was shown to a private room. There are adult DVDs for rent in the store, and you can bring your own DVDs into the room.</p>
<p> The room is about 2 tatami mats in size, and is barely big enough to lie down on a sofa bed. The walls were covered with advertisements for adult sites. There was also a chart showing a woman&#8217;s age, the western calendar, and the Chinese zodiac. Perhaps it is used to prevent &#8220;age fraud&#8221; by asking a woman&#8217;s age and then checking her zodiac sign. Or perhaps it is used to falsify our own age?</p>
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<p> About five minutes after entering the room, the first call rang. I picked up the phone and was asked my age. When I answered &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">35</span>,&#8221; I was told <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Sorry, you are too young, I will send you to the front desk</span>. It seems that being young is not necessarily an advantage here. After waiting a few minutes, the call came again!</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The first woman I talked to was ......"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">The first woman &#8230;&#8230; is a big fan of Matsuya takeout and natto (fermented soybeans)</span></h3>
<p> This woman seemed to be using a teleclub for the first time today. She said she was unfamiliar with the system and that people other than me hung up on her right away.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent">She asked, &#8220;What kind of person are you looking for, I&#8217;m just hoping to meet someone nice?&#8221;</span> I asked,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent">No, I mean&#8230;of course we can meet, but for now, if there is someone I can talk to&#8230;&#8221;</span> He brusquely <span class="strongInContent">replied, &#8220;No,</span> I&#8217;m not looking for anyone.</p>
<p> When asked his age, he replied, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">I&#8217;m about 40 years old,&#8221;</span> to which I replied, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;I&#8217;m much older</span>&#8230;&#8221; He must be in his late 40s.</p>
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<p> I guessed he was in his late 40s. He lived in an area I knew well in the west side of Tokyo&#8217;s 23 wards.</p>
<p> I&#8217; <span class="strongInContent">m having trouble getting takeout from the Matsuya in front of the station,&#8221;</span> he suddenly said. I asked him about it, and he told me that his favorite Matsuya restaurant was no longer in business due to the redevelopment of the area in front of the station.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent">I can&#8217;t eat side dishes from the supermarket unless they are freshly made. At least I can get takeout from Matsuya,&#8221;</span> he proudly insisted. I&#8217;m <span class="strongInContent">unusually particular about food,&#8221;</span> he continued, and when I asked him about it, he replied, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;I&#8217;m not a big fan, but I think retort-packed rice with natto (fermented soybeans) is the best, and miso soup and pickles are all I need</span>. I&#8217;d be satisfied with miso soup and tsukemono pickles. &#8230;&#8230; doesn&#8217;t seem to be too particular.</p>
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<p> When asked, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;What kind of relationship are you looking for?&#8221; she replied,</span><span class="strongInContent">&#8220;</span><span class="strongInContent">I think there are many types of relationships, such as drinking buddies, sex friends, and daddy</span> dating.</p>
<p> When asked about her type of man, she replied, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Someone who doesn&#8217;t speak ill of others.</span> When asked who she resembles in terms of celebrities, she paused for quite a while and then said, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Ryoko Shinohara is the one that people tell me about the most</span>. I thanked him and put down the receiver, as I had a bit of a hard time picturing Ryoko Shinohara, who likes Matsuya and natto (fermented soybeans).</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Is a &quot;casual relationship&quot; possible? The second person"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">2nd person &#8230;&#8230; hobby = Evangelion pachinko.</span></h3>
<p> A few minutes after the first person&#8217;s call ended, the caller calls.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent">He asked, &#8220;What would you like me to call you?&#8221;</span> He didn&#8217;t seem to want to say his name <span class="strongInContent">, &#8220;Eh&#8230;no, not really&#8230;&#8221; When I asked him what his name was, he replied, &#8220;Eh&#8230;no, not really.</span>..&#8221;. He seemed to have been out shopping with a friend that day and was free when he got back, so he called. <span class="strongInContent">I asked, &#8220;Where were you out?&#8221;</span> I couldn&#8217;t catch what he said <span class="strongInContent">.</span> In short, he didn&#8217;t want to tell me.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent">When I asked him, &#8220;What kind of person are you looking for?&#8221;</span> I asked him, &#8220;What kind of person are you looking for? The conversation was not going well, so I started to get more and more into the conversation.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent">I asked him, &#8220;Are you using any matching apps?</span> I asked him if he was on any matching apps, and he said he was. I learned from the conversation that she was single. He said, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">There are a lot of people at teleclubs who are looking for a more discrete relationship.</span><span class="strongInContent">I asked her, &#8220;So that kind of thing is possible depending on who you are with?&#8221;</span> I asked him, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">Yes (laugh)</span>.</p>
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<p> I asked him many questions, but his answers were so vague that I thought it was boring, so I asked him, &#8220;What do <span class="strongInContent">you think</span>? He said, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">No, I&#8217;m not sure if I want to go to Pachinko (pachinko game) &#8230;&#8230;&#8221;</span>. He added, &#8220;I went to pachinko <span class="strongInContent">yesterday, too</span>. He said he won a little less than 100,000 yen.</p>
<p> If it&#8217;s <span class="strongInContent">pachinko</span><span class="strongInContent">now</span>, it&#8217;s <span class="strongInContent">Eva (Evangelion),&#8221;</span> he said enthusiastically. He is a complete semi-professional, choosing his pachinko machine based on the day&#8217;s data displayed on the machine. I ended the call by <span class="strongInContent">saying, &#8220;Enjoy your pachinko</span>.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The third guy was full of rassling."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">3rd person &#8230;&#8230; How old the hell is she? Erotic MILF with a vendor feel</span></h3>
<p> After a while after I finished the call with the crack-obsessed woman, I got another call.</p>
<p> She spoke in a glamorous voice, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Nice to meet you, oh my, you have a lovely voice</span>. But no matter how you estimate it, she sounded at least 60 years old.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent">How are you?</span> I asked, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">Yes, how is your sister?&#8221;</span> She <span class="strongInContent">replied, &#8220;I&#8217;m fine with sex.</span> I thought this was a good story, so I continued the conversation.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent">I asked her, &#8220;What kind of mood do you have?</span> She is <span class="strongInContent">156 cm tall and has an 86 cm bust.</span> She is <span class="strongInContent">fair-skinned and has a very naughty &#8230;&#8230;.&#8221;</span> &#8220;Are you feeling naughty? <span class="strongInContent">She said, &#8220;Are you in a naughty mood?&#8221;</span> I said. When I said, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">No, I&#8217;m not yet,&#8221;</span> she whispered in a more glamorous voice, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">I already am</span>.</p>
<p> I changed the subject and asked, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;What</span> do you do for a living?&#8221; I asked her, &#8220;I&#8217; <span class="strongInContent">m an esthetician, and I can rub your boobs and hips for you,&#8221;</span> and she suggested a service that I wasn&#8217;t sure if it would feel good or not.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent">Are you wearing pants?&#8221;</span> I answered &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">Yes&#8221;</span> and she said <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Take them off</span>.&#8221; I asked &#8220;Are you wearing <span class="strongInContent">clothes?</span> &#8221; She <span class="strongInContent">replied, &#8220;I just got out of the bath, so I&#8217;m wearing only a bathrobe and no underwear</span>.</p>
<p> She told me she lives in <span class="strongInContent">Otsuka, next to Ikebukuro</span>. Otsuka is the Mecca of MILF delicatessen. Well, I guess that&#8217;s why.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" She was very eager to take off her pants. ......"></div>
<p><span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Oh, by the way, did you take off your pants?&#8221;</span> He asks me, &#8220;By the way, did you take off your pants? Why does he want me to take off my pants so badly? I answered in an appropriate manner, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">I took off my pants,&#8221;</span> and then he said, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;I&#8217;ll lick them off</span> for you,&#8221; and I heard a sound like he was licking something over the receiver.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent">I&#8217;m getting eager to see you, let&#8217;s meet up now.</span> I&#8217;ll <span class="strongInContent">bring my beige coat</span>.&#8221; I asked her recklessly, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Then please wear no pants under the coat</span><span class="strongInContent">.</span></p>
<p> I was afraid that I would really have to meet him at this point, so I <span class="strongInContent">said, &#8220;Sorry, it was fun, but he is a little too old for me,&#8221; and</span> hung up the phone.</p>
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<p> I stayed there for about an hour and a half in total, and the calls came in every five minutes or so, so I had no time to waste. The first two were probably part-timers, but the third one I thought might have been a MILF, but I&#8217;m not sure.</p>
<p> In this age of Reiwa, where matching apps are in full swing and it is very difficult to find a suitable partner, it might be interesting to go to a teleclub once in a while and talk on the phone with women who have strong personalities.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" In the &#39;90s, there was a teleclub like this: ......"></div>
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<figure id="attachment_366452" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366452" style="width: 4463px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="daf47d2c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/1b67be8c5b9a15eb8b0ca9c6d40d659e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366452" class="wp-caption-text">This teleclub was located in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture. Because Gifu Prefecture&#8217;s ordinance did not allow teleclubs to advertise, the only calls that came in were from Aichi Prefecture (March 27, 1998 issue).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_366454" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366454" style="width: 4486px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="451b01d5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/c5e7329a18129c0c7480dd9a0c775003.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366454" class="wp-caption-text"> A &#8220;drive-through teleclub&#8221; in Shiga Prefecture is also said to have adopted this style in order to evade regulations. Teleclubs were so popular at the time that people wanted to open new ones even if they had to get around regulations (March 27, 1998 issue).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_366455" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366455" style="width: 4476px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a7a56483"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/bb7ab9a7eea863ba3a90414e8280de95.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366455" class="wp-caption-text"> A &#8220;drive-through teleclub&#8221; is a style in which a car is parked next to a box containing a telephone.</figcaption></figure>
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 Masahiro Kawayanagi

 In its heyday, there were several hundred teleclubs in Tokyo alone. Even in today's age of matching apps, some are still in business. What kind of women are calling them? A 35-year-old reporter went undercover to find out.

A visit to a nearly forgotten “teleclub” turned out to be a “character festival.

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