The reason why high-class soaps are opening one after another while the price of soaps is getting cheaper and cheaper.

Big news” that shook the neighborhood

On August 26, a super high-class soap “Sanctuary” opened in Horinouchi, Kawasaki. The basic 120-minute fee was 45,000 yen plus service charge, and the expected budget was 105,000 yen, making it one of Horinouchi’s highest-class establishments. From the Heisei Era to Reiwa 2022, it was a common belief that the most expensive soap shop in Horinouchi was “Kohaku,” a high-class store of the Truth Group, but the appearance of a new store that broke this common belief was big news for sex lovers.

It is not just that the prices are high. SANCTUARY” has a membership system, and customers under 30 years old are not allowed to enter. After completing the membership procedure (10,000 yen registration fee), reservations must be made five days in advance and by 6:00 p.m. the day before the date of the event. The website is written in both Japanese and English, and is designed with affluent foreign customers in mind. The exterior of the restaurant is simple, without even a sign. The lack of excessive decoration creates a mysterious atmosphere.

On September 14, a high-class soap “Muteki YOKOHAMA” had its grand opening in Akebono-cho, Yokohama. Rates start at 53,000 yen for a basic 90-minute session. In Akebono-cho, where many health clubs and soaps are concentrated, it became the highest priced storefront sex establishment upon its appearance. The previous location where the store opened was a very inexpensive soap shop that charged less than 10,000 yen in total. It is surprising that instead of a very cheap store opening at a time when personal consumption is cooling down due to prolonged high prices, the exact opposite has happened with the appearance of the region’s highest class store.

The movement to create new high-end soaps has been taking place nationwide for the past several years. In November 2011, “THE SOAP,” the highest priced soap in the area, appeared in Susukino, Sapporo. The price is 49,000 yen and up for the basic 90-minute session, a price that defies common practice in Susukino, where even high-class establishments have been priced in the 20,000 to 30,000 yen range. In Nakasu, Fukuoka, an ultra-luxury soap “THE ESPERANZA” opened in December 2010. The basic 120-minute session costs 110,000 yen and up, the highest price in the Kyushu area.

Polarization” is taking place.

One of the reasons why new, top-quality regional soaps are popping up one after another all over the country is the increase in the number of well-paying inbound male customers. Newly emerged high-end soaps are actively accepting foreign customers by putting foreign languages on their homepages. In addition, regardless of the economic climate, there are always wealthy Japanese customers who are willing to play generously on a different level from the general public. In addition, there is a great need among healthy and wealthy elderly men to “spend all the money they have before they die. This is the reason why, when you go to a high-class brothel, you often see gray-haired elderly male customers in the storefronts and waiting rooms.

In fact, the demand for high-class brothels does not disappear even if the world is in recession. Recently, while super-cheap brothels where you can play for as little as 3,000 yen have become popular nationwide, super-luxury soaps priced at around 100,000 yen are newly appearing in various places. In other words, the consumption gap is widening. Due to various causes such as the increase in non-regular employment and the aging of the population with fewer children, it is expected that the disparity in society will continue to increase in the future. The same applies to the sex industry.

The sex industry is a “mirror of society. Through the perspective of the sex industry, we can learn about the trends and problems of modern society. The recent dramatic increase in the number of inbound customers, the popularity of cheap bars, and the opening of new high-class soaps, etc., show how people are living in today’s society, where “rapid internationalization” and “the gap between the rich and the poor is widening” are progressing. The “rapid internationalization” and the “widening gap between rich and poor” of today’s society are evident.

The paid version of “FRIDAY GOLD” carries a list of 45 high-class soaps in Japan, carefully selected by Ikoma.