High school girls line up on the street… The “JK business” is flourishing again, taking advantage of SNS.

The JK business is changing with the times

The “JK business” has entered a transitional phase.

The “JK business” is a business in which high school girls can earn money by eating, drinking, and talking with men using the title “high school girl” as a weapon. The origin of this business is said to be “JK reflexology,” in which high school girls in school uniforms give simple massages, which spread mainly in Shinjuku and Ikebukuro in Tokyo around 2006.

JK reflexology offers only simple hand and foot massage, and does not provide sexual services like those offered in adult entertainment establishments. However, this is only a front. In reality, male customers were alone with each other in a private room, where negotiations were made and sexual acts were performed, turning the store into an illegal sex store. Because the stores also had girls under the age of 18 working there, it was seen as a problematic breeding ground for child prostitution. Some stores imposed quotas on the girls, which also led to high school girls touting on the streets,” said a reporter from the society department of a national newspaper.

In the 1960s, the JK business began to flourish. New types of JK businesses were emerging one after another, such as “JK walking,” in which high school girls shop and stroll together, and “JK observation,” in which men enjoy the sexy performances of high school girls through a magic mirror.

In April 2001, the police began to take stronger measures against female employees touting on the street, such as making them subject to police supervision. In 2005, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government designated the JK business as a ‘specified opposite-sex service business’ and banned anyone under the age of 18 from serving customers.

In recent years, however, business tools have shifted to SNS. Girls are now able to negotiate directly with men over the Internet about the amount and content of their services. Although not as vigorous as it once was, the JK business continues to survive in a different form.

FRIDAY went undercover at various stores in the ’10s, when the JK business was thriving.

In the paid version of FRIDAY Digital, we look back on the heyday of the JK business with an undercover report by the magazine’s reporter.