From 400 to 17 due to “exposures” and “business failures”… Can the “strip industry”, a “dying industry”, survive?

Shocking Exposure of “Toyo Show Theater,” One of the Largest in Western Japan

On November 19, 2012, a total of ten men and women, including the manager and dancers of “Toyo Show Theater,” a strip joint in Kita-ku, Osaka, were arrested on charges of public indecency.

The arrest shook the strip industry, as it is one of the “largest and best-established theaters in western Japan,” founded in 1985, with annual sales of about 260 million yen.

The theater had become a tourist attraction, with foreign customers accounting for 10% of its clientele in recent years. The police decided to expose the theater because of concerns that it would become a tourist attraction due to the increase in foreign tourists. With the Osaka-Kansai Expo coming up in 2013, the Osaka Prefectural Police are stepping up their efforts to clean up the entertainment districts visited by tourists, and it is said that the busts are a kind of “show-and-tell” for the police.

In April 2009, “Theater Ueno” in Ueno, Tokyo, was busted and six people, including the manager and dancers, were caught red-handed on charges of public indecency. This is believed to be part of a cleanup operation in anticipation of the Tokyo Olympics.

It is said that there were nearly 400 strip clubs in Japan in the 1970s, when they were at their peak. However, they began to decline with the end of the Showa period, and now only 17 remain. They are now “dying out.

Industry in Decline Amid Severe Business Environment

On August 20, “Live Theater Kurihashi” in Kuki City, Saitama Prefecture, which had been in operation for nearly 50 years, closed its doors due to the severe business environment. In addition to the fact that the theater was “aging to the limit and cannot be renovated due to regulations under the Entertainment Establishments Control Law,” “the number of customers did not return even after the COVID-19 crisis” was the deciding factor.

In addition, on August 22, “Shinjuku New Art” in Shinjuku, Tokyo, was temporarily closed due to a power outage and flooding caused by the previous day’s heavy downpour. The reopening of the museum has not yet been determined.

The decline of the industry has been caused by the purification of entertainment districts, as noted at the beginning of this report, and the aging of buildings due to strict regulations under the Entertainment Establishments Control Law that prevent new construction, expansion, and remodeling. In addition, the number and variety of entertainment and sex services have increased. Nowadays, women can be seen naked for free on the Internet. It is easy to release one’s sexual desire at low-priced sex clubs. Many men say, “I won’t go to a strip theater where there is no nudity,” or “I’m not interested.”

Crowdfunding has become a “lifeline” for theaters in financial difficulty. Theater Ueno” was on the verge of “closure” when it received an administrative order to suspend operations for eight months from June 2009 to February 2010. However, with crowdfunding support for rent and facility maintenance costs during the suspension, the theater was able to resume operations.

New Dogo Music” in Dogo Onsen, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, is also using crowdfunding to repair its theater. Warabi Mini Theatre” in Warabi City, Saitama Prefecture, which was temporarily closed due to a fire in April 2010, resumed operations in August 2012, thanks to a crowdfunding-supported recovery project. All three theaters are still in a difficult situation, but they are persevering and continuing to operate.

In Part 2, Akira Ikoma shares his memories of some of the most memorable theaters that have already closed.

The “Stokaba” and the “Small Room of Love”… “Strip Theaters that Have Disappeared” in the Memories of Sex Journalists.