Japan’s Booming Nightlife: Thriving Amid 40 Million Inbound Tourists Without Language Barriers

Osaka-Kansai Expo expected to draw 28.2 million visitors

2025 is the year of the Osaka Expo.

“EXPO2025 Osaka, Kansai Expo” is scheduled to be held from April 13 to October 13, with an estimated 28.2 million visitors. Among them, 3.5 million are expected to come from overseas.

Last year, the number of foreign visitors to Japan exceeded 36 million, surpassing the 31 million recorded in 2019 by 5 million, setting a new all-time high. With the Expo taking place this year, it is said to be inevitable that the record will be broken for the second consecutive year, and major travel companies like JTB predict that the number will exceed 40 million.

With Japan being swept up in this inbound tourism boom, many people may find themselves captivated by foreign women. However, due to language barriers, the kind of “international exchange” seen in Hollywood movies—where people meet on the street, fall in love, and so on—is not so easy to achieve.

In that case, one might turn to encounters at adult entertainment establishments. When it comes to foreign adult entertainment services, the most well-known is likely the Korean delivery health services in Uguisudani. However, there are also establishments featuring a diverse range of foreign women, particularly from Eastern Europe.

In the Showa era, Japanese men were enamored with blonde hair and blue eyes, but in the Reiwa era, many men are hesitant about foreign adult services. The language barrier and the expectation of a businesslike and unemotional experience contribute to this perception. While that may sometimes be the case, it is not always so.

On the other hand, there are also surprising encounters with foreign women that leave a lasting memory for a lifetime.

Due to the global economic downturn, highly educated foreign women, including those working at embassies in Japan and as specialized language interpreters—people from professions one might never expect—have started working in the Japanese adult entertainment industry.

One such unforgettable foreign adult entertainment experience was provided by “R,” a delivery health service in Shibuya specializing in blonde girls from Europe and the Americas. The woman who accompanied the writer was M.

For privacy reasons, only her nationality—Romania, an Eastern European country—will be mentioned, as she is still employed by a public institution in her home country. Not only is she fluent in her native language, which is rarely spoken in Japan, but she also speaks English and Japanese. She is an intellectual who has worked as an interpreter in diplomatic settings.

In the paid edition of “FRIDAY GOLD,” journalist Hara Sho conducts an undercover investigation into foreign adult entertainment establishments, providing reports on his experiences and insights into the reality of these women.