The Cost of Trust: How Subletting to a Men’s Esthetic Salon Turned into a Nightmare

In recent years, the men’s esthetic industry has been booming, but it has also taken on an alarming nature due to illegal services offered by some establishments and the customers who seek them out. One of the most striking aspects is the rapid expansion of these businesses.

Ordinarily, adult entertainment businesses require a permit under the Entertainment Business Law, but since many men’s esthetic salons operate under the pretense of not being part of the adult industry, they do not need such permits and can discreetly run out of apartment units. As long as they secure a location and female workers, they can start operating, making their expansion rate incomparable to other adult businesses. With the increase in these establishments, disputes over rental properties being used as business locations have become increasingly common.

What was supposed to be a 30,000 yen per month sweet deal turned into a nightmare

During his university days, I-san was approached by a senior from his part-time job who was planning to open a men’s esthetic salon. “I thought it was a great deal to just rent out a room and sublease it for an extra 30,000 yen per month.” he now says with deep regret.

“He asked me, ‘Can you rent a room on my behalf? I’ll transfer 30,000 yen to you every month on top of the rent. You don’t have to do anything else.’ So, I signed a lease for an apartment in Tokyo,” I-san recalls.

Since they had known each other for a long time, I-san didn’t feel suspicious and agreed to rent the room. For the first six months, he received both the 70,000 yen rent and the 30,000 yen sublease fee. However, one day, the payments suddenly stopped.

“I tried contacting my senior, but he completely disappeared. That’s when I knew he had ‘ghosted’ me. I couldn’t afford to keep paying rent for a room I wasn’t even using, so I immediately contacted the real estate agency to terminate the lease—but that’s when things got really bad.

The room had been renovated with new wallpaper, the bathroom was covered in massage oil and mold, and there were cigarette stains even though smoking was prohibited. The place was a total mess. On top of that, all the leftover items were still there, which drove up the moving-out costs. In the end, I lost more money than I had earned. I never thought about what could go wrong. This is my own fault, I guess,” he admits.

When he explained the whole situation—including the fact that the room had been used for a men’s esthetic salon—the real estate agency told him that it was a breach of contract. Naturally, all the restoration costs fell on I-san. The deposit wasn’t nearly enough to cover the damages, and he had to pay a significant amount out of pocket.