Behind the Curtains of Ueno Town, Inside Miyazaki’s Secretive Take-Out Snack Bars

In May 2024, seven Cambodian women filed a lawsuit seeking damages from their former employer, claiming they were forced into prostitution while working at a snack bar. In the appeal trial, the Tokyo District Court ordered the former employer and others to pay a total of 7.15 million yen. The women had come to Japan in 2016 and were allegedly coerced into prostitution through intimidating behavior by their employers at establishments in Shibukawa and Numata cities in Gunma Prefecture.

“Take-out snack bars” are one type of underground sex industry that, like “chonnoma” (short-stay brothels), have existed for a long time. During Japan’s economic bubble, when the number of migrant female workers increased, many of those without work visas found employment in such establishments, especially in rural areas like hot spring towns. These snack bars were also found in urban entertainment districts such as Shinjuku’s Kabukichō and Ikebukuro. In some cases, women were forced to work against their will, although cases like the one mentioned above have become rare in recent years.

This decline is due in part to the decrease in foreign migrant workers and a drop in group tourism to hot spring resorts, leading to a reduction in the number of take-out snack bars. Today, they exist only in limited areas across Japan. Among them, those employing Japanese women have always been few in number and are now said to be almost nonexistent.

This time, underground explorer and YouTuber Mr. Pineapple went undercover in a take-out snack bar that continues the legacy of the old “Blue Line” and investigated its current reality.

A town where a different type of prostitution business from soaplands has continued since the postwar era

Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture — a three-and-a-half-hour flight from Tokyo, with no Shinkansen service. Known for its warm climate, it’s a popular training ground for professional sports teams, and its downtown area bustles with the energy typical of a tropical locale.

Where there’s liveliness, there’s a flow of people—and where there’s a flow of people, there’s demand for nightlife and adult entertainment. The city features three main entertainment districts, all packed into a relatively small area: Ueno Town, home to a concentration of soaplands; Nishitachibana Street, lined with snack bars and girls’ bars; and Chūō Street, where snack bars and semi-nude cabarets cluster.

This time, the destination is Ueno Town. But the visit isn’t to a soapland. Instead, it’s to an outlaw zone where a different kind of prostitution business—distinct from soaplands—has quietly persisted since the postwar era.

Illegal prostitution has been taking place for over 80 years

In August 2024, as part of a project on my YouTube channel titled “Underground Travels in Kyushu with the Seishun 18 Ticket,” I made my way to Miyazaki. My goal was to visit a discreetly operating “take-out snack bar” tucked away in a corner of Ueno Town, Miyazaki.

A take-out snack bar is exactly what the name suggests: a snack bar where, upon paying a fee, customers can take a woman to a hotel for sexual services. Besides Ueno Town, other well-known locations for such establishments include Kamiyamada Onsen and Gondo in Nagano, as well as Ikaho Onsen in Gunma. The cost of taking someone out tends to be relatively high, perhaps due to the alcohol-fueled impulse or the liberating atmosphere of hot spring resorts, which makes people more willing to spend.

Ueno Town’s take-out snack bars have a long history. According to records, a blue-line district emerged here in 1948 and continues to this day. The term blue-line refers to areas where prostitution was conducted illegally, as opposed to red-line districts, where it was tolerated or unofficially permitted. It’s unclear exactly when the snack bars began operating in this format, but one thing is certain: illegal prostitution has been occurring in this area for over 80 years.

After 9 p.m., I passed through the area dense with soaplands and entered a dimly lit zone where small snack bars clustered together. There were more than ten such bars, none of which looked like your typical snack bar; a suspicious atmosphere hung in the air. Nearby were three love hotels, suggesting that destinations for taking someone out were already in place.

However, none of the snack bars seemed to be open. Not a single light was on. Strange. I hadn’t heard any reports that the scene had been wiped out. It was a Sunday, so perhaps they’re closed on Sundays.

I went inside the bar, but. Was it just a regular snack bar?

The next day, I returned to Ueno Town and saw that about three snack bars were open—stores that had been completely dark the night before. There’s no concrete proof that these snack bars are black (i.e., involved in illicit activities); they could very well be ordinary snack bars. However, given the nature of this area, the likelihood is quite high. In Kyushu, the underground sex industry in places like Kokura, Wakamatsu, Hanahata, and Kōtsukichō has either collapsed or is on its last legs—but here in Ueno Town, the scene seems relatively lively.

It would be quicker if there were a ponbiki (a street tout), but I didn’t see anyone fitting that description nearby. According to the information I had beforehand, ponbiki were known to appear and guide customers to the relevant establishments.

Loud, shrill laughter echoed from inside the snack bars that were open. While it definitely took some courage to enter, the atmosphere didn’t seem particularly hostile toward first-time customers—a common trait of underground establishments in rural areas.

I gathered my nerves and stood in front of one of the bars. Unlike some places I’ve visited before—like the non-drinking izakaya in Matsuyama’s Chifune Town or the chonnoma snac in Kawasaki’s Minami Town—there were no typical signs of prostitution, such as a slightly ajar door. Placing my hand on the door, I slid it open with a rattle. Inside was a small snack bar with a counter that could seat around four people. Behind the counter, two middle-aged women were attending to customers. There were also two young female patrons, whose flashy appearance suggested they might be sex workers.

—“Are you open?”

“We’re open, yes.”

—“It’s my first time here. What do you offer?”

“Whatever you’d like.”

—“Then I’ll have a highball.”

“Coming right up.”

Are you going out to have fun today?

While the woman who seemed to be the mama was making my drink, I glanced around and noticed a small room beside the counter that could seat two people. On the TV in that room, news was airing about a large-scale crackdown on street prostitutes in Sueyoshi-cho, Yokohama. In terms of illegal prostitution, what happens in that news report is related to what goes on in this bar. Two other middle-aged women were quietly watching the broadcast.

“Do you want your highball strong or weak?”

“Make it a little weak, please.”

“A little weak, huh~”

The atmosphere inside was warm and homey. The other woman behind the counter and the two female customers were chatting happily. At this point, it wasn’t yet certain that this was a take-out snack bar; it could still be just a regular snack bar. So I decided to probe a bit.

“I’ve been here before in Ueno Town. It was years ago though.”

“Oh, really? Are you going out to have fun today?”

Bingo. This was definitely a black-market snack bar. According to the mama-like woman, not only the women in the small room but also women from other bars could be called here. The fees were 15,500 yen for 45 minutes and 20,500 yen for one hour.

While underground adult entertainment in many parts of Kyushu is struggling or dying out, Ueno Town here is still going strong.

In the paid version of FRIDAY GOLD, Mr. Pineapple shares his actual experience of being taken out and interactions with a woman resembling a certain actress he met there.