The Business of Survival: New Ideas That Carried the Industry Through the Pandemic
Throughout history, whenever they faced a crisis, adult entertainment businesses somehow managed to find a way forward and survive. The COVID-19 pandemic was no exception. In the second half of the final installment of the series “27-Year History of Delivery Health Services,” sex-industry journalist Akira Ikoma explains the current state of delivery health services that survived the pandemic, as well as their future prospects.
Unique Delivery Health (Escort) Services Keep Emerging Even During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Adult entertainment businesses that faced an existential crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated surprising tenacity and resilience. In the delivery health (escort) industry, many operators turned crisis into opportunity, leading to a wave of inventive business ideas.
Right after the outbreak of COVID-19, when masks were in short supply nationwide, delivery health services that gave masks to customers began appearing all over Japan. One delivery esthetic service even tried providing masked service, which proved popular with customers and led to increased sales. The approach was also well received by the women working there, resulting in a rise in job applications—its effectiveness was immediate.
Many businesses also introduced COVID-conscious concepts. In April 2020, the popular Shinjuku shop “Kagayaki Shinjuku” launched an online system that allowed customers to play remotely. It enabled one-on-one erotic live chats with delivery health workers.
In Ikebukuro, a real love-doll–only delivery health service called “Uber Doll” appeared. Since customers interacted with dolls rather than people, the appeal was zero infection risk and peace of mind.
In Osaka, a delivery health service called “Mikosuri Handojo Osaka” opened with the concept of hand service only at the front door. For a low price of 3,000 yen for five minutes, a nearby woman would rush to the customer’s location and provide hand service. The business operated exclusively through online reservations—no phone calls accepted—and the women traveled by car, train, or on foot. It was, quite literally, the arrival of an “Uber Eats–style” adult service.
Another pandemic-era concept was a delivery health service called “Corona Recession Girls.” It was marketed as a place where people struggling financially due to COVID could work. Reservations were referred to as support, and customers were called supporters. The shop was founded by a former Self-Defense Forces member with the stated intention of helping women who had fallen into poverty. However, it sparked controversy on social media, with critics accusing it of exploiting women who had lost their options due to the pandemic, leading to divided public opinion.
Most of these novel shops gained attention immediately after opening but closed soon afterward. The major exception was “Mikosuri Handojo,” which has since expanded into a nationwide chain.
Around September 2022, as the end of the pandemic began to come into view, Japan accelerated the easing of entry restrictions for foreign visitors. Inbound tourism revived, and delivery health services catering to foreign customers became increasingly noticeable. These shops typically set higher prices, and some heavily promoted kimono cosplay, which is popular among overseas visitors.
Efforts to attract free-spending foreign customers continued to grow. More shops began advertising on foreigner-oriented adult entertainment websites, and inbound-focused services opened one after another in cities such as Sapporo, Nagoya, and Kyoto. Demand for adult entertainment targeting inbound tourists has been increasing year by year, and this trend is expected to continue.
An Opening Rush That Continues Despite Market Saturation
Delivery health (escort) services continue to open across Japan even today. In Reiwa 6 (2024), the number of registered non-storefront adult entertainment businesses reached 22,761, far surpassing the 6,651 storefront-based operations. With the total number of adult entertainment–related special businesses standing at 33,890, dispatch-style adult services now account for about 67% of the total. Their market size is overwhelmingly the largest within the sex industry.
Even in the 2020s—long considered a period of market saturation—manuals on starting delivery health businesses continue to be published one after another, touting claims such as: “Run a single shop and earn 10 million yen a year,” “Operate multiple shops and make hundreds of millions,” “Achieve 10 billion yen in annual sales within three years of founding,” or “Earn a monthly income of 1 million yen even with no experience.” In 2025, even a startup memoir by an amateur man in his 50s who quit his salaried job appeared. The fact that new shops keep opening in such a saturated industry suggests that the dream of striking it rich still lingers.
However, while many new shops open, many also close. It’s common to find that a shop’s website has quietly disappeared. It is said that 70–80% of newly opened adult entertainment businesses close or go out of business within a year.
When customer flow is strong and business is booming, operations are smooth—but once a slowdown hits, management quickly becomes difficult. Sales stagnate, growth halts, and operations hit a dead end. If the causes aren’t identified and overcome, the business gradually enters a downward spiral. Revenue drops, advertising loses effectiveness, and customer acquisition via social media reaches a ceiling. Cast retention declines, hiring costs rise, the atmosphere on the ground worsens, and troubles increase. As these conditions persist, options run out and the shop is eventually forced to close.
One man who was involved in managing delivery health businesses for ten years says he learned four key lessons in this volatile industry:
“Without the satisfaction of the women, there can be no success,” “Clinging to past success is the beginning of decline,” “Systems matter more than advertising,” and “When management and the field become disconnected, the business falls apart.”
Common traits of delivery health businesses that shut down include cutting corners on supplies and advertising, high turnover among women, and internal splits caused by money. When a shop begins thinking, “Anything is better than going under” and starts accepting low-quality customers or pressuring women to provide excessive services—creating an anything goes situation—it is said to be a terminal symptom.
Even when the delivery health industry enters a stagnation phase with no market growth, long-established shops tend to suffer less damage. Businesses that have been loved for many years have customers known as regulars, providing stable revenue. As inflation continues and population decline accelerates, it is clear that relying solely on new customers will no longer be viable. The importance of repeat customers will only continue to grow.
Will erotic esthetic services surpass delivery health?
Right now, among dispatch-style adult entertainment businesses, the sector showing particularly rapid growth is erotic esthetic services. This is because revisions to the Entertainment Business Law this year have increased the likelihood of crackdowns on men’s esthetic salons, prompting both workers and customers to shift toward erotic esthetic services. People who are uneasy about working at or patronizing legally gray men’s esthetic salons are moving to erotic esthetic services, which are legal and provide peace of mind.
There is also plenty of room for further growth. Many illegal esthetic salons still exist—ostensibly operating as legitimate esthetic businesses, but secretly providing sexual services, often by Chinese or Korean workers. With stricter enforcement expected going forward, these establishments are likely to be cracked down on, and people from the illegal foreign esthetic scene may flow into the erotic esthetic market.
For these reasons, the erotic esthetic industry is expected to grow significantly in the future. Because storefront operations are difficult to enter due to regulations, the delivery-type erotic esthetic market is likely to expand explosively from here on.
In addition, recent trends among major delivery health groups show a noticeable shift. In the 2000s to 2010s, it was common for large storefront adult entertainment groups to open delivery health services. However, in the 2020s, the reverse has become prominent: major delivery health groups have begun entering the storefront adult entertainment business in cities such as Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, and Osaka. This reversal is thought to have occurred because delivery health groups across the country have matured over time and now have greater financial and operational leeway.
Compared with delivery health services—where the market is saturated and competition for customers is fierce—storefront adult entertainment shops are fewer in number and closely tied to their local areas, often boasting many long-time regulars, which gives operators a sense of stability. Running a storefront adult entertainment business has long been an aspiration for those in the industry, and many people involved believe that delivery health services without physical locations can’t compete with storefront shops that have customers rooted in the neighborhood.
In addition, we have recently seen a change in the trends of major delivery esthetic groups. In the ’00s and ’10s, there were many cases of major groups of shop-style sex clubs opening delicatessen stores, but in the ’20s, cases of major groups of delicatessen companies expanding into shop-style sex clubs became prominent in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, etc. This reversal of the trend occurred because of the number of delicatessen groups that opened shops in each area. This reversal phenomenon seems to have occurred because the deli-help groups in each region have matured over the years and have gained more leeway.
Compared to the saturated delicatessen market, where competition to attract customers is fierce, there are fewer, locally based storefront sex clubs, which have many old and familiar customers, and thus the operators feel more secure in their operations. It is a dream of sex industry managers to manage a storefront brothel, and many sex industry professionals believe that “a delicatessen without a physical storefront is no match for a storefront with customers in the city”.
The evolving future of delivery health services
Since their emergence in 1999, delivery health services have continued to evolve, changing form in response to shifts in society and advances in technology. Their history serves as an example of how the sex industry adapts to regulatory changes and technological progress.
Looking ahead, market saturation will continue, and many delivery health businesses will be weeded out. This will not apply only to poorly run shops; even those operating properly will find it difficult to survive on that basis alone. To be chosen among countless competitors, a shop must offer distinctive appeal. Creating that appeal requires the growth and development of both delivery health workers and male staff.
First and foremost, businesses must obey the law and pay taxes. They must also improve the quality of their operations, including customer service and shop management. As more high-quality shops emerge, the industry as a whole will become healthier, working conditions will improve, and support systems for handling troubles will likely be strengthened.
Consideration for people in the surrounding community is also an essential condition for survival—such as not causing trouble for the owners or managers of apartment buildings used as offices or waiting areas, and eliminating bad manners like noise in the early morning or late at night, or long periods of illegal street parking, so as not to cause conflicts with local residents.
By properly carrying out these ordinary but vital practices—valuing the people around you, being punctual, and constantly striving to improve customer satisfaction—and combining them with superior management methods and innovative ideas, shops that win the hearts of many customers will undoubtedly sustain and develop the delivery health industry in the years to come.
This series has explained the history of Japan’s dispatch-style sex industry over five installments. From postwar call girls, to hotel escort services in the late Showa era, and delivery health services from the Heisei period onward, the business models have changed with the times. Yet one major appeal has remained constant: the excitement and anticipation customers feel while waiting, wondering what kind of woman will arrive.
The business of delivering a partner who provides sexual services to the customer’s location will continue to evolve even further. The emergence of groundbreaking new shops that exceed people’s expectations is something to look forward to.
References
A Modern History of the Sex Industry, Akira Ikoma, Seidan-sha Publico, 2022
COVID-19 and Sex Workers, Takaaki Yagisawa, Soshisha, 2021
COVID-19 and Women in Poverty, Atsuhiko Nakamura, Takarajimasha, 2020
In addition, numerous other books and online sources were consulted.
Interview, text, and photographs： Akira Ikoma