“I Had No Idea Women Wanted This So Much”—Exploring the Rise and Limits of the Women’s Escort Scene (Part 2)

Non-fiction writer Mizuho Takagi’s The Birth of Sex Work, which was partially serialized in this magazine, was published as a book at the end of December. Here is an edited excerpt from the book featuring “women’s sex services” that had not appeared in the magazine [Part 2].

[Part 1] Too Early for Its Time The Fate of Women’s Sex Services Opened in the ’90s–’00s

 

Background Behind the Surge of Women’s Sex Services

We visited Asuka (30), representative of the SPA White group, which operates five dispatch-type women’s sex service shops in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Kitakyushu. She said, “I never expected that women would seek sex services to this extent.”

The first to spearhead the revival was Humming, a women-only, store-based massage salon that opened in Osaka in January 2017. When Asuka was exhausted from childcare, she was invited by an acquaintance to try it as a free monitor and experienced women’s sex services for the first time there.

“Even though it was just a massage, I felt treated as a woman for the first time in a long while. That sense of affirmation gave me happiness and emotion.”

This experience became the impetus for opening her own women’s sex service. Following boom-leading shops like Tokyo Secret Base and Mantendo, she registered a dispatch-type sex service like a delivery health (“deriheru”) shop and opened the first SPA White store in Tokyo in April 2018.

The rapid increase of women’s sex services began around this time. Around the same period, the movie Shonen, starring Tori Matsuzaka, was released. The film depicted the extreme sexual life of a man living as a male prostitute, and women who hesitated at first gradually liberated themselves and indulged in pleasure.

“The film showed that it’s okay for women to express their desires openly.”

Asuka said that this movie helped accelerate the boom.

Changes in gender perspectives depicted in films, the spread of information through SNS, and the delivery-health-ization of women’s sex services—together, these ensured privacy for female clients and made it easier for women to freely explore their sexual desires.

The industry is polarized

Another fact adds to this picture: women’s sex services can be started with a low budget. Asuka began with only 500,000 yen of her own funds. Considering that starting a delivery health (“deriheru”) shop requires at least 2 million yen, and even a men’s esthetic salon (“men’s es”) costs around 1 million yen, the low startup cost of women’s sex services stands out.

The SPA White system is simple. Female clients send an email specifying the date, time, location, and the male therapist they want to request. The male therapist checks their availability and replies “OK.” Unlike delivery health shops, which require detailed work schedules for each attendant, women’s clients do not expect free play (visiting without reservations or specifying a therapist). Since it is entirely reservation-based, managing male therapist schedules can be done with just one computer.

Because no playrooms or waiting areas are needed, costs are reduced. Even advertising expenses are minimal, only a few tens of thousands of yen, because there are few dispatch destinations.

However, Asuka notes that while the low startup costs make women’s sex services easier to begin, “Compared to male-targeted sex services, the market size is less than one-third, so profits are limited.”

Looking at women’s sex service directories, many listings at first glance resemble dispatch host services. The industry is now polarized between shops targeting ordinary housewives and shops that rely on a host-club-style system, maximizing exploitation.

It’s easy to get quick repeat business and increase sales: send a flood of emails, play on women’s romantic feelings, and manipulate them mentally. Asuka feels deeply frustrated by the prevalence of women’s sex service shops that use such exploitative methods, akin to host clubs that extract large sums of money from women.

The More Seriously You Work, the Less You Earn

The reason Asuka dislikes exploitation is simple: she prioritizes the happiness of women above all else. She has heard that some dispatch-host-style services involve sexual acts or getting women to spend more than they should, but since she hasn’t witnessed it firsthand, she prefers not to speculate. However—

The lure of temptation creeps in even as male applicants are shown the glamorous world of being a women’s sex service therapist. Men apply expecting to get paid for having sex with female clients. Most applicants are unattractive men who seem useless, so some shops take advantage of this by charging interview fees, training fees, or registration fees—Asuka described this exploitative structure.

This type of scam, exploiting male desire, is an old trick but never disappears. Why is this happening in the women’s sex service industry now?

First, the industry has become widely known, and there is a constant stream of men applying to become therapists. “Even at our shop, we get dozens of applications a month,” Asuka says.

Another key to understanding the trend lies in the industry’s customs. In male-targeted sex services, the business model focuses on having more working girls—the more attendants, the better. Shops often charge applicants around 10,000 yen for interview travel expenses and hire almost anyone.

By contrast, women’s sex services require male therapists to meet higher standards—not just appearance, but also customer service and sexual massage skills. Training is provided, but applicants are expected to cover the costs.

At SPA White, even interview venue fees and instruction fees amount to 30,000 yen. Some shops demand over 100,000 yen just to get through the interview.

Even after spending large sums, only a few are actually hired. Asuka explains:

“Women’s sex services are a business where the more seriously you work, the less you make. If you want to earn quickly, delivery health (‘deriheru’) is faster. But since women’s sex services are currently booming, even people who don’t know the realities are entering. Rising fees reflect the anxiety of operators who aren’t making as much as they expected.”

Yet male applicants keep coming, perhaps because women’s sex services are a den that satisfies both money and lust. Observing this, one can glimpse the shadowy side of the boom.

From “The Birth of Women’s Sex Services” by Mizuho Takagi / Seidansha Publico