The cultural history of the “Imecla” (Part 1): Operation Purification triggered the blossoming of a maniacal cosplay culture in the mid-1900s.
Sex journalist Akira Ikoma explores the history of image play, which can be called a “cultural history of sex and entertainment” in “A Cultural History of Imekura”. This is the first part of the third article in a series covering the period from the mid-1900s to the mid-1990s.
From storefront type to on-site type due to a purification operation
The Kabukicho Cleanup Operation, which began in 2003, dealt a heavy blow to the ‘imekura’ industry. The policy of “not allowing lewd sex-related signs to be placed in the town” mainly targeted storefront establishments. As a result, the previously tacitly approved storefront sex clubs, which had been operating without registration, were exposed one after another and plunged into a state of destruction.
This movement spread nationwide. In Kanagawa, Saitama, Gunma, Osaka, and other areas, storefront sex clubs quickly disappeared from the streets, and when the revised Entertainment Establishments Control Law came into effect in 2006, the authorities cracked down even harder. The number of storefront sex clubs with spacious playrooms resembling trains, infirmaries, classrooms, and the like, which had been a fixture in the entertainment districts from the 1990s to the early 2000s, plummeted.
However, the authorities were tolerant of the non-store type, as the cleanup operation focused on “making brothels invisible in the city. As a result, the mainstream of imekuras shifted to delirious sex clubs, where costumes became a major factor in the enjoyment of image play.
Sex workers would bring the costumes desired by customers and travel to their hotels or homes, and it would be up to the ability of the sex workers to make the customers’ fantasies a reality.
In addition, the number of establishments where customers can enjoy image play has increased dramatically with the shift to the non-store type, which allows for the opening of new establishments. More and more regular delicatessens began to offer cosplay as an option, and the boundary between “i-mekura” and “health clubs” gradually disappeared.
Around this time, existing storefront sex clubs were converted into traveling sex clubs one after another, and building operators, anticipating an increase in the number of delicatessen and hotel sex clubs, built rental rooms for sex services one after another. Among them, there were some shrewd builders who made the rooms into classrooms, molestation trains, infirmaries, offices, and so on, just as in the past, and let the customers use them.
Unique cosplay delicatessens appeared one after another
One after another, non-store type adult entertainment establishments where unique cosplay could be enjoyed appeared. Tokyo and Osaka were particularly popular.
In Tokyo, there were many image delicatessen with novel ideas. One of the most talked-about was Shinjuku’s “Gingira Tokyo,” which offered only “flamboyant and sexy lascivious women. The concept was “male-female encounters in the club scene,” and it became popular as a “club-type imekura” where one could play with beautiful women dressed in bodycon. It is still in operation today, with a large number of active AV actresses on its roster.
In 2008, during the Beijing Olympics, “School Ranburu,” a hotel help service using Speedo’s swimming suits, which set a series of world records at the Olympics, appeared in Kabukicho. It became a hot topic because it offered a “new world-class” erotic experience. The swimsuits were available in a total of 48 types, and swimming caps, beat boards, and goggles were free options.
Another popular store specializing in anime and video game cosplay was Pure Cos, a hotel helper in Shibuya. The shop had a wide variety of costumes, including “Sailor Moon,” “Gundam Seed,” “Vampire Knight,” and many more, all of which would make any fanatic drool. Basically, photography was free, and not only photos but also videos were allowed.
In Otsuka, “ANA of Delhi” appeared, a store specializing in CA cosplay, featuring women with CA experience and model body types. In the background was the airline’s financial slump, symbolized by the JAL bankruptcy.
One could enjoy such perverted image play at “Mama and Sis” in Uguisudani, where a sexy married woman reads a sensual novel in your ear. It is an M sex club that offers infantile play and forbidden incest play, and is still in operation today.
In Kagurazaka, “Hanamachi Delhi Hell,” a “hanamachi delicatessen” with only current and former geiko on staff, has appeared. The service is popular for its courtesy, sexy kimono-wearing, and caring hospitality. The manager wanted “more people to know the atmosphere of the Hanamachi district,” so prices started at 20,000 yen for 80 minutes.
Rare idol costumes costing tens of thousands of yen
Osaka has not lost to Tokyo in terms of diversification of cosplay delicatessen.
Nippombashi’s hotel helper and delicatessen “YANCHA GAKUEN Nippombashi School” has changed its name from “school” to “idol cosplay specialist. They prepared 15 kinds of idol costumes made of real materials, four of which were rare and cost tens of thousands of yen, and they were a gem that made enthusiasts moan.
At “Karma,” an SM club in Umeda that offers catfights, boxing, and other fighting games, “sumo wrestling” with women wearing red and white mawashi was a hot topic of conversation. It was refreshing to see them in their dignified kimawashi. The club is still in operation.
The soft SM “Girls’ Dormitory” and “Okusama Club” in Juso offer elaborate “medical play courses. In addition to white coats, stethoscopes, and penlights, they were equipped with instruments commonly used in obstetrics and gynecology, such as forehead band reflectors, scissors, and cepe (a tool used to clean the vagina). The “Okusama Club” is still in operation today.
One of the more unusual examples is Mousou no Yakata, a delicatessen in Nishinakajima where male customers can pretend to be a woman. It was a “cross-dressing and M play specialty store” where male customers could pretend to be women and enjoy fetish play as well as full-fledged SM. The women would do their makeup for them, and there was a wide range of outfits from Lolita to chic.
The Maid Boom Spreads to the Sex Industry
Akihabara, Tokyo, became a social phenomenon with the TV drama “Densha Otoko” featuring male otaku, and a rush of maid cafes opened in the area, turning it into a tourist destination. In the mid-1900s, when the “moe” (moe) boom was sweeping the city, among the “imekura” type delirious sex clubs, the “Akiba-kei” type, which sold maid suits and costumes of anime characters, were particularly active.
Some of them even had stores where you could play along with a detailed storyline, like a script.’ In the 10’s, the shops were divided into anime, game, and comic book shops, and the girls who worked there were all otaku culture enthusiasts, and the trend showed no signs of stopping.
One of the most popular was “Anihiro,” a hotel helper in Osaka’s Taniku district, which boasted a large selection of anime costumes based on requests from customers and girls, and was very popular with the otaku crowd for having more than 500 costumes and a lineup of women who loved cosplay, anime, and games. It is still going strong today.
Similarly, the “Princess Layer” hotel help in Nihonbashi, Osaka, where all the cast members were anime and comic enthusiasts in their private lives. There was a full lineup of costumes, from the standard to the newest, centering on anime costumes.
Kobe Maid Dignity Maiden” in Sannomiya, Kobe, had original maid uniforms. Many customers did not take off their clothes until the end because they were able to play in authentic maid outfits that were meticulously detailed.
The maid boom is spreading to other types of businesses as well. A new type of business called “cosplay yakiniku” has appeared in Otsuka and Kanda in Tokyo. Costumed women grill meat next to you and cook sukiyaki for you to eat. Unlike cabaret clubs, the women were popular because they did not look professional, and in addition to maid costumes, there were also revealing outfits such as high school girl looks with short skirts and swimsuits.
The maid cosplay boom had even spread to Bangkok, Thailand. In the Japanese entertainment district of Tanya, a karaoke club called “Play Girl,” where hostesses in maid costumes served customers, was very popular because it captured the “moe hearts” of the Japanese. In Tanya, there was even a restaurant called “Bangkok Jogakuen” where Thai women in sailor suits greeted customers.
In Tokyo, there was a delicatessen that did not wear a maid’s uniform, but would cook for the customers in “naked with an apron” and play with them in bed after eating their food. There was also a “housekeeper delivery service” that offered not only sexual services but also general housework, such as cleaning and laundry. Both of these stores were a blessing for men who live alone.
In Part 2, we will look in detail at the storefront sex clubs that survived the cleansing operation, as well as the cosplay services that soap operas also began to adopt.
References
Ore no Tabi” (sex industry information magazine), Million Publishing, 2003-2012
Illustrated Japanese Sexual Customs, Nakamura Atsuhiko, Mediacs, 2016.
Nihon no Fuzoku Jyoshi” (Sex and Entertainment in Japan), Nakamura Atsuhiko, Shinchosha, 2014.
In addition, numerous other books and online media were referenced.
Interview, text, and photographs： Akira Ikoma