A Blow to the Industry or No Impact? Sex Industry Insiders Weigh In on Criminalizing Solicitation for Prostitution

Industry insiders weigh in

“I don’t think prostitution will decrease even if soliciting by buyers is criminalized and the women waiting on the streets disappear. The methods of solicitation will simply shift to social media and other platforms, pushing the activity underground. Even now, there are women who do both.

Some women may also start looking for clients through urabiki—private deals arranged without going through the establishment—while working for delivery-based adult entertainment services instead of waiting for customers on the street. If they engage in sex acts with clients, that could negatively affect the business, so it may end up creating disadvantages for adult entertainment establishments.”

That is the prediction of an owner of an adult entertainment business outside Tokyo regarding the potential impact of criminalizing solicitation by buyers.

The Anti-Prostitution Law is expected to be amended, with a bill likely to be submitted during the extraordinary Diet session this autumn. At a meeting of experts convened by the Ministry of Justice on September 17, several members argued that some form of regulation should be introduced to correct the imbalance between the treatment of sellers and buyers, among other reasons, since solicitation by buyers is not currently punishable under the law. The proposal was adopted, with no objections raised, according to the report.

The media have described the move as a major step toward reducing sexual exploitation, while support organizations that assist young people with nowhere to turn in entertainment districts have voiced approval, calling the criminalization of solicitation by buyers a desirable measure. But will it really help make society healthier? We spoke with people in the adult entertainment industry.

“There will be no major impact on the adult entertainment industry. People who solicit customers on the street are generally those who have no intention of working at adult entertainment establishments, or are unable to do so. For a long time, there has been a clear distinction between street prostitution and the adult entertainment industry, and the two have had no connection,” says an executive at a major adult entertainment group.

“It will be a negative for the industry in the sense that it won’t make the sector healthier. Instead, we may see an increase in private deals arranged by women working at establishments, individual prostitution arranged through social media, and women working for enjo deri—illegal prostitution services disguised as compensated dating—or illegal men’s esthetic salons,” says an executive at a consulting firm specializing in the adult entertainment industry.

Although business operators appear to have differing views, they share one prediction: “The activity will simply go underground. Prostitution will not decrease.”

Could society become even more dangerous?

One concern surrounding the criminalization of solicitation by buyers is that, rather than making society safer, it could actually make it more dangerous.

If soliciting customers for prostitution becomes a criminal offense, fewer men will seek to buy sex on the streets, and the number of women selling sex there will also decline. Some women may move into legal adult entertainment establishments, but many are likely to quit after finding that they cannot earn enough there.

As a result, many women who previously engaged in independent prostitution may turn to illegal establishments, where it is easier to start working. The number of men’s esthetic salons and massage parlors secretly offering sexual services could also increase. With police unable to investigate every case, only a small number of establishments will be shut down following complaints, while most will effectively be left alone.

Illegal recruiters linked to tokuryū (anonymous and loosely organized criminal groups) could exploit this situation and operate behind the scenes. Criminal organizations would benefit from the money generated through recruiter kickbacks, further undermining public safety. We must do everything possible to prevent this kind of vicious cycle that criminalizing solicitation by buyers could potentially trigger.

A key question surrounding the proposed legal revision is whether it can curb solicitation through dating apps and social networking services (SNS), which is much harder to detect from the outside. Under the current law, solicitation by those selling sex is punishable even in online spaces. The report by the expert panel has proposed extending the same penalties to buyers who solicit sellers.

However, most adult entertainment operators do not believe that online solicitation for prostitution will actually be policed. Realistically, I also find it difficult to imagine this happening. After all, solicitation by sellers is already punishable under the current law, yet it continues unabated without being cracked down on.

“Police have long turned a blind eye to illegal enjo deri operators, who use social media and other platforms to attract customers and dispatch women to sell sex. Many of them also engage in bijin-kyoku scams, in which women lure men into compromising situations before accomplices extort them. And yet the police still leave them alone. Crackdowns on illegal men’s esthetic salons offering intercourse or intercourse-like acts have also been limited to just the tip of the iceberg,” says the regional adult entertainment business owner quoted earlier.

Given examples like these, some people question how seriously police will enforce the ban on soliciting customers for prostitution on the streets. There also appears to be distrust over the fact that, despite recruiter kickbacks having been prohibited by the 2025 revision of the Entertainment Business Act, the practice continues to be widespread, even though some establishments have been raided.

Some are calling for tougher crackdowns on street prostitution

There have also been complaints that illegal adult entertainment businesses clearly violating the current Anti-Prostitution Law are not being targeted by law enforcement.

“It is said that some karaoke clubs in Shinjuku and Ginza, run by Chinese operators for Chinese customers, offer sexual intercourse. In practice, they are being left virtually unchecked, putting legitimate adult entertainment businesses that comply with the law at a disadvantage. In that sense, I believe the current Anti-Prostitution Law is not functioning at all,” says the executive at the major adult entertainment group quoted earlier.

It is necessary to crack down on illegal activities by unscrupulous operators and ensure that businesses complying with the law are not put at a disadvantage. Some people in the adult entertainment industry are also calling for stronger enforcement against women soliciting customers on the streets.

“The expert panel’s report says they should be subject to punishment because they disrupt public morals and cause trouble for the public. But the problem of women soliciting customers in Kabukicho is at a level that can be addressed by strengthening enforcement.

Regulating solicitation by buyers will only create confusion. I believe what we need is stronger enforcement, not a revision of the law,” says a staff member of an industry association.

We must avoid a situation like the one following the 2025 revision of the Entertainment Business Act, when industry insiders began saying, one year after it took effect, that nothing has improved and things have actually gotten worse. The amended Anti-Prostitution Law must never come to be known as a notoriously bad law.

I believe that solicitation by buyers should not be criminalized. This is because it would strengthen the state’s control over its citizens and make life more difficult for them. I hope the government will take a more tolerant approach and avoid creating more laws that punish the public wherever possible. If everyone puts their heads together, I am sure we can find a better solution.

It is not too late. Taking these dissenting opinions into account, I urge the Ministry of Justice to reconsider its proposed amendments.