Report on a “Prostitution Internet Cafe” in Kabukicho, Shinjuku!
“Can we meet at ‘Grand Castama’ in Kabukicho now?”
Recently, posts like this have been appearing frequently on Twitter. The words that always accompany these posts are “P-katsu” and “Otona 2,” which means “papa-katsu,” and “Otona 2” or 20,000 yen for the main act. The women who offer sexual services are recruiting customers on Twitter.
Gran Customa is an upscale Internet cafe with private rooms, complete with showers and large baths, and is gaining popularity. It has four branches in the Tokyo metropolitan area, including one in Ueno, but it is at the Kabukicho branch that prostitution has been repeatedly reported.
The author visited the Kabukicho branch at around 5 p.m. on a certain May evening. As each floor was explored, starting from the top floor (5th floor), it was found out that each floor was a labyrinth of narrow corridors lined with rooms. In such a labyrinth-like passageway, the author passed several young women. Some women moved suspiciously, exiting one private room and entering another.
Misa (pseudonym, 19), who actually works as a prostitute at Gran Customa, explained the system to us.
“When a DM comes in, they send me a copy of the room number, and I go to the customer’s room. After entering the room, I get paid and we play. I have been here almost every day for about 6 months. I have about five to six customers a day, sometimes more than 10.”
Misa’s daily income is from 20,000 yen “with a rubber” to her main act which is more than 100,000 yen. However, she says, “I only eat curry from the free service at the basement space to keep my food costs down.”
“I’m a hustler (laughs). I stay here from noon to about 8 p.m. and take the money I earn to a host club in Kabukicho every night. I come back here in the morning, sleep until noon, until I go to the host again.”
Why does she choose Gran Customa?
“The main reason is the turnover rate. At a hotel, it takes more than an hour for one guest to meet, check in, shower, and go. Here, everyone is done in about 20 minutes, and there is no need to move around. Also, if I ever have a rude guest, I can just open the door and yell and help will come. The staff must be suspicious of me because they’ve seen me going in and out of the rooms many times, but I’ve never had anyone say anything about it. I’ve seen a customer get upset because he was moaning too loudly, and the waiter had to deal with it (laughs).”
But the number of competition is a concern for Misa.
“There are always four or five girls doing the same thing. Lately, there have been a lot of minors. Since the police cracked down on them, they seem to be streaming in from the area. Around here, there aren’t many internet cafes with fully private rooms that allow people under 18 at midnight, but I’ve never been asked for ID here. There are girls who are clearly underage coming and going in the hallway. I don’t like it because the more young girls we have, the more customers we lose.”
The crackdown she refers to was an on-site inspection conducted by Shinjuku City and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on April 21 at lodging facilities in the Kabukicho area. They called for thorough age verification of guests at hotels and other establishments that are reportedly used by groups of minors and others who run away from home and gather in Kabukicho for lodging and aid-seeking.
The author interviewed Sirius Corporation, the operator of Gran Customa, regarding the prostitution activities taking place in the store, but the spokesperson only said, “We would like to refrain from giving a response.”
Hirotaro Kato, an attorney at Kato & Asakawa Law Office, points out,
“Providing a place for prostitution with the knowledge that the other party will engage in prostitution is a violation of the Anti-Prostitution Law and is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 100,000 yen, and in the case of repeated provision, imprisonment for up to seven years and a fine of up to 300,000 yen. ‘Soaplands’ or bathhouses turned to brothels, which have been tacitly approved as ‘free love,’ have also been exposed recently, so there is a possibility that the police will act.”
Prostitution in internet cafes must not be allowed to continue unchecked.
From the June 17, 2022 issue of FRIDAY
Interview and text： Yuuki Okukubo
Writer
PHOTO： Takayuki Ogawauchi (1st photo)
