Uncovering Pots and Pops and Surviving the Hidden Sex Industry Beyond Downtown

Compared to the past, there are fewer opportunities to see signs for brothels such as soaplands and health clubs even in downtown areas. This is because the Entertainment Establishments Control Law has made it virtually impossible to open new storefront entertainment establishments, and even those licensed to operate are no longer allowed to expand or remodel. According to data from the National Police Agency, the number of soap parlors in Japan has decreased from 1408 in 1983 to 1185 in 2009.

What has taken their place are non-store type adult entertainment businesses such as “deli-help” services. In 2009, there were 26,674 such establishments. For a long time now, “sex services without stores” have been the mainstream.

However, there are still some sex stores in Japan that are doing their best to continue their business. Among them, there are some that are not located in the downtown or “nightlife district,” but are located in places that make you say, “What, there is a sex establishment in such a place? There is a brothel surviving in such an unexpected place that you might say, “What?

A restaurant in the middle of nowhere may give you a premonition that it may be delicious, but what about a brothel? You may not have a good image of what to expect, such as, “I’m afraid that a very old woman will come out,” or “I’ll be locked up and stripped of my clothes.

However, there are many “pottong brothels” that have survived because of the support of their customers. There is “Japan’s northernmost soap shop” in Hokkaido, a “secluded store” in Kanto that receives nearly 100 customers a day, and a store in Shizuoka Prefecture that is popular among men who live in a nursing home nearby. Each of these establishments has its own strategy and characteristics, and each is quietly supported by the public.

The paid version of “FRIDAY GOLD” publishes a “real-name list” of “pokutsu-no-fusatsu-shops” located in every corner of the country.