Japan sex industry boom: How tourism and the yen are changing everything
Japan's tourism boom is breaking records — but behind the crowded streets and souvenir shops, a different kind of business is thriving.
Sex work targeting foreign visitors is on the rise, fueled by a weakened yen and demand from tourists seeking 'Japanese-style' experiences.
In this episode of Japan Today Spotlight, we dig into the billion-yen adult industry that's quietly reshaping red-light districts, the legal gray zones that allow it to thrive and what it says about Japan's changing relationship with sex, law and tourism.
From massage parlors to soaplands, how did a once-forbidden market now become wide open.
This is a part of Japan's tourism story that rarely gets attention — and one that sits in a legal and cultural gray zone.
What do you think: Is this a natural consequence of demand and economic shifts or something Japan should be trying harder to regulate?
Watch the full story, and let us know what you think in the comments.
Chapters:
0:00 Topic overview
1:10 Big business
2:14 How foreign clients are reeled in
3:49 What's the going rate?
6:27 Policing the gray zone
7:46 Outro
Japan Today sources:
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Join the conversation!
Is this a natural consequence of demand and economic shifts or something Japan should be trying harder to regulate? Let us know in the comments!
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