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- Tokyo Reported
Woman selling body at soapland to pay host debts: ‘I didn't think I'd get addicted'
TOKYO (TR) – 'I honestly didn't think I'd get so addicted to it.'
Those are the words of a 20-year-old female college student who sells her body at a soapland bathhouse. Most of the 2 million yen she earns per month is spent on that addiction, which is host clubs.
She attempts to explain her addiction to a reporter for Fuji TV information program Mezamashi 8 (Aug. 9). However, as with most matters related to addiction she struggles to provide a common-sense explanation. 'It was so much fun'
As night descends on Kabukicho — Japan's number one entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward — neon lights flood the streets as many women wait to be bought. The reality is that many of them are selling their bodies (like the aforementioned college student) due to debts at host clubs.
The female college student visits host clubs in Kabukicho three or four times a month. On this day, she guides the camera crew around the host club district in Kabukicho.
She first visited a host club when she was 18 years old. It all started with a casual encounter with friends. But when she visited, she saw the glittering interior. As well, many hosts listened to her stories. It was like a different world to her.
'It was so much fun,' she says. She was completely captivated by the hosts on her first visit and began visiting regularly. 'I honestly didn't think I'd get so addicted to it,' she goes on.
She says that she has more than 50 business cards of the hosts she's met so far.
To her, hosts are 'people you can talk to about anything, like friends.' Sometimes they'll kindly give advice, and sometimes they'll laugh with you over silly stories.
Furthermore, unlike idols, hosts are people you can contact frequently. As she kept in touch with them, she became even more addicted.
A college student sells her body at a soapland to cover debts at a host club in Kabukicho (X) 'Cried every day'
At first, she worked in a girl's bar to earn money to spend at a host club. However, the amount she spent gradually increased, which meant that the income from the girls' bar was not enough.
So she started working at a soapland. Unlike a girls' bar, it involves sexual services, as in real sex.
'When I first decided to sell my body, I cried every day,' she says. 'I thought, why me, for this host? I would suddenly come to my senses and think, 'Why am I doing this for this person?''
Currently, she works at a soapland 5-6 days a week, earning about 2 million yen a month. She says that she works at a soapland whenever she has free time. She has sex with 7-8 people a day.
When she told her host that she had started working at a soapland, he replied, 'I see. Well, let's do our best from now on.'
It seemed like a very cold response to her determination to sell her body, but she says that 'selling your body for a host' is so commonplace in Kabukicho. 'Your clothes are cute'
To try to explain why she sells her body for a host, she mentions that she has had a feeling of being compared to her older sister since childhood.
Although her family got along well, she had no confidence in herself because her older sister was always the one to be praised. Further, she says that she has a particularly strong desire to be recognized by others.
For her, even a simple comment from a host like 'Your clothes are cute' or 'Your makeup has changed' can fill her heart.
And the words and actions of the host, who does not deny her but affirms everything, fulfills her need for recognition.
Since she started going to host clubs, two things have changed: her sense of money and her love interests.
Sometimes spends over 1 million yen at a single visit to a host club. As well, she can no longer see ordinary men around her as love interests after spending extended periods with hosts who always take care of their appearance. 'A relationship where we can be together'
In December 2023, the situation changed dramatically around the host club in Kabukicho that she frequents.
In response to a series of troubles at host clubs over the repayment of large debts, the managers of Kabukicho's host clubs announced at a liaison meeting with the ward that they would completely abolish credit by customers from April 2024.
The abolition of credit made it difficult for her to visit host clubs. This was because she would have to prepare the entire amount in advance.
The reporter for the network asked: 'Is a host club worth the 1 million yen a month?'
'It feels like I'm buying entertainment for 1 million yen, so when I think about it, it's true that it's not worth it,' she says. 'I could buy luxury brands and I think that would be better for me…but more than that, I think the time I spend with the hosts is someone I probably wouldn't have met otherwise.'
Where is the happiness in selling your body to spend millions of yen on a host?
'I want to be able to keep in touch with him even after he quits being a host,' she explains, 'and have a relationship where we can be together. I don't think we'll get married, but I'd like to stay on good terms with him.'
