The stories about the victims of male hosts’ exploitation seem to become more sensational week by week.
Last week, we wrote about the schoolgirl who was allowed to build up a huge bill at a host club and had to prostitute herself to pay off her debt.
Now comes a story in which this latest moral panic seems to dovetail with another recent trend: the tales of Japanese women going abroad to earn money as sex workers and take advantage of the weak yen.
This has become so common that a crackdown has started in the United States.
China, Hong Kong, and Macau remain popular destinations, however (including for Japanese porn stars who want to earn more money than a shoot).
The Sankei newspaper recently ran a story about a woman who built up a big debt at a host club and turned to working in Macau as a prostitute to pay it back.
The woman in her forties thought it would be impossible, not being able to speak the language, but she found herself with no choice but to travel to Macau last June.
She unknowingly racked up a debt of a ¥1 million at a club, which continued to serve the expensive “champagne towers.” Eventually, her debt grew so much that she had to take out as many as 30 credit cards to keep up with repayments on her debts of ¥25 million.
It was a host who suggested she work overseas as a prostitute and who introduced her to a middle man.
She was presented with several options but chose the Las Vegas of the Far East: Macau.
She worked from six in the evening until four in the morning. She would present herself to 40-50 customers at a “showtime” event on a stage. If she was picked by a customer, they would go to a booth for a session together. She earned around ¥30,000 per session and would service between five or six customers per day. Needless to say, this was physically and mentally very tough on her, and she eventually returned to Japan.
Back home, she was encouraged by the host to continue working as a prostitute, which she did at Yoshiwara.
She has now repaid the ¥25 million to the club but still has to pay off her credit cards.
“I lost my job, my money. All I have is regret,” she says.
