• My stuff on Japanese Prostitution can be found here

Emails/Questions concerning Japanese prostitution

I receive many emails concerning Japanese prostitution, and though I wrote my article on the issue a long time ago, the subject still seems to fascinate people.  Therefore I will post the more interesting mails I get here, of course not releasing information on the identity of the senders. For more information on the issue, check out this page, which contains information on a Japanese girl's contact with Japanese prostitution. Also, turns out that almost 17% of Japanese female junior high school student do not think teenage prostitution is wrong. Some interesting sites containing more info include one made by Time Asia and an article written by Nguyet Thu Nguyen (I have no idea how he manages to remember his name). Thanks to Richard for posting info and his comments on the subject using my feedback form.

Mail Received: March 23, 2001 Hi Jan, I mostly enjoy reading your web site.but I would like to mention my opinion here. Since you are in Japan and know a lot of things about Japanese, could you please put some nice articles about respectable Japanese women? It seems like all those prostitution issues are overpowering (even though nothing but an actual fact of many facets of Japanese life) and people might stereotype Japanese women through 'expert opinions'. There are a lot bunch of decent Japanese school girls in decent, academically excellent schools ( not like all those lower achievers ) and decent, hardworking Japanese women who never been associated with any kind of sleazy business. I don't personally know anybody working in that kind of industry and I am totally insulted if somebody like Mary who sent e-mail to you may think Japanese society is a kind of big whore house. Do you think Japan could have achieved such an economic status and orderly society if girls are just being stupid and selling themselves all the way? Please don't forget there are considerable number of population of losers in any country, and you might encounter these people more often than any others. It depends on ones' luck. Don't over-generalize anything as if your reality is an absolute truth. Being a Japanese woman as fellow Japanese women. I went through lot hell of oppressions, insults, disrespect in Japan and in overseas now seeing a somebody in Japan is just highlighting and digging a stinky gutter of my country and never balanced it up by any other point of view. If you consider my point and put something respectable about Japanese womanhood in your web site, (although it might not so amusing and exciting for foreigners as prostitutions, successful women are boring topic, right?) I will be more than grateful. Thank you and best regards, Rie Ikeda	Answer given: March 30, 2001 Hi Rie, I am sorry that I made you so mad. First of all, I do not think I give the impression that all Japanese women are prostitutes. On average, I have read that one girl in every high school class sells herself for money, while 50% of Japanese men have paid for sexual services. Looking at the figures, Japanese men are a lot dirtier than Japanese women. When it comes to sex, I do not think the same stigmas are attached to the issue in Japan (compared to the West). That can be both good and bad, and I have focused on some pretty negative issues. Still, I think I overall give a pretty positive impression of Japan on my webpage. Did you for example read my diary from Japan? Anyway, Japanese women rock, and are much more beautiful than their sisters in America. Sincerely, Jan
Mail Received: July 25, 2002 Hey there! my name is "X" from "X" and im currently living in Japan on AFS exchange for a year. my friend who's also on exchange saw your site and told me about it. i read you articles on Japanese prostitution, and i thought it was a really really good piece of work! I totally agree with you, i especially agree with Japan being a very fake country and how they never really tell the truth even the afs people in Japan still try to pretend that nobody does the stuff they tell us not to do here. that really bothered me, and i thought that maybe i was one of the only people who found that about Japan, but after talking to some ppl and seeing your site , i see that most of the ppl who come to this country leave with the same sort of opinion! i think your article was really interesting and very true, i think it soo sad how Japan seems to think it needs to put up such a facade for the world or itself. well its nice to have seen your site and seen how other exchanges coped in Japan, maybe ill talk to you again some time!! Bye for now, "X"	Answer given: July 29, 2002 Dear "X", I am still in Japan, so I know about the crap... Heh heh, but, you know, even though many people in AFS are a bunch of idiots, at least you need to respect them for the work they do. Ignore what they say, and try to learn about Japan by other means. Talk to friends without being critical (ask questions), read books, and so on. Japanese people tend to be pretty liberal about sex, but I am sure many people are in Australia as well. Guess it comes down to different ways of thinking about stuff, although Japanese people certainly can be considered to be very shallow and bla bla bla. Anyway, try not to make it screw up your day. Having lived here for four years, I know that the only way to survive is not to make other people's problems yours... If you know what I mean. Sincerely, Jan
Mail Received: April 4, 2004 Dear Jan, Thank you for your great article on teenage prostitution in Japan. It is  a great thing to find some insight views through a gaijin's eyes. First, I apologize for I'm going to make a very long rant. I can't help it, I'm not very good in making points. I'm 28 years old (born in 1975), living in Sidoarjo, Indonesia. I live in a country that has been inundated with Japanese influence for decades.  First, came the cars, motorcycle, electronic stuffs, workers, etc. And for the last 10 years, the cultural invasion: manga, anime, dorama, movies, etc. Older generation tends to stereotype Japanese with the 'traditional' stuffs: samurai, geisha, kimono. At one point people actually believe that Japanese women wear kimonos every time and Japanese men still committing harakiri/seppuku when they failed to uphold their honor. Yet today's youths come in-touch first with Japanese culture via mangas  and animes. Bishoujo (girls) manga is very popular in Indonesia, and dozens of old and new titles literally invade this country every month. Many of these manga contain cheesy and dreamy stuffs, so the 'heavy' stuff like enjo kosai seldom beeps on the radar. The concluded perception: Japan is nice, clean, safe, every teenage girls can dream about having a good -looking boyfriend, and there is nothing wrong with wearing ultra mini-skirts, cat-ears and other 'girls stuffs' - as long  as they're cute. That's up until three years go. We're now bracing another wave of Japanese culture: ecchi and hentai (in manga, anime and games). Suddenly  everything are turned upside down: train molesters are on rampant, girls actually enjoyed being raped, sailor and catholic school uniforms are seen as an erotic stuffs, etc. Hail Japan, the land of sex (including  the abnormal ones). First these things can only be found on the internet, but now finding them on bookstore and game store shelves is a norm. Kids can read/play them too! Yes, I know that they're not real, only some 'make-believe' mangas and animes. I thinks that's how Japanese manage to tolerate them. But I  fear that's not how our youths interpret them. Something interesting just happened: they just published a new girl manga about kogal and all things related: heavy- consumerism, cute cell phones, cute accessories, free-all-you-can-imagine style, and yes: enjo kosai! I think the author is very brave, dare to put these sensitive issues on her manga. Still it doesn't portray enjo kosai as a  nation-wide phenomenon (only committed by one character). I guess they don't want the girls to stop dreaming about Japan. Now, you see I'm really not good at all in making points. Better stop now. Good luck and best regards, Ndaru	Answer given: May 29, 2004 Nothing really interesting written in response.

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