This Asian City Is Emerging As Sex Tourism Hub. It's Not Where You Think

In the golden years, this city witnessed a significant economic boom. It remains one of the most liveable cities in the world, a financial power hub and also an emerging city for sex tourism, with men wandering on the streets, looking for women.

The city is not where you are thinking. Apart from Bangkok in Thailand, Tokyo is emerging as a hotbed for sex tourism, with multiple factors driving the interest among foreign tourists, one of them being the weakening of the Japanese Yen against other currencies and robust inbound tourism.

The Star reported quoting, Yoshihide Tanaka, secretary general of the Liaison Council Protecting Youths (Seiboren), that "Japan has become a poor country." Adding, that a park next to his organisation has become synonymous with the city's sex trade. He said they had noticed an increasing number of foreigners frequenting the park as soon as pandemic-era travel restrictions were dropped.

"Now we are seeing a lot more foreign men," he said. "They come from many countries. They are white, Asian, black - but the majority are Chinese," he said. This influx has coincided with a troubling rise in teenagers and women in their early twenties turning to the sex industry to survive, Tanaka said.

"The reality is that Japan has become a country where foreign men can obtain young women and essentially buy sexual services," Japan Times reported quoting Kazunori Yamanoi of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the country's main opposition party. "This is no longer just a domestic issue," he said. "It's a very serious problem regarding how Japanese women are perceived in the international community."

The cops have been cracking down on such activities. Earlier this week, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested five people on suspicion of violating Japan's Employment Security Act. They were allegedly running an operation to recruit women through social media to work in the sex industry. According to police, the suspects' group signed contracts with about 350 shops nationwide and recruited women through social media.

Financial distress suffered by women during Covid-19 is a major factor pushing them into the sex trade, with many wanting to pay off their debts. Some simply want to spend money at host clubs. 

Japan Times earlier reported that establishments, where men flirt with women over food and drink, like host clubs, put women in an endless cycle of debt through malicious schemes. These clubs have been linked to an increase in sex work, including illegal operations overseas and street solicitors, the report said.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), around 43% of women arrested while working the street in 2023 said they started selling their bodies to pay for host clubs and underground male idols. About 80% of those arrested were in their 20s, while three were 19 or younger.

The loopholes in the law and poor implementation of the existing ones have put women in vulnerable positions, often exposing them to physical violence and sexually transmitted diseases. In countries like The Netherlands, prostitution is legal but the industry is highly regulated to ensure the protection of women with increased vigilance in combating human trafficking and other forms of criminal activity, but sex trafficking still remains a pressing issue in the country.