We recently reported about the large-scale closure of soaplands around Japan following the shuttering of a major chain, possibly to avoid a police crackdown in the wake of the investigation into a major scouting operation that has had far-reaching consequences for the Japanese adult entertainment industry.
And with the closures, it brings to mind a peculiar legal situation for soaplands in Tokyo: according to the regulations governing sex services, you are not allowed to open an establishment in the city, with the exception of a few blocks near Yoshiwara, the old red-light district of Tokyo. The fuzoku law also prevents an establishment from opening within 200 meters of a school, library, or hospital, which is partly why love hotels and brothels tend to cluster in certain districts.
Soaplands and brothels are allowed to open in a particular part of Senzoku 4-chome, Taito ward, east Tokyo. It lies just north of tourist destination Asakusa.
Although prostitution was banned in the 1950s, the old pleasure quarters like Yoshiwara/Senzoku and red-light districts like Kabukicho have continued to host establishments that got around the law through loopholes and camouflage (such as not offering full service, at least officially).
Strictly speaking, no new soaplands (or other kinds of brothels, often euphemistically called “fashion health”) can open outside a particular part of Senzoku 4-chome. (The situation is more relaxed for strip clubs, adult shops, video booths, peeping booths, and massage parlors.) The others that exist in Tokyo either opened before the revised regulations came into effect or are operating illegally and liable to be shut down.
Until now, operators had enjoyed the blind eye of police, who did not tend to enforce the rules arbitrarily (and no doubt, there were bribes and freebies thrown in aplenty — we know how the police love to frequent soaplands themselves).
With the new tension following the demise of scouting organizations Natural and Access (which recruited sex workers), owners will probably think twice about testing the definition of the law and running foul of the fuzoku law and local regulations. Don’t expect to see any new soaplands in Tokyo outside of Senzoku any time soon.
