Fanime Report 3 - The Japanese Sex Trade in Anime and Manga

INTRO:

My third report on Fanime Con 2010 is on the first adult only presentation I have ever done.

On Saturday night I had my Japanese Sex Trade in Anime and Manga presentation. This broke the record for any presentation I have ever done. Con staff estimated attendance was over 130 people. I will repeat this presentation at Fanime in two or three years as I have other presentations I would like to start doing at the con.

I began the presentation by stating that everything I was going to say had to be taken with a grain of salt. It is not easy to find reliable information on the Japanese sex trade. I noted that not only the web not a good resource for things Japanese it is significantly unreliable for the Japanese sex trade. Most web pages or online postings are either so vague as to be useless or riddled with fantasies that do not apply to reality. I also noted that I had no first had experience with the trade.

I covered several of the books that have been written on the subject and noted that the best is Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubs by Joan Sinclair. I also recommended Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein even though that book only partly covers the trade.

One important thing I mentioned is that any conviction of a prostitution related crime, or drug crime, will get you banned from Japan. This means if you are planning to work, study or visit Japan you should not engage in certain activities.

The reason I covered this subject in my own research is that I attempt to track down reliable information on any subject I see in anime or manga so I can add it to my Anime Companion Supplement web pages. The two volumes of the book had few entries on the subject due to the lack of good secondary sources.

The terms I used in the presentation, and many more, are listed in my supplement and can be located through the Topical/Subject Index under their related headings:
Business - The Sex Trade [for general terms]
Business - The Sex Trade - Business Types
Terminology Sexual

Then I covered adult entertainments that are not in the sex trade, such as geishas, and items that are on the margin, such as enjo kōsai (compensated dating), love hotels, hostsess and host clubs.

The items I covered, with some titles that include them, were:

chikan densha (pervert train) I showed an image of an actual one from Pink Box - Midnight Sleazy Train

enjo kōsai (compensated dating) - Gals (manga), Super Gals (anime) and IWGP: Ikebukuro West Gate Park v.1 (manga)

fasshon herusu (fashion health) - 20th Century Boys v.4 (manga)

fasshon massaji (fashion massage) - Wicked City (anime)

imēji kurabu (image club) - IWGP v.2 (manga)

kappuru kissa (couples cafe) - IWGP v.1 (manga)

kyaba kura (cabaret club) - GTO (v.13 ch.101) (manga)

nozokibeya (peeping room) - Chobits ep.7 (anime)

rabu hoteru (love hotel) - show up in many titles

sōpurando ("soapland") - My Fair Masseuse (anime)

terekura (telephone club) - Sexy Voice and Robo (manga)

ura fūzoku (illegal sex industry) - Cage (anime)

urisen bā (auction bar) - City Hunter ep.4 (anime)

I finished up with a short video clip from City Hunter 2 (ep.31) with Ryo saying "Kane no kireme ga en no kireme" (the end of the money is the end of the relationship) after he is cordialy escorted out of a club.