Japan’s sex industry remains a booming business. However, while people continue to profit off of the work that women do, the workers themselves are afforded few protections. That became clear this year when a major chain shuttered overnight, leaving former cast suddenly wondering how they’d make ends meet.
Marin closes all stores
Marin operated 21 soaplands across Japan. Soaplands, also known as “Turkish baths” or “private saunas,” are businesses where the female staff give male clientele sexual showers and massages. The business model became popular starting in 1959, after the passage of Japan’s Prostitution Prevention Law pushed the country’s sex workers into the remaining legal venues for sexual services.
Marin was a child company of a much larger corporation, Morishita Group. Morishita also runs Internet manga cafe chain Mambō and Kintarō, a chain of adult video viewing stores. Owner Morishita Keiichi is often dubbed the “King of Nightlife” for his holdings in host clubs, hostess clubs, and similar businesses.
On January 30th, however, Morishita decided to exit the soapland business, closing all 21 stores in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and the Kansai region.
Cast had no notice that the stores were going to close. They found out via a LINE message on the 30th.
Finding new work isn’t easy
The move left everyone wondering what to do next. Soapland cast are almost always hired as independent contractors (業務委託; gyōmu itaku) under Japanese law. That means they’re not legally entitled to 30 days notice, severance, or most of the other benefits afforded full-time workers.
One nightlife worker, R, told the magazine Daily that it isn’t always easy to recover quickly from the sudden loss of employment, either. While not part of the Marin Group firing, she’s lost her job twice when the store where she worked closed without warning.
R said that, after learning she was suddenly a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), she contacted a delivery health business (a business in which sex workers go to client’s hotel rooms). However, that business closed the next day.
Other workers say they’ve also found it hard, if not impossible, to pivot to regular work. Their thin resumes and absence of employment insurance history make it hard for them to find work outside of the sex industry. Most feel they can’t tell anyone about their work – especially their families.
As a result, many remain in the sex industry, either working at a store, risking arrest by selling their services directly in areas like Okubo Park, or falling in with criminal scout groups and working overseas.
Sex workers and other entertainment workers found themselves in a similar situation during the COVID-19 crisis, when most entertainment businesses were forced to close. At the time, some TV commentators argued fiercely that nightlife workers shouldn’t get the same financial assistance that “regular” people received.
It’s hard out here for sex businesses in Japan
The move by Marin isn’t unprecedented. In 2012, Orange Group shut down after police and prosecutors accused it of violating the Prostitution Prevention Law. 630 “soap girls” found themselves out of work overnight.
It’s unclear why Marin Group closed its doors. Signs at stores hinted at “financial difficulties.” Insiders, however, dispute that, saying that Marin has been struggling due to a 2018 tax investigation. Others blame internal restructuring within the larger Morishita group.
One thing’s for sure, though. While sex sells, the form in which sex sells in Japan continues to evolve.
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The nightlife and sex industry (風俗; fūzoku) continues to be profitable, raking in ¥5-6 trillion (~$31-38B USD) annually – a substantial share of the broader entertainment economy. While areas like Tokyo’s Shinjuku continue to serve as Japan’s sexual marketplaces, their influence is dwindling. The number of Type-1, or store-based, sex industry stores fell in Japan from 7,402 in 2014 to 6,651 in 2023.
Most of this is the result of a continuing crackdown on sex-based businesses that cross the line from offering non-penetrative sexual services to full-on sex, which constitutes prostitution. New sex businesses often decide to minimize hassle and instead opt to start a delivery health business, which doesn’t require a storefront.
In other words, the money is following the easiest, most frictionless path to success. Often, this path involves leaving workers out in the cold. There’s no question the Morishita group could have afforded to give the workers who padded their wallets a softer landing.
Instead, as soon as they had no use for them, they threw them away.
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Sources
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全国21店のソープが一夜にして消えた…日の出の勢いだった「マリングループ」一斉閉店の〝ウラ〟 FRIDAYデジタル (講談社)
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歓楽街の帝王・森下グループ「マリン」全店閉店の怪 総工費10億円の宮殿を捨ててまで撤退する理由 coki (公器)
【歓楽街の帝王・森下景一】森下グループが「マリン」全店閉店！何があった？原因は？「ナチュラル」摘発の余波か？ 宮活は
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