Kabukicho and Okubo Park in Japan are hotspots for illegal prostitution. They’re also the scene of a lot of related fraud, as some women and organized crime groups use dating apps to target men desperate for sex. Lately, two unnamed women in particular have captured headlines for their audaciousness – and their speed.
Is prostitution legal in Japan?
To answer a common question: no, prostitution is not legal in Japan. Certain sexual services outside of penetrative sex are legal within the confines of a properly licensed business governed by the country entertainment, or fuuzoku (風俗), law. Selling sexual services outside of these contexts is against the law.
Kabukicho, in particular, is home to several licensed entertainment and sexual services. On the one hand, you have girl’s bars, cabaret clubs, and host clubs, where customers pay good money mainly for conversation and maybe some light touching. (Businesses like SOD Land, which offers the opportunity to drink with Japanese porn stars, fall on the host/cabaret side of the equation.) On the more explicit side, services like soaplands, S&M clubs, “pink salons” (ピンサロ, ), and “delivery health” (デリヘル, or sexual services delivered to your hotel room) offer everything from sensual massages to oral sex.
These lines are blurry, mind you. In particular, hosts are notorious for developing sexual relationships with their top customers. Such relationships develop throughout Japan’s entertainment scene, usually in the form of papakatsu (パパ活), or a sugar baby relationship.
By contrast, street prostitution – 立ちんぼ (tachinbo) – is strictly illegal. That doesn’t stop people from doing it. Okubo Park, in particular, is practically an open-air market for prostitution. Activity there has shot up in recent years – particularly among Japanese women who resort to prostitution (or are forced into it) to pay off expensive host club bills.
Meet our unique dating app scammers
A more surreptitious form of prostitution and sugar babying happens through dating apps (マッチングアプリ; macchingu apuri). Men (usually married ones) and women meet through apps and rendezvous at an agreed-upon location. This is usually a love hotel or a rental room, a cheap, scaled-down love hotel with just a bed and a shower.
As you can imagine, this scene is also rife with scams. Organized (and not-so-organized) crime gangs use these apps to lure men to makeshift izakaya or bars, where they stiff them with exorbitant drinking bills. Indeed, if you go to Kabukicho, you can hear a female voice issuing from loudspeakers warning specifically against these type of dating app frauds.
Lately, however, two women have managed to set themselves apart from the crowd. They’ve gained a reputation on social media to the point where weekly tabloid Friday wrote an entire piece about them. They’re so well-known that swindled victims have given each of them a nickname.
Glans Dash Yuri (亀ダッシュのゆり)
Our first star, “Glans Dash Yuri”, gets her nickname from the word 亀頭 (kitou), or the glans (head) of the penis.
Why is that, you ask? Well, let me tell you.
Yuri’s modus operandi is to meet men on dating apps and then arrange a meeting in a rental room. Once there, she asks her customer to pay her 20,000 yen (USD $140).
(No, that’s not a lot of money. Sadly, the health crisis, Japan’s worsening economy, and – dare I say – misogyny have all conspired to tank the going rate for sex in Japan. These women aren’t getting nearly what they should compared to their US counterparts. As a result, more Japanese women are trying their hand at sex work in the states.)
Next, Yuri asks him to delete the messages they sent each other on the app. She then requests that he strip.
She then gives the head of his penis a little lick or kiss – and runs like hell out of the room with the money.
One man says Yuri told him, “I’m going to go get some lotion, I’ll be right back” before leaving. “She never came back,” he whined.
Yuri doesn’t seem interested in hiding what she does, either. Social media users report seeing her work daily in Kabukicho. Even the reporter from Friday says they managed to catch sight of her.
Friday says that various rumors swirl around Yuri. Some claim she keeps working despite being roughed up by swindled clients. Others say she’s being forced into the work by the yakuza. However, no one knows what’s true and what’s street legend. In the end, Yuri remains a woman of mystery.
Swift Lila (俊足のライラ) runs with Olympic speed
The second woman who’s the stuff of legend in Kabukicho/Okubo is “Swift Lila.” The name “Lila” apparently comes from the online handle she reportedly used once upon a time to livestream.
Unlike Yuri, Lila operates a “mamakatsu” (ママ活), or “sugar mommy,” scam. She meets men in their 30s on mamakatsu apps, offering to pay them to take her on dates and…well, perhaps offer other services too.
Once in a rental room, Lila requests 20K yen as a “contract fee” and a show of good faith. The whole thing ends up feeling weird, as mamakatsu is usually a hobby of women in their 40s or older. Lila, say witnesses, is clearly still in her 20s.
Like Yuri, Lila waits for an opportune moment to bolt from the room. What makes her stand out is her Olympic-like speed. One social media user reportedly caught her on camera hauling ass down the street after a getaway.
Why police won’t move
So how have Yuri and Lila avoided the law despite operating out in the open so brazenly?
Popular YouTuber Kenzo attempted to run a sting operation on Lila, going on a mamakatsu site to arrange a meeting with her. He called the police over and they interviewed both him and Lila.
In the end, the cops wouldn’t take any action. Lila steadfastly denied everything. And there was no concrete proof that money exchanged hands in exchange for services.
In the end, both parties in these transactions are operating in a legal “grey zone.” Neither will admit to engaging in prostitution. If pressed, one or both parties can insist that, even if money did change hands, it wasn’t for sex.
Support for Team Dash
Japanese social media is full of sob stories of men commiserating over being swindled. However, when I originally shared this story on our X account, nearly all English language commenters were Team Dash.
“Women need to start robbing these types of dudes,” one commenter said. Another chimed in, “Take the money and literally run, sis.” Another user begged that someone make this the subject of a light novel or manga due to its inherent entertainment value.
It’s hard not to sympathize with these women. Japan’s sex industry, like most other countries, tends to be highly exploitative. While there are exceptions, most of the money goes to the men who pull the strings – not the women who do the work. It’s hard to cry when a few women decide to take advantage of a rigged system.
My main concern is for these women’s safety. They could – and may already have – end up seriously hurt running this scheme. Here’s hoping that they both stay safe – and their feet stay swift.
What to read next
Tokyo Court Rules Host Club Host Broke Law Receiving Sex Work Kickbacks
For the first time, a court in Japan rules that hosts taking kickbacks from routing indebted customers to sex shops breaks the law.
Japan Group That Funneled Women into Sex Work Busted
Tokyo Police say Access, a social media-based “scout” network, targeted women who had racked up host club debts.
New Host Club Laws in Japan Would Ban Romance, Impose Hefty Fines
The clubs have come under fire for pushing female customers into debt and, in some cases, forcing them into prostitution.
Sources
歌舞伎町に跋扈する有名「出会い系詐欺女」〝亀ダッシュのゆり〟と〝俊足のライラ〟の巧妙手口とは. Friday
「立ちんぼ」消えない理由はホストクラブの高騰 メイン客層だったキャバ嬢や風俗嬢の収入減、崩れたバランスが生んだゆがみ. ZakZak
