Enjo kōsai
Enjo kōsai (
The opposite case of women paying men, gyaku enjo kōsai (逆援助交際, gyaku 逆 meaning "reverse"), is rarer, but
Definition
The most common connotation of the term enjo-kōsai in Japan is that it is a form of
Furthermore, in a 1998 survey by the Asian Women's Fund, researchers found that fewer than 10 percent of all high school girls engage in enjo-kōsai and over 90 percent of the girls interviewed attested to feeling uncomfortable with the exchange or purchase of sexual services for money.[4]
On October 26, 2015, the
Perceptions in Japanese society
A 1997 poll in the Japanese
Media depiction
Within Japan, the media tends to show enjo-kōsai in a rather negative light. The typical scenario involves a girl desperate for money, so she decides to partake in enjo-kōsai. Only later does she stop when a friend or individual intervenes and informs her of the potential risks and consequences of her behavior. Several examples from films and television series are listed below.
Masato Harada's 1997 film Bounce Ko Gals follows the story of a Japanese schoolgirl in Tokyo who is convinced to try enjo-kōsai as a way to raise money quickly after being robbed. Harada uses the plot as a metaphor for and critique of Japanese consumerism, in which everything including people becomes a product.
In Hideaki Anno's 1998 movie Love & Pop, the main character, a 16-year-old high school girl named Hiromi, goes on subsidized dates in order to purchase a ring she adores. Her parents do not pay much attention to her and Hiromi often hangs out with her three closest friends who have been going on subsidized dates. Hiromi follows her friends and begins doing the same. Throughout the movie, they meet with different kinds of men and accompany them in various activities. These activities include having dinner at a restaurant, tasting a man's cooking, singing at a karaoke bar and visiting in a video rental store. Although Hiromi nearly gives in and has sex for the remainder of money needed for the ring, her date gives her a lesson on why she should not do so.
In the Japanese live action drama series GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka), a female student named Miyabi, out of boredom and lack of adult supervision at home, pressures her friends, Chikako and Erika, to go on subsidized dates with older men, and to steal their money when the men are in the showers. Chikako accidentally meets their teacher Onizuka on one of these dates. In the hotel room, Chikako insists that Onizuka take a shower. Onizuka realizes the trap, stops Chikako's attempt to escape, and teaches her a lesson why her first sexual experience should come out of love and not have anything to do with money. Incidentally, Onizuka (himself a virgin) learns the same lesson from that very occasion.
Conversation over the controversy of enjo-kōsai even finds its way into shows geared toward girls (
In the 1998 anime series Initial D, highschool student Natsuki Mogi is into enjo-kōsai, going out with a rich older man ("Papa") who gives her gifts in exchange.
In the anime series
In the 2018 anime series FLCL Progressive, Aiko is a girl-for-hire for Goro Mouri.[13]
The 2020 anime series Rent-A-Girlfriend, first serialized as a manga in 2017, inverts the portrayal of enjo-kōsai by focusing on the main male character, Kazuya Kinoshita, who rents a girlfriend after being dumped by his ex.
Japanese idol group AKB48's second major label single, "Seifuku ga Jama o Suru" (制服が邪魔をする, (School) uniform is getting in the way) drew public attention with its controversial music video, which is a literal visualization of the lyrics, somewhat hinting at the subject of enjo-kōsai. Even the sales copy on its TV commercial was "Otousan, gomennasai" (お父さん、ごめんなさい, Sorry, dad), a comment made by Atsuko Maeda, who played a key role on its video clip.[14]
Societal backdrop
Although the greater part of Japanese society discourages this type of behavior, that has not stopped teachers, monks, government officials, company executives, and others of high social status from being arrested for their involvement with enjo kōsai.[15][16][17]
Government regulation
Prostitution has been illegal in Japan since 1958, but only prostitutes and
During the 1990s enjo-kōsai, as well as other forms of child exploitation, gained national attention in Japan leading to international awareness.
To combat enjo-kōsai and other forms of juvenile misbehavior, many
Other countries or districts
Taiwan
The use of the term began to spread to other East Asian places in the late 1990s via media. The idea of compensated dating became popular in Taiwan after the airing of the Japanese
A key difference between enjo-kōsai in Japan and Taiwan is the way in which girls set up dates with clients. While
South Korea
Compensated dating also happens in
Hong Kong
According to social workers, teenagers as young as 15 advertise themselves as available for "compensated dating".[22] The practice is becoming more acceptable among Hong Kong teenage girls, who do not think compensated dating is a kind of prostitution. Some believe it is different because it does not involve sexual intercourse and they can choose their clients, who range from teenage boys to married men. Some even think they are helping others.[22] The internet allows girls more opportunities to offer to shop, eat out or go to a movie with men in return for payment to fulfill their material needs. However, due to the nature of this practice, sexual intercourse unavoidably happens in many cases. In April 2008, the brutal murder of a 16-year-old girl, Wong Ka-mui, who was taking part in compensated dating, drew attention to the issue.[23]
United States
With the economy in recession[citation needed] and tuition costs rising, many students are heavily in debt. Faced with financial difficulties, a number of female college students or new grads are turning to a "sugar daddy" for financial help. According to a report by The Huffington Post in 2011, the arrangements involve women signing up for free on websites as "sugar baby" candidates, using their college email addresses. Male clients, referred to as "sugar daddies", join these websites with paid subscriptions as proof of their financial means. The individuals are matched online, followed by in-person meetings at a public place, such as a coffee shop. Each candidate decides whether the other candidate is suitable, i.e. age, physique, personality etc. If the candidate is desirable, the next date may involve sex. The Huffington Post reported compensation of about $500 per night. Ideal "sugar babies" appear to be college students below the "mid twenties".[24]
See also
References
- ^ Backhaus, Peter (24 September 2012), "Indecent proposals: the language of Japanese dating spam", The Japan Times
- ^ "The Meaning of Enjo-Kousai Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine" DawnCenter Official Web Site. 2003. Dawn Center- Osaka Women's Prefectural Center. 12 October 2007.
- ^ .
- ^ Fukutomi Mamoru (March 1997). "An Analytical Study on the Causes of and Attitudes Toward 'Enjo Kōsai' among Female High School Students in Japan". Professor, Tokyo Gakugei University: 75–76.
- ^ "Clarification of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography following her end-of-mission press conference in Japan". www.ohchr.org. Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
- ^ a b 援助交際13%発言の「国連特別報告者」の役割は何だったのか (in Japanese). Yahoo Japan News. 17 November 2015. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021.
- ^ "Demarche to the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 9 November 2015. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021.
- The Huffington Post (in Japanese). 10 November 2015. Archived from the originalon 23 November 2022.
- ^ "Reply from the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 11 November 2015. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022.
- ^ 「日本の女子高生援助交際13%」国連報告者が撤回 (in Japanese). TV Asahi. 12 November 2015. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Leheny, David. Think Global, Fear Local: Sex, Violence and Anxiety in Contemporary Japan. New York: Cornell University Press, 2006.
- S2CID 143133036.
- CBR.com.
Aiko, for whatever reason, breaks that mold by wearing a few too many hats. She's a rent-a-girlfriend who's nice and innocent while on payroll yet distant when off
- ^ AKB48's "Seifuku ga jama wo suru" Archived 8 April 2013 at archive.today
- ^ Kingston, Jeff. Japan's Quiet Transformation: Social Change and Civil Society in the 21st Century. RoutledgeCurzon, New York: 2004.
- ^ Okubo, Maki (12 August 2016). "Former child prostitutes cry out in pain at Tokyo exhibition". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
- ^ Sahara, Kento (2 September 2016). "Japan exhibition puts child prostitution in the limelight". Reuters.
- ^ Goodman, Roger. Family and Social Policy in Japan: Anthropological Approaches (Contemporary Japanese Society). Cambridge University Press. 2002.
- ^ Tokyo bill to outlaw sex with youths for money. New York Times; 4 April 1997, Vol. 146.
- ^ Oi-Wan Lam, "Why Did Enjo Kōsai Anchor in Taiwan But Not in Hong Kong? Or the Convergence of "Enjo" and "Kōsai" in Teenage Sex Work." Inter-Asia Cultural Studies; August 2003, Vol. 4 Issue 2, p353, 11p.
- ^ Yoshimi Nagamine (5 May 2004). "article". The Daily Yomiuri. Archived from the original on 18 March 2009.
- ^ a b Nickkita Lau (15 October 2007). "Teen girls sell sex via the internet". The Standard. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009.
- ^ Carol Chung (30 June 2008). "Teen escorts risk sex fiends". The Standard. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009.
- ^ "College Students Using 'Sugar Daddies' To Pay Off Loan Debt". Huffington Post. 29 July 2011.
External links
- Compilation of articles on Enjo kōsai
- Drake, Kate (as told to). "She's Only a Little Schoolgirl". Time Asia. Archived from the originalon 3 June 2001.
- Girls sell sex in Hong Kong to earn shopping money from CNN.com