All photos from Joan Sinclair’s book Pink Box: Inside Japan’s Sex Clubs.

Prostitution is illegal in Japan, which may be one of the reasons for so many creative “alternatives.” Whatever the reasons, the commercial sex industry in Japan is bold, ubiquitous, and incredibly diverse – a magical hall of mirrors for the die-hard pervert.

Consider this: Japan’s largest red-light district, Kabukicho, is a convenient two minute walk from Shinjuku, the largest train station in the world, teeming with over 3.64 million daily commuters.

Here is a short list of a few of the more interesting club themes and services available to the paying public.

Image Clubs

Stewardesses from a flight themed club whisper to one another. All photos from Joan Sinclair’s book Pink Box: Inside Japan’s Sex Clubs.

Themed clubs or Image Clubs are establishments offering a variety of sexual services in a specifically themed setting. For example, chikan densha, or pervert trains are places where the john enters a look-alike subway car, gropes a number of girls for about ten minutes or so and then chooses one with whom to proceed to a private room.

Other popular themes include nurse’s offices, high school classrooms, and bored housewives. A variety of services are available, running the gamut of vanilla sex acts.

Soaplands

Soapland in an off hour.

Soaplands are some of the most common brothel-type establishments in Japan. Because prostitution is technically illegal, the businesses advertise as being private bathhouses (aka soaplands) much in the same way certain massage parlors are operated in the U.S.

The client undresses and is bathed soup to nuts, generally by one or two hostesses. An array of lotions, bubble baths, and lubricants are used, and in certain scenarios the women strip down and lube themselves up before rubbing their bodies on the customer, using their own skin as a soapy sponge to “wash” them. This generally culminates in a garden variety sex act, the type of which is determined by the client’s budget.

Touch Pubs

Sometimes called Peeping Rooms or even Pink Salons, Touch Pubs are hostess clubs where customers go to engage in sexual touching. Each client gets his own cubicle, sometimes with a view of a live peep show, sometimes with just a TV and a selection of pornography.

A hostess then comes around and takes his order and service is generally delivered on the spot. Average prices range from about $30 to $40 for manual stimulation and $50 to $60 for oral sex. Some clubs offer a “lucky hole” in which the sex worker performs the sexual acts through a hole in a one-way mirror and never sees the customer’s face.

Breast Molestation

Breast Molestation is a specialty of many clubs. Patrons pay for access to a private room and a girl of their choice. Once the girl enters the room the groping begins, the grabbing and fondling continue for a limited amount of time.

There is a general understanding that no other sexual acts will take place, and the customer is to abide by strict rules, only touching the breasts. Very rarely do measures have to be taken to deal with customers who have broken the rules.

Remote Control Vibrator Play

One interesting game is tobikko play, in which the girl wears specialized panties with a built in vibrator that is remote controlled. The game is often times played in public while the couple walks from the front desk of the sex club to a nearby love hotel. The client controls the remote and can hit the switch at anytime, teasing the escort to his liking.

Doll Clubs

One of the more unusual club concepts is the Doll club, in which one can pay by the hour for a room and a personal session with a Real Doll Patrons can choose the face, hair and clothing. Even interchangeable vaginas can be inserted into each doll per customer specifications.

The dolls are incredibly life-like, and weigh about the same as a real woman. Moreover, the price for “alone time” is almost the same as with a living prostitute. What goes on once the door closes is at the client’s discretion – his desires so private they needn’t even be shared with a hooker. The maintainer of the doll may have a pretty good idea, though.

Left: Doll from a Doll Club, right:the spoils of a panty auction

Panty Service

The Japanese obsession with used women’s panties is reflected in some of the services available to those who are willing to fork over enough cash.

Certain clubs offer a special service where the client pays extra for the urine soaked underwear of his date as a souvenir.

Other clubs offer panty auctions, where prospective buyers place bids while the undies are shown in action by models who wear nothing else. Once the bidding ends the women take them off and the keepsakes go into individual plastic bags for the soon-to-be happy customers.

For more on Japan’s sex industry check out the book Pink Box by Joan Sinclair.

Photos taken by Abram Sinclair from his copy of the book.

Community Connection

Want to learn more about Japan? Turner Wright gives you 10 Customs You Must Know Before a Trip to Japan.

And for a big laugh, check out Abram’s classic post on how Teaching English in Japan is Awesome and Sometimes Hilarious.

Kyushu Jangara – Harajuku Branch

Kyushu Jangara is a chain shop hailing from the island Kyushu (hence the name). Jangara is one of the most tourist friendly ramen shops in all of Tokyo, located just a one minute walk from Harajuku station. It also has an English menu, making ordering easy for first-timers.

On most weekends a member of the staff can be seen just outside the entrance, trying to usher shoppers inside and control customers in waiting if the line gets long.

The soup stock here is tonkotsu (pork bone) based, made from slow roasting pork bones for hours, sometimes even days. You can usually pick up a strange smell in the air that is characteristic of the tonkotsu stock making process.

The noodles here are quite good, and I would definitely recommend the shop due to its convenience and proximity to the shopping Mecca of Harajuku.

Kyushu Jangara – Harajuku

Shanzeru Harajuku II 1-2F, 1-13-21 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Tel: 03.3404.5572

Photo by Marufish

Menya Musashi – Shinjuku Branch

The Shinjuku branch of Menya Musashi is one of most famous ramen shops in the area. It has been featured on Japanese television several times, and lines of 20 people or more stretching down the alleyway are not uncommon around lunchtime on weekdays.

Musashi’s ramen is served in a light, shoyu (soy sauce) based broth; hints of katsuo (skipjack tuna) and yuzu (Japanese citrus fruit) can also be noted. After ordering your meal from a vending machine located by the entrance, one of the staff will take your ticket and ask if you want your ramen kotteri (heavier flavor) or assari (lighter flavor).

All of the cooks are animated in the open kitchen, with the head noodle chef constantly yelling as he pulls noodles from boiling water and shakes them. Musashi is a good place for ramen beginners; the taste is not too rich or overpowering, and the atmosphere is festive.

A good choice if you find yourself near Shinjuku station.

Menya Musashi – Shinjuku

K-1 Build. 1F, 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Tel: 03.3363.4634

Photo by Telstar Logistics

Ramen Tetsuya – Higashi Koenji

Located in Higashi Koenji, Ramen Tetsuya serves up some of the best authentic Sapporo style ramen in Tokyo. I suggest ordering the Shoyu Chashu Men, which comes with hefty slices of smoked pork served over perfectly boiled noodles and a delicious broth.

I’ve heard that the original shop is located in Sapporo; this is the owner’s one branch outside of Hokkaido. Overall, one of my favorite bowls of noodles in the city, highly recommended if you are looking for something just a little different than your typical Tokyo ramen.

Ramen Tetsuya – Koenji

23. Umesato, Suginami-ku, Tokyo

Tel: 03.5929.1388

Ippudo – Ebisu Branch

If you have only have time to visit one ramen shop while in Tokyo, Ippudo might be your best bet for a great all-around Japanese ramen experience. Ippudo is one of the most famous ramen chains in Japan. There are many branches spread all across the country serving up Hakata style tonkotsu ramen from the island of Kyushu.

The soup stock is creamy and delicious, a unique taste that most people have never experienced prior to arriving in Japan. Along with your ramen comes an assortment of all you can eat toppings, including spicy moyashi (bean sprouts), crushed ninniku (garlic), karashi takana (spicy pickled greens) and shoga (pickled ginger).

Ippudo recently gained some publicity in the United States as it opened their first international branch, located in New York City.

Ippudo – Ebisu

1-3-12 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Tel: 03-5420-2225

Taishoken – Higashi Ikebukuro

Taishoken is one of the most famous ramen shops in Tokyo. Its owner, Kazuo Yamagishi, is said to be the inventor of tsukemen. While traditional ramen is a soup consisting of noodles, broth, and toppings all served together in a bowl, tsukemen is noodles and soup served separately.

The soup that comes with tsukemen is usually a little more potent in flavor than typical ramen broth, and is meant to be used as a dipping sauce for the noodles rather than to drink. While tsukemen is now common food in Japan, Taishoken is considered to be the original.

Taishoken

4-28-3 Higashi Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo

Tel: 03.3981.9360

Photo by Marufish

Ramen Jiro – Takadanobaba Branch

If any Tokyo ramen shop has a cult following, Ramen Jiro is it. There are 28 locations in the Tokyo metropolitan area (as far as I know), and while each follow the same basic recipe, they all vary slightly depending on the variations of toppings and ingredients the head chef of each shop decides to use.

The broth, made from both tonkotsu and shoyu stock, is almost more of a thick sauce rather than soup, with large globules of pork fat suspended the broth. On top of an already massive bowl, the chef will ask if you want additional bean sprouts, garlic, or pork fat, which he will throw in at no extra charge.

Jiro is hugely popular with college students, especially male college students. The shops are dirty, the counters greasy, and you are guaranteed to leave with your stomach ready to burst open. Not for the faint of heart but delicious nonetheless, Ramen Jiro is an experience like no other.

Ramen Jiro – Takadanobaba

3-12-1 Takadanobaba, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Tel: NA

Ramen Oyaji – Machida Branch

Ramen Oyaji is a little off the beaten bath, located on the edge of Kanagawa prefecture and over an hour by train from central Tokyo. For those looking for authentic Sapporo style Miso ramen however, look no further, for Oyaji ramen is the next best thing to hopping on a flight up to Hokkaido.

The broth here is made from white Miso, and is so creamy and rich I put it right up there with the best ramen I have had in Japan. Not to be outdone by the soup itself, the egg noodles are pretty close to perfection as well, served slightly al dente. I always go with the Oyaji set.

At 1000 yen you get a huge bowl of ramen and a plate of delicious gyoza dumplings. Well worth the trip for ramen connoisseurs looking to get out of the city.

Ramen Oyaji – Machida

1-19-1 Nakamachi, Machida-shi, Tokyo

Tel: 042-723-2951

Hakusan Ramen – Sengoku

What looks like a ramen restaurant from the outside is more of a counter where you order, pay, and pick up your bowl of soup. After receiving your bowl of noodles, where and how you eat is left up to you.

You can vie for one of the stools or benches on the sidewalk, or at peak hours stand or squat wherever you want and begin slurping away as you hold your bowl with one hand and shovel noodles into your mouth with the other.

The menu is simple; you have a choice between a) ramen or b) tamago (egg) ramen. Regular ramen comes with one egg; tamago ramen comes with two. Why the simplicity? Simple, the ramen here is flat out delicious, made from tonkotsu shoyu broth, slightly salty but not overpowering.

Hakusan is only open from the hours of 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM, making it a favorite stop after a late night of drinking.

Hakusan Ramen

4-37-26 Hakusan Bunkyo-ku Tokyo

Tel: 090-3337-9044

Photo by link

Yasube – Shinjuku Branch

While Yasube serves both ramen and tsukemen, one look around the shop interior and you’re likely to see plates full of heaping piles of noodles, hinting that most customers opt for the latter.

The kara miso (spicy miso) tsukemen reigns supreme here in my opinion. After all, what could be better than dunking thick, chewy ramen noodles into a zesty chili-miso sauce?

The real selling point is the price: for the same amount (790 yen) you can choose your quantity of noodles, from small all the way to extra large. The large size is enormous, making this a must stop for budget travelers looking for quick, delicious, cheap eats.

Yasube – Shinjuku

2-11-19 Yoyogi, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo

TEL: 03-3375-5911

Aoba – Nakano Branch

Aoba has gained success by serving simple ramen with the finest ingredients. They are consistently ranked one of the top ramen shops in the city by Japanese noodle enthusiasts, and long lines are not only common, they are to be expected.

The soup here is shoyu based but an interesting technique is used putting each order together. Apparently they have two different soup stocks, one made from pork and chicken bones, the other from dried katsuo (skipjack tuna). The two stocks are combined just before the customer is served, creating a unique aroma and flavor.

Like many popular ramen shops, Aoba closes every day whenever they run out of soup stock. The busier the day, the sooner they close, sometimes even before dinner time, too early for most people getting off after a long day of work.

Aoba – Nakano Branch

5-58-1 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo

Tel: 03-3388-5552

Community connection

For more on Japan, including dozens of blogs, local experts and travelers you can link up with, as well as volunteer ops and orgs, please check out the Japan page on Matador.