CHEAP drugs and sex have boosted sections of Japan’s shadow
economy despite the recession here, but as the price of illicit
pleasure drops, the industry has become more dangerous, experts
said.
”There is a general expansion in revenue generated by organised
crime as well as the sex industry,” said Takashi Kadokura, an
economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute who has studied
Japan’s underground economy.
”The key word to explain this expansion would be low price.
Because of the low price many customers are attracted to go into
this market and therefore the market in general has expanded,” he
said at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
Japan’s shadow economy comprised 4,9% of gross domestic product or 25,1-trillion yen ($189-billion) in 2000, down
from a peak of 7,6% in 1990, because tax evasion which
accounts for over 80% of the total dropped after the
economic bubble of the late 1980s burst, he explained.
In sharp contrast illegal funds generated by Japan’s Yakuza
gangsters rose from around 820-billion yen in 1990 to 1,9-trillion yen in 1999, the latest figure available.
”Most of the illegal revenue comes from the increased drug
trade,” said Kadokura who recently published a book titled ‘White
Paper on Japan’s Underground Economy’.
Cash generated through racketeering or betting has dropped
following the promulgation of a law in 1992 to regulate the
industry, but a rise in drugs smuggled into Japan from China has
created a new source of income.
Stimulants which once cost several hundred thousand yen now
fetch around 10 000 yen on the street, cheap enough for junior and
senior high school students to buy.
”That is why although the price has gone down there has been an
explosion of new users so the Yakuza are able to generate profits,” said Kadokura.
Certain areas in the entertainment business have also enjoyed a
boost.
Sex industry sales have risen as a proliferation of cheap
massage parlours and low-budget prostitution services become more
popular.
Revenue generated by the industry grew to 1,7-trillion yen in 2000 from one trillion yen in 1990, according to the economist’s
calculations.
There are no official data on the sex industry so Kadokura
compiled his own numbers by ringing parlours listed in
entertainment magazines. He found out the waiting time for clients
and was able to calculate the revenue generated at a single shop.
He then multiplied this figure by the total number of outlets.
Leading the rise in sales are massage parlours, where customers
can enjoy a quick thrill for 10 000 yen, significantly less than
the 60 000 yen bill charged for traditional house prostitution.
But as Japan sinks deeper into recession people have become more
desperate and the underground industry is getting dirtier.
Women unable to find work are being forced into prostitution and
as the price drops they must have sex more often to make ends meet.
”I would think it is more dangerous (now). For example among the
Japanese high school girls there is this phenomenon of ‘enjokosai’ – non-professional prostitution for money.
”In this field also the unit price is coming down and so to
maintain the same level of income you have to increase the
frequency … so morally speaking it is not something good,” said
Kadokura.
Though the seedier end of Japan’s sex industry has slashed
prices to generate business, high-class hostess bars continue to
prosper as affluent businessmen still want to celebrate their
success.
Rie Hara is a ‘Mama’ or marketing manager at one of the most
exclusive hostess bars in Ginza, a stylish sector of Tokyo.
She started out as a hostess 15 years ago and gradually worked
her way up through the industry.
The money is not as forthcoming as it was during the bubble
years but Hara still charges first time customers a minimum of
80,000 yen to enter her club for the night.
Unlike the many sex parlours and massage salons nationwide,
traditional hostess bars simply provide women dressed in kimonos to
pour drinks for their male clients and talk to them.
”The clubs in Ginza represent a very unique culture of Japan.
There is nothing tangible, nothing that you can really touch that
we can provide but I think we are providing a place of relaxation a
place of comfort and also clubs are a place where you can pursue
the traditional stylishness of Japan,” said Hara.
But even old school hostesses are feeling the pinch. Certain
girls once earned 80-million yen a year, but this is unheard of
now, said Hara.
Similarly club managers force their staff to bring customers to
the club themselves or forfeit their salary, or they reduce the
hours the girls work. ? Sapa-AFP