Naughty schoolgirls graduate from compensated dating to contracted loversSeptember 27, 2005. Ami struts through Tokyo's trendy Shibuya district, her shapely legs highlighted by a checked miniskirt.
"I wish my legs were a bit thinner," the 16-year-old tells Shukan Post (10/7), echoing the wish of nearly all Japanese women.
Though still a high school girl, Ami also makes about 100,000 yen a month working as a private photographer's model.
"There's always at least three people for every shoot. And none of them can be acquainted with the others. If you have at least three strangers together, none of them would be prepared to try anything risky by themselves," Ami tells Shukan Post.
"Basically, I get into my uniform and let them take photos of me. I occasionally flash my panties or get changed into my P.E. bloomers or school swimsuit."
For every shoot, Ami receives 20,000 yen cash from each participant.
"I'm not selling my body. I don't let those dirty old men touch me. I always cover my face entirely so you can't tell who's in the photo and they can't come back to me blackmailing me by threatening to expose me," Ami says, adding that for an extra 5,000 yen she'll show off her bust and double that sum gets a peep at her privates.
Ami is one of the schoolgirl successors to Japan's enjo kosai generation. Enjo kosai is a euphemism used to describe prostitution, especially by schoolgirls, and translates literally as "compensated dating."
Enjo kosai started in the early '90s. By the middle of the decade, it had become one of Japan's biggest social problems as schoolgirls went around in packs selling their bodies to buy designer label clothes and accessories. In 1997, prefectures across the country started outlawing the dating clubs the girls were using to pick up clients. That drove the business online and dating sites thrived. It was only when Japan belatedly outlawed child pornography and child prostitution as the 20th century drew to a close that the practice effectively moved toward an end.
Now, however, though enjo kosai may not be as blatant as the prostitution it was when running rampant, it persists in subtler forms like that employed by Ami, or by becoming a "contract lover" as 18-year-old Sachi has chosen to do.
"My patrons are a 30-something accountant and a foodstuffs company manager of about 50," Sachi tells Shukan Post. "Neither of them looks like my ideal type, but they're both gentlemen and they both flash the cash. They pay me 60,000 yen a month each. For that, we meet for sex about three times a month."
Sachi schemes to make sure she continues to make a living.
"People get sick of you if you keep doing the same things all the time. So, I keep things fresh, occasionally turning up dressed in a nurse's costume or decked out like a race grid girl," she says.
Some schoolgirls who've made out monthly contracts with men take an even more professional approach. Akina, a 17-year-old from Kanagawa Prefecture, has contracts with five men who pay her 50,000 yen a month whether they meet or not. (The 250,000 yen she gets is more than the starting wage for most recent university graduates.) As well as classes, Akina also keeps up her 900-yen per hour convenience store job.
"If you lose that innocence, you're no different to the average sex worker. These guys are paying me 50,000 yen a month because they want a high school girl," Akina tells Shukan Post. "No matter how much money I get, I really take care to make sure that my attitude and attitude toward money don't change too much." (By Ryann Connell)
This post has been edited by Mandrake: 2006-12-18 07:31:13
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