Japanese men flocking to public baths

Report from Japanese publication - SPA!

Japan's Anti-Prostitution Law outlaws payment for intercourse, yet soapland brothels openly offer the practice and no-one ever says anything about it, according to Spa! (5/22), which pledges to uncover one of the Japanese media's great taboo topics.

Despite the ban on paid intercourse, soaplands all operate with written permission from the police and can often be found in the vicinity of police boxes.

Yet the media never says a word about the contradiction.

"The reason is because soaplands are regarded, on the surface at least, as public bathhouses and not adult entertainment businesses. That's why soaplands have steam sauna machines made for one, and playmates and hard massage tables instead of beds," an expert on handling government documents tells Spa! "What you pay to get into the soapland is merely an entrance fee for a public bath."

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