Marta Fanasca earned her Ph.D. in
Japanese Studies at The University of Manchester while
investigating the phenomenon of danso (female-to-male
crossdressers) working as non-sexual escorts in contemporary
Japan.
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In
Japanese society, prostitution is often framed as a
necessary evil – a way to maintain social harmony
by providing men with an outlet for their pent-up sexual
desires.
While
there are a number of issues with this view –
such as the implication that men are inherently unable
to control their sexual impulses – it also has
a critical flaw: It frames prostitution as something
that only men want or need.
In
Japan, female sexuality is often seen through the narrow
lens of heterosexual romance and motherhood.
“Rezu
fuzoku” upends this view.
Rezu
fuzoku, which roughly translates to “lesbian sexual
entertainment,” refers to agencies where female
sex workers provide sex to female clients. And in Japan,
it’s entirely legal. I began investigating female-to-female
commercial sex and escort services in 2023. After initially
studying the phenomenon of female-to-male crossdressers
offering nonsexual, romantic dates to female clients,
I decided to expand the investigation to focus on clients
seeking sex and romance. The names of the sex workers
and clients I interviewed in my research have been changed
in this article to protect their anonymity.
Unlike in many countries that historically criminalized
homosexual acts, Japan only briefly outlawed them in
the 1870s, during an era of rapid Western-inspired legal
reforms.
After
that period, the country did not reintroduce laws criminalizing
homosexual acts, allowing same-sex relationships to
exist largely without legal interference – even
if they remained frowned upon in Japanese society.
Furthermore,
homosexual prostitution has never been illegal. Japan
did enact a strict anti-prostitution law in 1956 that
bans the practice, which it exclusively defines as penetrative,
paid sex between a man and a woman. As a result, any
paid-for activity that falls outside of this definition
– such as homosexual sex – is not considered
illegal.
For
my research, I interviewed a man named Obo, the founder
of the Lesbian Girls Club, an agency with branches in
Osaka and Tokyo providing female sex workers for female
clients.
Obo
started out his career as a web developer but soon became
burned out and disillusioned.
“I
wanted to start my own business, and since I was building
websites for several adult entertainment shops, I decided
to try something similar. It quickly became clear that
while the market was flooded with services for men,
there were almost none for women.”
So
Obo opened Lesbian Girls Club in 2007, an agency arranging
meetups between sex workers and female clients in hotels,
rather than at a brothel. Since then, it’s become
an institution in Japan, with some of his original sex
workers still working for Obo.
Initially a niche market, rezu fuzoku gained wider attention
when the manga artist Nagata Kabi used Obo’s agency
and later chronicled her experience in her work “My
Lesbian Experience with Loneliness.”
The award-winning manga, which was also released in
the U.S. and Europe, introduced the service to many
Japanese women who hadn’t previously known about
it.
Despite
the term “rezu” – lesbian –
in the name, Obo’s agency welcomes women of all
sexual orientations.
“Some
of our clients are lesbians,” he told me. “But
many are straight, also married. Most are between 26
and 35 years old, though we also have clients in their
60s and 70s.”
Many
Japanese women still find it difficult to explore their
sexuality and express their sexual desires, even with
their partners. This often leads to unsatisfactory sexual
experiences, which can pave the way for sexless relationships–
something which is increasingly commonplace in Japan
and a situation that many users of rezu fuzoku services
shared with me.
As
Yuriko, a 35-year-old heterosexual client of rezu fuzoku,
explained, “For the very first time I really enjoyed
sex! Rezu fuzoku gave me the chance to try new things
and to feel good.”
In my interviews, the term “iyashi” often
popped up It
means “healing” and refers to activities
or services that provide relief from daily stress and
negative feelings. Just as yoga classes or massages
are seen as forms of iyashi, sex – especially
commercial sex – is also branded this way in Japan.
“Men
do not understand women and their bodies,” Yuriko
said. “But sexuality is a fundamental part of
life, and ignoring it only leads to frustration and
dissatisfaction. Sex is iyashi.”
The
use of this word shows how prostitution in Japan is
not always viewed as something to be ashamed of but
can also be seen as a form of self-care.
For
instance, the practice of dispatching a sex worker to
a hotel where she meets the client is called in Japanese
“deriheru,” or delivery health, stressing
the connection with the iyashi realm. Also, a 90-minute
session with a professional sex worker for women is
often called “wellness course,” which ties
sex to physical and psychological well-being.
Sex
workers themselves also emphasize the connection between
their occupation and iyashi practices, often referring
to themselves as “therapists” or “cast”
and downplaying the sexual aspects of their work, instead
highlighting the wellness-related ones. Aware of the
positive impact their services have on women, many of
them expressed pride in their work during our interviews.
“It’s
rewarding,” Moe, who has been in the industry
for six years, told me. “When a customer tells
me she was really struggling but now feels she can try
a little harder because we met, I feel glad I chose
this job.”
Her
colleague, Makiko, agreed. “I am proud of this
job. It’s very important to me, and I believe
it’s quite needed in society.”
Despite
the widespread stigma against sex workers in Japanese
society, the legal status of rezu fuzoku services offers
employees greater protection and ensures clear working
conditions.
And
as a marker of how the industry has grown, Tokyo alone
is currently home to over 10 rezu fuzoku agencies, according
to my research.
Yet, despite the existence of services aimed at women’s
sexual well-being, gender inequality remains rampant
in Japan.
Women
still face significant social and economic barriers.
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global
Gender Gap Report, Japan ranks 118th out of 146 countries
for gender equality and holds the lowest position among
G7 nations.
Many of the women who use the services are heterosexual
– and are simply looking for a safe place to talk
and explore their sexuality. By catering to women’s
sexual desires outside of the traditional heterosexual
framework, rezu fuzoku challenges conventional narratives
about women’s sexuality. In a country that has
been experiencing falling marriage and birth rates,
listening to women and understanding their needs has
become increasingly important.
This
legal form of sex work clearly fills a need, offering
women a safe place to try new things and entrust their
sexual pleasure to an expert – who happens to
be another woman. One thing that stood out in my research
was how popular the service was among women in heterosexual
relationships who seemed eager to explore desires that
may be difficult to share with a partner.
But
what female clients seek often goes beyond sex itself.
Many women simply want intimacy – being hugged,
cuddled and cared for in a way that is missing not only
in the lives of single women but also in those of women
in relationships.
“I
use this service for comfort and healing,” said
Sachi, a 42-year-old woman who’s married to a
man. “It is a kind of refuge for the heart offering
emotional richness.”
This
article is republished from The
Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
