Yoshiwara soapland workers reveal terrifying reality of obsessed clients after Kobe murder-suicide

TOKYO (TR) – Following a gruesome murder-suicide at a soapland bathhouse in Kobe City’s Fukuhara district, female sex workers are speaking out about the daily terror of dealing with obsessed clients and the extreme, sometimes bizarre measures they take to stay alive.

In June, a female employee and a male customer were discovered bleeding heavily inside a private room at a soapland in Hyogo Prefecture. Both were pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had suffered multiple stab wounds to her neck and chest, while the man was found with a knife lodged in his own chest. Police believe the man murdered the woman before taking his own life.

Industry insiders revealed that the attacker was a “whale” — a high-spending regular who visited the establishment two to three times a week, even compensating the woman for lost wages on her days off. The tragic catalyst for the bloodshed? The victim had reportedly just gotten married, allegedly sending the obsessed client into a murderous rage.

The Kobe incident has sent shockwaves through Yoshiwara , Tokyo’s most famous red-light district. Three veteran soapland workers — using the pseudonyms Sayaka, Yoko, and Moe — recently shared with weekly tabloid Friday (Sep. 11-18) harrowing accounts of the life-or-death situations they face behind locked doors.

“I do this job prepared for the fact that I could be murdered at any time,” Moe said. “Every time I open the door for a new customer, I think, ‘I might die here today.'”

Stalkers and death threats

In a business where women are locked in private rooms with naked men, the vulnerability is absolute. The women detailed horrifying encounters with delusional clients whose professional visits morphed into dangerous obsessions.

Yoko recalled a regular customer who suddenly threw a plastic bottle at the wall before screaming, “I’ll kill you if you don’t date me!” Terrified, she was forced to fake her consent just to survive the session and escape the room.

Sayaka dealt with an older client who delusionally believed they were getting married. When she blocked him on messaging apps, he simply continued booking her by calling the bathhouse directly.

Moe described a stalker who bypassed her apartment building’s auto-lock to leave groceries and gifts on her door handle. Her survival tactic was highly unconventional: when she accidentally bumped into him outside her home, she pretended to be a raving drug addict.

“I slurred my words and started screaming strangely,” Moe recalled. “My middle school drama club experience paid off. He immediately changed his requested girl and wrote on an online forum not to book me.”

The “Hate Me” Defense Strategy

With physical self-defense nearly impossible, workers are forced to rely on psychological warfare. Banning a customer outright can trigger a violent reprisal. Therefore, the safest strategy, the women agreed, is to intentionally provide terrible service so the client grows to despise them.

“The most dangerous customers are the ones spending too much money,” Yoko explained. To safely cut ties with a client who is becoming too attached, workers will feign exhaustion, fall asleep during sessions, or slowly make it impossible for the client to book them, forcing a “fade out.”

A 33-year-old man murdered a soapland employee in Fukuhara in June (X)

The threat of extreme violence is not unprecedented. In Yoshiwara, a famous high-end soapland named Yuzuki saw a worker murdered in 2003 by a man seeking a murder-suicide. In 2023, another worker at the same bathhouse was stabbed to death by a client enraged over being denied a booking.

While high-profile murders have prompted some establishments to distribute panic alarms and install metal detectors, the workers dismissed them as mere window dressing that is never actually utilized.

Seeking police help is also a daunting prospect. Many workers hide their profession from family and fear the social stigma and invasive questioning that comes with a police investigation.

The blurring of professional boundaries — fueled by modern industry trends requiring workers to constantly message clients directly — has only amplified the danger.

“Modern soapland girls are forced to be too close to their clients in their daily lives,” Sayaka noted. Following the Kobe murder, Sayaka’s terrified fiancé begged her to stop working, prompting her to take a leave of absence.

Until strict, industry-wide security measures are enforced across districts like Yoshiwara and Fukuhara, women working in Japan’s soaplands remain trapped in a deadly game of roulette, hoping the next customer walking through the door isn’t a killer.

Published in News and Tabloid

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东京（TR）——在神户市福原地区一家肥皂澡堂发生骇人听闻的谋杀-自杀事件后，女性性工作者纷纷发声，讲述她们每天面对痴迷顾客的恐惧，以及为了活命而采取的极端、有时甚至是怪异的措施。

今年6月，兵库县一家风俗店的包厢内发现一名女员工和一名男顾客，两人均大量出血。送医后，两人均不治身亡。女员工颈部和胸部有多处刀伤，男顾客胸口插着一把刀。警方认为，该男子先杀害了女员工，然后自杀。

业内人士透露，袭击者是一位“大佬”——一位消费极高的常客，每周光顾该场所两到三次，甚至在受害女子休息日还会补偿她损失的工资。这场血案的悲剧导火索是什么？据报道，受害女子刚刚结婚，这据说激怒了这位痴迷的顾客，导致他犯下谋杀罪行。

神户事件震惊了东京最著名的红灯区吉原。三位资深的风俗店从业者——化名沙耶香、洋子和萌——近日向周刊小报《星期五》（9月11日至18日）讲述了她们在紧闭的门后所面临的生死攸关的惊险经历。

“我做这份工作时就做好了随时可能被谋杀的心理准备，”莫伊说。“每次我为新顾客开门时，我都会想，‘我今天可能就死在这里了。’”

跟踪者和死亡威胁

在这个行业里，女性被锁在与裸体男性同处一室的私密空间里，她们的脆弱无助是绝对的。这些女性详细描述了她们与妄想症患者的可怕遭遇，这些患者的专业拜访逐渐演变成危险的痴迷。

洋子回忆起一位常客，他突然把一个塑料瓶扔向墙壁，然后尖叫道：“如果你不和我约会，我就杀了你！” 洋子吓坏了，被迫假装同意，才得以完成会面并逃出房间。

纱耶香遇到一位年纪较大的顾客，他妄想自己和她要结婚了。当纱耶香在聊天软件上屏蔽了他之后，他竟然直接打电话给澡堂，继续预约纱耶香的服务。

莫伊描述了一个跟踪狂，他绕过了她公寓楼的自动锁，把食品杂货和礼物放在她家门把手上。她的应对策略非常规：当她在家门口意外撞见他时，她假装成一个精神恍惚的瘾君子。

“我说话含糊不清，还开始发出奇怪的尖叫声，”莫伊回忆道。“我中学戏剧社的经历派上了用场。他立刻换了人选，还在网上论坛上发帖说不要再选我了。”

“恨我”防御策略

由于几乎不可能进行人身自卫，员工们被迫依靠心理战。直接禁止某个顾客光顾可能会引发暴力报复。因此，这些女性一致认为，最安全的策略是故意提供糟糕的服务，让顾客逐渐厌恶她们。

“最危险的顾客就是那些花钱太多的，”洋子解释道。为了安全地与那些过于依赖的顾客断绝关系，工作人员会假装疲惫，在服务过程中睡着，或者慢慢地让顾客无法再次预约，从而迫使顾客“淡出”。

6月，一名33岁男子在福原杀害了一名肥皂店员工（X）

极端暴力威胁并非史无前例。2003年，吉原一家名为“柚木”的著名高档澡堂发生一起命案，一名员工被一名意图杀人后自杀的男子杀害。2023年，同一家澡堂的另一名员工因预约被拒而被一名愤怒的顾客刺死。

虽然一些备受瞩目的谋杀案促使一些场所分发紧急警报器并安装金属探测器，但工作人员认为这些只是表面功夫，实际上从未被使用过。

寻求警方帮助也是一件令人望而却步的事情。许多从业人员会向家人隐瞒自己的职业，并且害怕警方调查带来的社会歧视和侵入性盘问。

职业界限的模糊化——这主要是由于现代行业趋势要求员工不断直接与客户沟通——加剧了这种危险。

“现代风俗店女郎在日常生活中被迫与顾客保持过近的距离，”沙耶香说道。神户凶案发生后，沙耶香惊恐万分的未婚夫恳求她停止工作，促使她暂时离开了这个行业。

除非像吉原和福原这样的地区强制执行严格的行业安全措施，否则在日本的肥皂店工作的女性仍然深陷于一场致命的轮盘赌游戏中，希望下一个走进门的顾客不是杀人犯。

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