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Kabukicho streetwalkers flee police, YouTubers to set up shop in love hotel alleys

Phenomenon of financially destitute women working as tachinbo (streetwalkers) exploded into a major social issue around Okubo Park about four years ago

Tokyo Reporter2026-09-23 10:17查看原文 ↗

TOKYO (TR) – On a sweltering midsummer night in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho red-light district, women waiting for customers can still be seen wiping sweat from their brows. But the epicenter of this illicit trade has shifted.

The phenomenon of financially destitute women working as tachinbo (streetwalkers) exploded into a major social issue around Okubo Park about four years ago. Today, however, the park is virtually empty of prostitutes and the men who seek them.

Driven out by intensified police crackdowns and nuisance YouTubers, the women have relocated deeper into the neighborhood’s love hotel alleys, reports weekly tabloid Friday (Sep. 25).

According to one streetwalker, the move was a matter of survival.

“It’s to avoid trouble, like having our faces exposed on social media by streamers. There are fewer thrill-seekers and casual onlookers in the love hotel alleys,” she explained. “A big factor was also last July, when four women waiting for customers at Okubo Park were arrested for violating the Anti-Prostitution Law, and their real names and faces were broadcast on the news .”

The fear of public exposure and arrest has successfully weeded out newcomers and casual tourists. What remains in the love hotel district is a hardened core of “regular” prostitutes and seasoned johns.

Due to the familiarity among this remaining crowd, the dark alleys have morphed into what resembles an open-air bar Men and women can be seen casually drinking alcohol and chatting on the streets. Men wander the district looking for rare new faces; if they find none, they drink and chat with the regulars. In some cases, desperate women short on cash can be seen begging familiar men to “buy” them.

The abundance of alcohol on the streets, however, serves a calculated legal purpose.

Verification loophole

Under current Japanese law, a customer faces no criminal penalty for purchasing sex from an adult. However, buying sex from a minor is a severe offense resulting in immediate arrest. To protect themselves, johns have devised a cunning age-verification loophole: forcing the women to buy booze.

“A man will hand a girl 1,000 yen and tell her to go to a convenience store to buy him a drink,” one regular male customer revealed. “When she buys it, the store clerk checks her ID to verify her age. It’s a completely safe way for the man to confirm she is of age without having to demand her ID himself.”

As a result, men are left wandering the neon-lit streets of Kabukicho, drinks in hand, after their hotel sessions conclude.

While the crowds at Okubo Park have vanished, the underlying poverty driving these women to the streets remains unaddressed. The tachinbo problem hasn’t been solved by police crackdowns — it has simply changed its location and its tactics.

Published in News , Tabloid and Tokyo

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东京（TR）——在新宿歌舞伎町红灯区一个闷热的仲夏夜，等待顾客的女性仍然不时擦拭额头的汗水。但这种非法交易的中心已经转移了。

大约四年前，在奥久保公园附近，贫困女性从事卖淫（tachinbo）的现象爆发，成为一个严重的社会问题。然而，如今公园里几乎看不到妓女和嫖客了。

据9月25日（周五）的周刊小报报道，由于警方加大打击力度以及YouTube上一些令人讨厌的博主的骚扰，这些女性被迫搬到了附近情侣酒店的小巷深处。

据一位街头妓女称，此举是为了生存。

“这是为了避免麻烦，比如被主播在社交媒体上曝光照片。情侣酒店附近的小巷里，寻求刺激的人和路人都比较少，”她解释说。“去年7月，四名在奥久保公园等候客人的女子因违反《反卖淫法》被捕，她们的真实姓名和照片被新闻报道，这也是一个重要因素。”

对被公开曝光和逮捕的恐惧成功地将新来者和普通游客拒之门外。如今，情侣酒店区剩下的只有一群老练的“常客”妓女和经验丰富的嫖客。

由于留下来的人群彼此熟识，昏暗的小巷已经变成了类似露天酒吧的地方。男男女女随意地在街头喝酒聊天。男人们在街区里游荡，寻找难得一见的新面孔；如果没有，他们就和常客们喝酒聊天。有时，还能看到一些囊中羞涩的女子乞求熟人“买下”她们。

然而，街头酒水泛滥却有着精心设计的法律目的。

验证漏洞

根据日本现行法律，嫖客向成年人购买性服务不会受到刑事处罚。然而，向未成年人购买性服务则属于严重违法行为，会被立即逮捕。为了保护自己，嫖客们想出了一个狡猾的年龄验证漏洞：强迫女性购买酒水。

一位常客透露：“有的男人会给女孩1000日元，让她去便利店帮他买饮料。女孩买完后，店员会查看她的身份证件确认年龄。这是一种非常安全的确认女孩年龄的方法，男人无需亲自索要她的身份证件。”

因此，男人们在酒店消遣结束后，常常手持酒杯，在霓虹闪烁的歌舞伎町街头闲逛。