Prostitution in Japan has existed throughout the country's history.Tokyo Yoshiwara, antique postcard
While the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956 states that "No person may either do prostitution or become the customer of it," various loopholes, liberal interpretations of the law, and loose enforcement have allowed the sex industry to prosper and earn an estimated 2.3 trillion yen ($24 billion dollars) a year, which accounts for 2 to 3% of the nation's GDP.[1][2]
In Japan, the "sex industry" is not synonymous with prostitution. Since Japanese law defines prostitution as "intercourse with an unspecified person in exchange for payment," most sex clubs only offer non-coital services to remain legal.[3] This has led Joan Sinclair, the author of Pink Box, to observe that the sex industry in Japan ironically "offer[s] absolutely everything imaginable but sex."[4]
