Big Ed's PlaceReview: Pink Box Inside Japan’s Sex Clubs
I surrender. The Japanese are kinkier than us Americans. I thought I’d seen a lot in the bdsm community, but I had no idea until I’d read Pink Box Inside Japan’s Sex Clubs, by Joan Sinclair. This thick journalistic-style photo album pushes the curtains aside and strides right into Japan’s Red Light industry. Covering hostess clubs, nude theaters, soaplands, …
peeping rooms, various image clubs, and even the tame-by-comparison swinger’s clubs, the photos reveal a side of the Japanese red light district that is both highly commercialized and a bit sleazy.
The book is stunning for several reasons. First, I was surprised that not only were there photos of the various rooms and women, but also of customers, many of which in the act of playing with their paid companions. Then the number of kinks that revolved around acts other than intercourse sunk in. There are whole segments devoted to peeping, fondling, groping, and other kinks like used panties.
Now I could handle the ‘pervert train’ set up so customers can grope girls in a faux subway car. And the club where clients could pay extra to play in ‘green goo’ didn’t seem to abnormal either. Girls in anime costumes wasn’t too much of a stretch from all the various other costumes available, most of the standard type (nurse, school girl, teacher, etc.). I was surprised at the club that offered clients the chance to have sex with a realistic latex doll, but mostly because the price was the same as a live woman.
No, where I lost it was the two page menu for analingus play. The customer was expected to go through it checking off exactly how he wanted to be licked (position, hardness, style, whether it included touching his penis or not, etc.). That list is longer than most bdsm scene negotiation lists I’ve seen and I was stunned at the level of detail. Particularly because the list was printed. That means they got enough customers to justify making a standard list and going through the trouble of creating copies.
Uncle, I say. Uncle. The Japanese are kinkier than us Americans. And I recommend this book for anyone who wants proof.
That said, I would have liked more explanation of the larger economy and the relative comparisons of the magnitude of the clubs. How many are making it when they’re focused on such narrow fetishes? How widespread are the fetishes? The book gives breadth, but no sense of depth.
So four out of five stars.
Pink box Inside Japan’s Sex Clubs can be purchased from Good Vibrations.