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K is for Koguls
June 2, 2004
Those portrayed in the press are often involved in prostitution, doing and
dealing drugs, skipping school, and using their profits for ultra-consumer
items such as visits to tanning salons, expensive Italian-made handbags, Gucci
earrings, and sky-high cellular phone bills. Is the media responsible for the
shocking images of kogal? Or was there truly a kogal movement: a new emergence
of curious, consumer-minded girls who were waiting to be discovered and raised
as a national issue?
The Japanese media has been less than self-critical regarding their
exploitation of the kogal. In percentages, the ratio of girls active in the
promiscuity and drug use associated with the kogal is believed to be low.
Television provided exposure only to the most hardcore of these girls, and mass
media went so far as to attach a celebratory mood to their exploits, giving the
reward of attention to those extreme enough for Prime Time. A nationwide
stereotype soon developed; wherein the modern school girls' uniform,
embellished with loose socks and a cellular phone, has come to be perceived as
the dress code for promiscuity, easiness, greed, and stupidity. That these
girls cannot escape the pigeonholing they suffer for being in-style within the
boundaries of their uniforms has become more and more of a source of anger for
them. "At least every week I am propositioned sex for money," says a
17-year-old student in Ikebukuro.
Along with Shibuya, Ikebukuro is considered one of Tokyo's meccas for kogal.
Many kogal congregate there because of its many cheap karaoke boxes, fast food
restaurants, department stores, and close proximity to Waseda University.
However, this student who travels through Ikebukuro during her daily commute to
and from school simply finds it a convenient place to stop and study. "I ride
the Saikyo line, which is one of the most crowded, into Tokyo every day. Very
often I run into chikan (train perverts), who press their bodies against me,
often palming my body and becoming noticeably excited in their pants." X-ko,
who is still a virgin, feels strongly that it's her appearance that attracts
this attention. She, as well as her three friends who accompanied her when we
met, have the same appearance as the most stereotypical kogal, including
brown-dyed hair, expensive (parent-bought) leather handbags, and cellular
phones. The three expressed strong affirmation at the opinion of their friend.
"I wish that I were in high school at a different time. Now, with kogal being
such an issue in Japan, nobody can see me for me. They only see me as kogal,
like the ones they see on TV."
Despite the many innocent girls hit by the media, kogal as portrayed on TV
exist-. And these days, with the kogal boom and media blitzkrieg over, it isn't
as much the mainstream media, but kogal-oriented publications that keep the
fires alive. While certain kogal magazines, such as Cawaii, focus on style and
perpetuate the unified image of the kogal tribe, other magazines go a step
further. The most popular of these is Egg, which, besides providing hints on
clothes, hair, and new products (especially brand-name leather bags, clothes,
and cellular phones), also serves as a sort of kogal forum. Readers are invited
to send in pictures and letters for several different open forums in the
magazine. Letters tend to center around what would seem to be the true pillars
of the true kogal's existence: sex, money, shopping, and men. Yet the letters
printed tend to involve the most extreme portrayal of the kogal, and a peculiar
sort of one-upsmanship escalates from issue to issue.
What the media really latched onto as the manifestation of the corruption of
the kogal's morals was enjo kosai, a euphemism for their money-for-sex trade.
As the number of girls who looked up to the lifestyle of sex, drinking,
karaoke, and good times increased, they were greeted with waiting legions of
older men willing to pay them for sex. This was facilitated by the Telephone
Clubs. These are establishments where men pay to be connected to girls who call
for free (or are in fact paid to talk to the men and keep them on the line),
and after being connected, any negotiations between the two might be possible.
There are many "chat areas" from which one can choose the type of partner they
are looking for, and Telephone Clubs invariably have an area whose name
connotes the fact that it is an area designated for one to meet young girls.
As a booming private sex trade industry took off, men were willing to pay
similar prices for inexperienced high school girls at Soapland and other
brothel-type venues. For a time, to be paid for sex was good for the girls, who
might earn on average between ?30,000 and ?50,000 per outing. As the market
heated up, the tables turned. A huge increase in the numbers of high school
girls involved in the trade was followed by even more poser girls pretending to
be kogal. Girls engaged in the traditional sex industry found that they could
make more money independently. Even some office girls moonlighted as kogal to
make ends meet.
This sudden influx of willing participants created an oversupply in the market,
and prices plummeted as the customer base became better informed. The position
of the girls became more vulnerable, and yarinige, a term describing when a
customer flees the scene of intercourse without paying for services rendered,
was coined and used not uncommonly. Even as fringe participants in the market
dropped out, average payment continued to seem bottomless until prices as low
as ?5,000 were recorded just over 6 months ago. Many kogal, used to large
incomes, were in debt. The cell phone and drink bills started to pile up.
The desperation of the situation could be heard on one message I heard at a
Telephone Club. "17-year-old high school student is seeking 'Daddy.' One time:
25,000. As I'm pregnant, and saving money for an abortion, condoms are not
required. Please leave a message at box number X."
The withdrawal of kogal from the private sex trade has not been accompanied by
a similar withdrawal of the patrons they have attracted: the Japanese
salarymen. A quiet rivalry has developed between the high schoolers,
contemptuous of corporate sell-outs and authority, and the soulless drone
salarymen oyaji who have provided the financial backing and demand leading to
the situation today. One product of this rivalry is oyaji-gari (meaning "oyaji
hunting"), where a kogal, propositioned by an older man, leads him down a side
street where her friends, male and female, jack him for his money with some
swift kicks of revenge. Another is in the recent decrease in the difference in
age between high school girls and their partners. Whereas before relationships
with older men were often sought as a source of financial support, more high
schoolers are turning to their own for partners. With high schoolers dating
high schoolers, segregated from society both by its attitude towards them and
vice versa, they have built a sort of tribalism, a line between themselves and
general society.
To hear Japan's high school girls talk about the oyaji, and vice versa, it is
surprising that they are describing the same relationship. The word which most
often describes the kogal's impression of Japan's working men and their
fathers, is nasakenai (pitiful). Many, when asked about their fathers, see them
as slaves to their work who sacrificed their relationships with their families
and daughters. Most of their fathers drink nearly every night, whether it's
after work at a bar or at home late at night, served by the wife.
Most likely unsatisfied sexually at home, he is suspected of occasional
cheating vis-a-vis sex-for-hire. Kudaranai, meaning mundane, is a word which
also comes up with regards to the life the kogal's fathers lead. Three kogal I
talked to were surprisingly open about their sexual relations with older men
for money. An interesting turn took place when one began saying that, "It
really isn't for the money." It's a large breach of my understanding to
comprehend why such beautiful young girls would choose to bed old men, besides
for money. "It's also that I feel sorry for them," she continued. She was
surprised to answer, "Yes," when asked if her older patrons somehow reminded
her of her father. She had never thought of it before. Not only did they remind
her of her father, but by being with them, she felt that she was giving
something to them that she saw as a need for her father.
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‘Enjo
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