And now some tsutsutomase have cottoned on to, and adapted, the old con man's
trick of filming a guy leaving a love hotel following a session with a
schoolgirl prostitute and demanding a huge sum to keep the case under wraps.
Elaboration comes from a 16-year-old girl engaged in enjo kosai - a euphemism
for prostitution that translates literally as "compensated dating."
"After I'd done it with a guy I was doing enjo kosai with, we took one step
outside and there was this huge woman standing there. 'Hey. What are you doing
with my guy,' she said. She bashed me a couple of times and took my money.
Turns out the guy I'd picked up through the dating club had been going out with
that woman all along and [she was] waiting for us to come out," the schoolgirl
tells Spa! "Eventually, the woman dragged me into a nearby karaoke box and made
me kowtow in apology. She kept whacking me over the head with her shoes. I was
seriously fearing for my life."
Though teenage prostitutes are hardly the trustworthiest witnesses, the men's
weekly claims to have followed her lead and found its own tsutsutomase
strong-arming enjo kosai gals. It describes the tsutsutomase as a tough-looking
22-year-old from Kanagawa Prefecture whose 150-centimeter, 80-kilogram frame
and dyed hair make her resemble the typical female professional wrestler.
"One blow is all it takes. Any of those girls doing enjo kosai are all gutless,
anyway. All I have to do is tell 'em I'll whack 'em and they start getting
scared and begging for forgiveness," the tsutsutomase tells Spa!
Catching the enjo kosai girls is not a one-off. Once the tsutsutomase has them
in her clutches, it becomes fairly difficult for the girls to escape.
"I don't let 'em off," she says. "I figure, if they're into enjo kosai, I get
them to give me a cut, bow before me and then send 'em on to turn a few more
tricks for me. I've got six girls on the books right now, the youngest one in
the second year of junior high. The most I give any of the girls for a job is
5,000 yen for the prettiest and 2,000 yen for the dogs. Sometimes, I make the
dogs work together with the pretty ones in threesomes so I can bump up the
selling price. I look after their food and travel costs. My boyfriend's in a
local gang, so he's got the go ahead from the yakuza."
Despite effectively being both a madam and pimp for schoolgirl prostitutes
acting illegally, the tsutsutomase says she feels no guilt. Enjo kosai
schoolgirls are reputed to be schoolyard terrors, often subjecting classmates
to physical and psychological abuse. The tsutsutomase says she's only getting
her own back for all she went through at school.
"They used to bash me and hit me all the time," she tells Spa!
Copyright 2005 Mainichi Daily News. Ryann Connell is a writer and editor for
Mainichi Daily News. Reprinted with permission. For information on syndication
and copyright policies, please contact Mainichi Daily news by visiting
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp
