Japan is no longer viewed as a nation of sexual permissiveness, but there are still many mizu shobai establishments across Tokyo and other major cities.
Modern Japanese sex clubs run the gamut from Girls Bars which are flirtatious, to Soaplands and Image Clubs which feed more carnal and fetishistic desires.
Japanese sex clubs are typically exclusive affairs and are often unwelcoming to foreigners β though some Japanese language proficiency might help your case. A piece of legal legislature officially outlawed prostitution in Japan, but a host of liberal interpretations of the law have led to an abundance of alternative options.
Among the most popular alternatives are Soaplands, which are brothels in all but name. Soaplands present themselves as private bathhouses, where visitors can pay for a soapy massage, not unlike in a Turkish bathhouse, but with a little less physical battering involved and little more sexual pleasure.
An ordinary Soapland visit goes as follows: The client will undress for one or two hostesses, most likely garbed in provocative clothing, who then bathe said client in soapy water.
