Enjo-Kosai） in Contemporary Japanese Society Gerald Mclellan

The University of Human Environments

「人間と環境電子版」6（2013） ISSN2185-8373 Journal of Human Environmental Studies. Electronic Edition 6（2013）

An Examination of the Causes and Consequences of Compensated Dating （Enjo-Kosai） in Contemporary Japanese Society Gerald Mclellan

〈Keywords〉 What is Enjo-Kosai? Moral and Social issues Pornography and Women in Japanese Society Technology and Mass Media

〈Abstract〉 This paper examines the phenomenon of Enjo-Kosai which became a popular catchword in Japan in the late 90s and early part of the 21st century. Enjo-Kosai has been translated into English as ‘compensated dating’ and ‘schoolgirl prostitution.’ Firstly, the question of what exactly enjo-kosai is will be answered. Then moral and social issues behind the phenomenon will be discussed. The role of women and pornography in Japanese society will then be analysed before looking at the role played by the mass media and innovations in technology.

現代日本社会における「援助交際」の原因と結果の検討ジェラルド・マクレラン

〈キーワード〉

援助交際てなにモラルや社会的問題日本社会における女性の役割とポルノグラフィーの分析技術とマスメディア

〈論文要旨〉この論文では、援助交際について研究していきたい。「援助交際」とは、90年代後半から21世紀の初頭にかけて流行ったことばで、「報酬を伴ったデート」や「女子学生の売春」と英語で訳されてきた。援助交際とは一体何か、また、その背景にあるモラルや社会的問題を検討する。マスメディアや技術革新の役割を検証しながら、日本社会における女性の役割とポルノグラフィーを分析したい。

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An Examination of the Causes and Consequences of Compensated Dating （Enjo-Kosai） in Contemporary Japanese Society Gerald Mclellan

INTRODUCTION Prostitution is known as the worlds’ oldest profession and dates back to Sumerian times. “Worldwide, an estimated 300 million women regularly have sex with 5 to 10 partners during a typical ‘working’ day（International Labour Organization, 1998, quoted in Rhawn, 2004, 154）. Throughout history, men in positions of power or those in the public eye have kept mistresses or have had dealings with prostitutes. US presidents Carter, Jeff erson, and Kennedy; Mitterrand of France and Prince Charles of Great Britain can all be accused of being involved in extra-marital aff airs. So why should the phenomenon of enjo-kōsai in Japan be a matter for concern and public outcry? Enjo-kōsai has been translated as ‘schoolgirl prostitution’ and in this paper the above question will be answered and the writer will show that enjo-kōsai does indeed warrant public outcry as it involves, in many cases, sex between adult males and adolescent girls who are sometimes as young as 13. （Rhawn, 2004, 156） cites estimates from the International Labour Organization of the number of young Japanese women engaged in prostitution in Japan in 1998 as 100,000. This paper aims to show that young girls in Japan have become the object of male sexual desire simply because of the fact that they are cheap and off er less resistance to perverted sexual practices, and because teenage girls have featured more and more frequently in pornographic material and have been portrayed in the media as sexual objects.

1 . What Is Enjo-kōsai? Enjo-kōsai is the term used to describe a date between a schoolgirl of junior or senior high school age - and even of elementary school age - with a mature, middle-aged man. The schoolgirl receives a monetary payment for her time and anything else she happens to part with, for example her underwear, socks or other garments. In Japan there is a huge market value placed on such items and the more times the girl has spent wearing them the greater the amount of money she can receive.（Constantine, 1994, 198）. Constantine also writes that the highest prices paid are for the panties of pre-pubescent teens and

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this gives an indication of the way in which these very young girls are now viewed by adult males. In 1993 vending machines appeared that catered to the obsession with soiled undergarments. There was no direct statute banning the trade but ‘after being met with public outcry, three traders were cunningly charged under the Antique Dealers Law, which requires dealers in second-hand goods to get permission from the local authority, and the panties disappeared from the streets.’（Herbert, 2004, 1）. The market for young girls and their soiled clothing became more sinister as the young girls themselves began to be targeted. Enjo-kōsai has been translated into English as ‘Compensated-Dating’ and as ‘Teenage Prostitution’. Which of the two English translations is more accurate is diffi cult to determine as ‘one of the dilemmas for anthropology of global-local topics is that they defy conventional practices of bounding and naming the cultural subject of study’（Marcus, 1995, 425, quoted in Kelsky, 2001, 5）. However, in the case of enjo-kōsai, both terms can be used as they both accurately defi ne what transpires. To reiterate, when the term ‘compensated-dating’ is used, we in the English-speaking world, imagine the scenario of a young girl being compensated（paid a sum of money or being presented with an expensive gift） to go on a date with an adult. Whether or not she consents to exchange any items of her clothing in return for money still could not be construed as prostitution. When considering the term ‘teenage prostitution’ we entertain thoughts of both parties engaging in sexual intercourse in return for one of the two parties involved being paid a sum of money. An outside third party would be a middleman of some description, for example a pimp, mafi a member, owner of a telephone club or other such establishment. The foreign media prefers to use the term ‘teenage prostitution’ when referring to enjo-kōsai as this sensationalizes the headlines and sells more newspapers. However, it is probably the more accurate of the two translations. Mamoru Fukutomi, Psychologist Professor at Tokyo Gakugei University, conducted a survey of 960 randomly chosen high school girls in October of 1997. Of these 960 girls, 600 or 63% responded to the survey. Only thirty girls or 5% of the 600 admitted to taking part in enjo-kōsai. Of these thirty girls only 2.3% claimed to have had sexual intercourse, 2.3% said they had engaged in sexual activities other than sexual intercourse（for example, kissing or oral sex） and 4.8% said they had merely talked or had drinks.’（Asahi News, 1998, 1）. As reasons they gave for selling their time and their bodies to older men, thirteen girls said they wanted money, four did it because a man suggested it, three girls thought it caused no problems with anyone else, three did it for fun, and two did it because they knew they could quit at any time. One girl said she wanted stimulation, another was lonely, another just let it happen without much thought, while another said she needed to blow off some steam, and another girl wanted to have sex. In the survey, the respondents were allowed to give multiple answers（Asahi News, 1998, 1）.

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Chart1.1 14

8 ■ money 6 ■ were asked 4 ■ no harm ■ fun 2 ■ quit easily ■ others 0

The overwhelming reason cited for engaging in enjo-kōsai is for monetary gain. There is a tremendous pressure placed upon teenagers in Japan and, especially, teenage girls, to own the proper brand named product. This pressure, combined with the fi nancial rewards obtained from enjo-kōsai, ultimately entices the girls into doing it. Enjo-kōsai practitioners can be categorized into three groups, namely: those who engage in full sexual intercourse or ‘teenage prostitutes,’ those who engage in some form of sexual activity other than intercourse, and those who take part in what would be considered a true form of dating service or ‘compensated dating.’ The above survey seems to suggest that the number of girls who had engaged in enjo-kōsai and had had sex and those who had engaged in enjo-kōsai and had engaged in activities of a sexual nature, but not actual intercourse are split evenly. ‘Enjo-kōsai emerged towards the end of Japan’s 1980s economic boom.’（Herbert, 2004, 1）, although（Morrison, 3, quoted in Nguyen, 2004, 1） writes: ‘The number of teenage prostitutes began to climb around 1974. By 1984 the number reached alarming levels and is still increasing.’ The author does not defi ne what he means by ‘alarming levels’ but in the same article he informs the reader that “National Police Agency statistics for 1995 show that 5,841 female minors were involved in telephone club liaisons or other sex-related activities.’ According to the article, this fi gure is an increase of 16.2% from the previous year. If these fi gures are correct then the levels are indeed worrying as they indicate that although media hype focusing on enjo-kōsai has diminished, the phenomenon has not disappeared. The exact origins of enjo-kōsai are diffi cult to ascertain, but the media began covering it in the early to mid-1990s. As（Herbert, 2004, 2）, writes: ‘It was not until the mid-90s that enjo-kōsai was recognized by the Japanese press and they compensated for this sluggishness with an amazing bout of hysteria.’ After the collapse of the bubble economy, young girls could no longer depend on their parents to provide them with a source of income and were prevented by their parents from being

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An Examination of the Causes and Consequences of Compensated Dating （Enjo-Kosai） in Contemporary Japanese Society

engaged in part-time employment whilst still at school. The arrival of telephone clubs gave these girls a place where they could go and wait to be contacted by middle-aged men who would call the club and request to speak to the girl. If the conversation went smoothly the couple would agree upon a price the man would ultimately pay to recruit the services of the girl as his date for a particular evening, hence the term ‘compensated dating’. The media and consumer industries in Japan are extremely powerful and they play a sinister role in persuading these girls that they must have the right look. ‘Teens express themselves in their clothing and gear, and commune with or diverge from each other along trend and fashion lines. In Japan, consumer industries and the media are especially aware of this marketing secret and provide the child not just with directions and opportunities to buy, but also directly market teen communication and acceptability.’（White, 1993, 103）. In a school environment, if some girls are ‘on the game’ and earn enough money to be able to aﬀ ord the right clothes it will have a domino eﬀ ect of encouraging other girls within the school to earn enough money to do likewise.

2 . Is Enjo-kōsai a Social/Moral or a Health Issue?

a） Enjo-kōsai as a Social/Moral Issue Enjo-kōsai has been defi ned as a social issue caused by a number of diff erent problems which, when combined, creates an environment conducive to the phenomenon. These problems include but are not confi ned to the following: the collapse of the bubble economy, lack of proper sex education at home and in schools, the introduction of mobile telephones and personal computers, the mass media, the role of the female in Japanese society and, as previously mentioned, the pressure of consumerism on young schoolgirls are all contributing factors which must be looked at individually. However, in a number of cases a lack of moral values has been cited as the main contributory factor in creating the problem and in a keynote speech at the Second World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children in Yokohama, Japan, the Minister of Justice Ms. Moriyama blamed the lack of morals and also gave her defi nition of enjo-kōsai when she said: Japan, for one, has been worried about the worsening situation of commercial sexual exploitation of children in the midst of the diversifi cation and globalization of society. For example, we Japanese have a Japanese word enjo-kōsai, which is symbolic of the lack of ethics and morals in Japanese society. This is a word invented by the mass media which means ‘compensated dating’, that is, a child offers sexual intercourse in return for pecuniary benefi ts such as money, and this word has the effect of weakening the impression of the immoral or anti-social nature of the act of prostitution. The dissemination of this word enjo-kōsai clearly shows the expansion of the ‘merchandising of sex with a child.’ Also, there is the deplorable tendency of the media to treat it as a kind of fashion.（Moriyama, 1996, 2）. In this excerpt from the speech, Moriyama clearly believes that the term ‘compensated dating’ does not comprehensibly illustrate the gravity of the problem.

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b） Enjo-kōsai as a Health Issue Although enko-kōsai has primarily been defi ned as a social/moral issue, there are a growing number of doctors who believe that it is certainly a health issue which should be taken more seriously. Because girls who engage in enjo-kōsai are becoming younger, they tend to be less aware of the implications or outcomes of their actions. According to a large number of reports, a high percentage of the girls who have sexual intercourse during enjo-kōsai do not engage in safe sex nor do the men they go to bed with. Kunio Kitamura, director of the Japan Family Planning Association stated at a symposium on HIV/AIDS held at the United Nations University in Tokyo that ‘Japan is one of the few developed nations where both the rate of teenage abortions and the number of people infected by sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise’（Hasegawa, 2003, 1）. The same report also quotes him as blaming the situation primarily on the government which, he says, seems to avoid the issue of sex as if it is afraid to ‘wake a sleeping child.’ Furthermore, according to Professor J. Sean Curtis of the Japanese Red Cross University, the Ministry of Health and Labour released fi gures of a survey it conducted in 2002, showing that ‘cases of Chlamydia have nearly tripled in the last decade hitting 37,028 in 2000’（Curtin, 2002, 1）. Quoting from the same survey, he states that the number of women having abortions have risen by 80% since 1995. Other data shows that only teenagers are experiencing a rise in the number of abortions, and that the fi gures overall have declined since 1995. Taku Kato, director of an AIDS research team at the Ministry of Health stated that ‘there is a possibility that many more teenagers are carriers and are not refl ected in the statistics’（National AIDS Clearinghouse, 1996, quoted in The Wall Street Journal, 1）. Also, according to Masako Kihara, an AIDS expert and associate professor at Kyoto University ‘some 20% to 30% of Japanese sixteen year olds have had sex and nearly a quarter of these have had four or more partners. As a result, both HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections-such as Chlamydia - which can cause infertility and makes the infected person more vulnerable to HIV if they have sex with an HIV partner - are on the rise among young people. Of new HIV cases reported in 2003, at least 33% were with people under 29 years old’（Reuters, 21 September, 2004）. Many STIs are asymptomatic or the symptoms only show up later as the infection progresses. The number of women infected with an STI is very much higher than the number of men. Figures vary, but 1：3 is often cited in medical literature. The above data helps to reinforce the argument that enjo-kōsai is both a social/moral, and a health issue, and that the full eff ects of the phenomenon（both socially/morally and from a health perspective） may not be fully known for some years to come. There have been a number of surveys carried out by various groups on the prevalence of enjo- kōsai and fi gures diff er greatly between each one. According to a survey conducted by the National Police Agency in March 2003, the number of arrests made for child prostitution was 400, compared with 133 from the previous year. This is an increase of 300% and, despite the recent lack of interest shown in enjo-kōsai from the media, shows that it is still a major problem which is worsening. The

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same survey reveals that the number of dating sites accessible from PCs increased from 884 in 2001 to 2038 in 2002, and that the number of dating sites accessible from I-mode cellular phones increased from 2,569 to 3,401 over the same period. These fi gures indicate that the prevalence of enjo-kōsai is rising, as the increase in the number of dating sites corresponds directly to the increase in the number of girls involved in enjo-kōsai. Finally, the survey indicates that of these solicitations 29.3%（62 cases） were off ers for dating that included sexual intercourse and 27.5%（54 cases） were for dates in exchange for money. Other surveys cite the number of girls involved in enjo-kōsai as being much higher. ‘Today, enjo- kōsai is so commonplace that 13% of respondents in a recent survey of junior high school students in their fi nal year admitted to practicing it.’（McCoy, 2004, 39）. If this percentage is the truer fi gure then the actual numbers involved are nearly 3 times more than previously stated and is, therefore, even more worrying.

3 . Pornography and Women in Japanese Society

The sex industry in Japan is big business and in his study on the industry,（McNeil, 2003, 1）, notes the following: A recent survey by Takashi Kadokura, an economist with the Daichi Life Research Institute Inc, found that the Japanese market for sex related products swelled to 2.37 trillion yen in fi scal 2001, a rise of 1.67 trillion yen from a decade earlier. Images of sex abound in Japan and one does not have to travel far or look hard to come across it. The choices include vending machines selling pornographic magazines, of which there were more than 13,000 in 1977（Constantine, 1994, 182）. One sex zone in Tokyo, only 0.34 square kilometers, has 3,500 sex facilities such as: strip-theatres, peep shows, soap-lands,（the name given to brothels where one is given a soapy wash before, during, and/or after intercourse）, lover’s banks, pornographic shops, telephone clubs and Karaoke clubs, （CATW-ASIA PACIFIC, Traffi cking in Women and Prostitutes in the Asia Pacifi c, 1996, quoted in Indian NGOs, Child Sexual Exploitations Statistics, Japan, 2004, 1）. Constantine goes on to mention the presence of pornographic magazines intended for 10 -13 year olds. He informs us that boy magazines feature pages of ‘Jerk-off pets’ and instructions on ‘How to have sex’, whilst magazines intended for female children contain such articles as ‘Sex positions, homosexual techniques, and novel ideas for self-stimulation and incest.’ The circulation of these magazines has grown steadily and older men with an unhealthy interest in young children often buy them up. As the following diagram indicates, the number of indecent assaults reported by female victims by age has risen since 1975 and that ‘the increase in victims aged between 13 and 19, which is the largest victim age group, has been signifi cant over the last few years’（FY 1999 Annual Report on the State of the Formation of a Gender Equal Society, 1999, 1）. It can be seen that the number of

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assaults on the age group between the ages of 13 and 19 has nearly tripled since 1978. As the amount of pornographic material on oﬀ er has increased, coupled with the graphic nature of the material（which has become more explicit, and of a more deviant nature）, so the number of assaults has correspondingly increased. Of course it would be ridiculous to cite pornography as the only reason for this increase, but because of its widespread availability in Japan, and because it is in plain sight of minors, it plays an important part. Chart 3.1 1600

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400 ■ 6-12 years 200 ■ 13-19 ■ 20-24 0 1978 1988 1998

Source:（Crime Statistics, National Police Agency, quoted in FY 1999 Annual Report on the State of the Formation of a Gender Equal Society, 1999, 1） ‘In 1991, Gail Lee Bernstein’s “Recreating Japanese Women”, 1600-1945, shattered a number of stereotypes about Japanese women. Among them were the beliefs that in Japan motherhood has ‘always’ been the primary role of women; that women did not work outside the home; and the issues of combining work with family and striving for economic independence emerged only after World War II. Since 1945, the range of opportunities for Japanese women has increased while the supportive and domestic responsibilities to family and society have remained.’（Imamura, 1996, 1）. （Hane,1996, 150）, also writes, ‘The 1946 Japanese Constitution embodies the principle of equality between the sexes. Article 14 states “All of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.” Although the new constitution, in theory, strengthened the legal rights of women, their social, political and economic condition changed very slowly and in some instances not at all.’ Table 4.1 The following table shows the numbers of male and female students engaged in various forms of education in Fiscal 1996.（Nemoto, 1999, 234）.

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Males Females Kindergartens 912, 111 885, 940 Elementary Schools 4, 148, 218 3, 957, 411 Middle Schools 2, 314, 237 2, 213, 411 High Schools 2, 284, 283 2, 263, 214 Technical Colleges 46, 268 9, 966 Vocational Schools 384, 352 415, 199 Miscellaneous Schools 153, 738 152, 806 Junior Colleges 43, 077 455, 439 Universities 1, 724, 756 821, 893 Graduate Students with 85, 269 24, 380 Master’s Degrees

As the above table illustrates, the numbers of males and females attending kindergarten through high school are about equal. However, there are striking diff erences between the numbers of male and female students attending universities and junior colleges, with more than double the number of male students attending 4 year universities than female students, and a staggering 10 times the number of female students attending 2 year junior colleges than male students. These fi gures lend credence to the fact that females play a diff ering role in society than males. The law states that the sexes are equal, yet the number of women who receive as good an education as their male counterparts is substantially less.（Greenfeld, 1995, 122） writes, ‘In Japan, a son’s needs still take precedence over a daughter’s.’ Why should this be so? Various surveys abound. Some indicate that women are content to be housewives while other, more recent, surveys show them to be less satisfi ed. As（Allison, 2000, xviii）, observes, ‘Japan is the only industrialized country where education has a negative eff ect on women’s employment（Tanaka, 1995）. The more educated a woman the less likely she is to enter full-time employment and the shorter her average periods in the workforce.’（Buckley, 1993）”. From an early age, more money is spent on the male child and more is expected from him in return. He is under much more pressure to succeed then his female siblings. The females are expected and encouraged to become good mothers and look after their husbands and children. Indeed, if a woman is too well educated it may ruin her chances of fi nding a spouse as she is supposed to remain subservient to her husband and master. Historically, this arrangement has been the norm in Japan and has remained to be so long after conditions for women and the role they played in their marriage changed and became more equal in other industrialized nations.

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4 . The Role of the Internet and Mobile Phones

a） Telephones ‘Enjo-Kōsai emerged at the end of Japan’s 1980s economic boom.’（Herbert, 2004, 1）. ‘The sudden recession was aff ecting everybody. College girls and young secretaries, who in the late eighties and early nineties had indulged in fast cars, fancy restaurants, and expensive apartments, now had to face the music.’（Constantine, 1994, 12）. Young girls who had previously enjoyed being indulged by their rich fathers suddenly had their money supply cut off . Working part-time simply didn’t provide them with the kind of income that they had become accustomed to. Many college students and secretaries applied for positions at ‘fashion health’ clubs during the 1980s to supplement their income as ‘with just a few quick hours of work a day an eager young girl could live in the manner to which everyone was becoming accustomed’.（Constantine, 1994, 65）（Health. clubs got around the anti- prostitution law by off ering a multitude of services that all stopped short of full sexual intercourse）. The bubble economy had provided fantastic wealth to many thousands of Japanese. It had given them the opportunity to travel to distant places for the fi rst time. When the bubble burst, very young girls who had dreamed of following in their elder siblings footsteps, of visiting foreign lands and of shopping in the best boutiques for the priciest merchandise now had to decide that if the dream were to be a reality, they would have to earn some money by themselves and not rely on their fathers. Unfortunately, most part-time jobs only paid 1000 yen or about $10 at most and that kind of money just wasn’t be enough to provide for expensive holidays and expensive clothes and accessories. Not only that, but in 2001 Nissin OilliO, a large food company conducted a survey among high school girls. One question asked the girls about their monthly income and 280 or 75% responded that they received less than 10,000 yen or $US100 per month pocket money（Geocites, 2002, 7）. Moreover, according to research conducted by Mizuho Bank in January, 2003, Tokyo’s elementary school students received around 666 yen allowance or $US7 per month on average（Japan Today,2004, 1）. A monthly allowance of 666 yen would, at today’s prices, enable an elementary school student to aff ord 2 cans of fi zzy drink, 2 small chocolate bars and maybe a pack of chewing gum. It certainly isn’t enough for them to go shopping in a department store, especially if purchasing brand name goods is what they have in mind. Japan is a hugely consumer oriented society and the pressure to spend money, especially on the correct brand labels, is immense. This is especially so during the teenage years as peer pressure from classmates and superiors at school increases. However, because these girls are only given a stipend they have to supplement their income from elsewhere. A problem arose whereby teenagers were surrounded by images of designer wear and the shops were full of products that the average teenage girl longed to own but simply could not aff ord to buy. As men wanted to meet young girls and were willing to pay for the privilege and the girls in turn

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needed money to fuel their obsession with shopping ‘telephone clubs sprung up to solve this problem.’ （Herbert, 2004, 1）. Telephone clubs ‘are places where men pay for a girl’s phone number.’ （Herbert, 2004, 1）. ‘Originally, in telephone clubs, a man could pay a fee and then wait in a room for a call from a woman, frequently a young girl. Once the woman called, the two would have a conversation that often resulted in an arrangement to meet at another time for a compensated date.’ （Morrison, 2004, 1）. The introduction of telephone clubs proved to be very popular and a government survey estimated that about a quarter of female students aged from 12 to 15 have taken part in telephone chat clubs. According to Connel, 2002, 1, the introduction of the Internet and high ownership rate of cellular phones combined with regulations imposed on telephone dating clubs toward the end of the 90s helped to make telephone clubs largely redundant. It now became easier and cheaper for anyone to access Internet dating sites from the comfort of their own home. The Internet and cellular phones gave adult males the opportunity to express themselves in the safety of their own homes before committing to a meeting outside. It also gave young girls the opportunity to advertise their bodies without fear of being caught by their parents or the police. There have been reports in Japanese newspapers of junior high school girls selling their virginity for as much as 350000 yen or $US3500. They could sell their virginity many times over and earn an incredible amount of money. Many girls involved in enjo-kōsai report that the incentive to do other forms of legally paid employment is non-existent as the amount of hours required to make the same kind of money far exceeds the number of hours that they currently work. According to the National Police Agency, the variety of crimes committed by people using dating sites range from robbery and sexual slavery to murder, abduction and conﬁ nement, blackmail and fraud. Every category of crime has seen a sharp rise and, in every case reported, it is the young girl who is the victim of the crime. As most of the girls work alone without utilizing the services of a pimp, they are at the mercy of every sexual deviant within Japanese society. Unfortunately, this does little to deter them as statistics show that the numbers are increasing. Again better education is needed to try to dissuade the girls from ever becoming involved in enjo-kōsai.

b） THE MASS MEDIA ‘With more than 90% of Japanese watching television every day, for about three hours and twenty-fi ve minutes on average on weekdays, the television industry has the most popular homogenizing eff ect on the public, who share the same visual information across the country’ （Sugimoto, 2003, 246）. Enjo-kōsai has been widely covered in the media through news reports, panel discussions, documentaries and television dramas and fi lms. Smyth points out that the glamorization of this phenomenon has caused many young girls to look

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upon girl prostitutes with envy and awe. They see on TV images of girls the same age as themselves or one or two years older making more money and having more purchasing power than their own parents. Young girls, therefore, feel less than normal if they cannot buy the expensive items they constantly see in magazines and on TV. However, as（Kerr, 2002, 113） observes when he writes about what he believes is the common phenomenon among Japanese media personnel of staging fake news stories: ‘For truly sensational eff ect, television producers will go much further, as in reports of young girls tearfully admitting to being prostitutes ‒ in what turned out to be paid acting stints.’ He cites other instances of TV cover-ups and fake stories which lend credence to his claims.（Schwartz and Pharr, 2003, 241） concur with Kerr and add that one fi nal consequence of Japan’s information cartels is the homogenization of news and consequently of public opinion. This two pronged attack from the media of informing young girls that they need a lot of money to buy the products, and of practically showing them that by having sex for money with older men they will be able to make enough money to purchase whatever they want instills in the girls the idea that enjo-kōsai is the only way for them to be able to feel normal and live a normal life. ‘As far as sex is concerned, many Japanese men fi rmly believe the younger their partners are the better. This is because they have been infl uenced by the media.’（Fukutomi, Mamoru. “Professor at Tokyo Gakugei University” Quoted in ‘Mainichi Daily News’, 2002, 1）. Also（Smyth, 1998, 2） observes that mainstream television and the advertising media continue to promote a ‘cute culture’ which has resulted in men going weak at the knees at the sight of a pleated skirt. The Asahi Newspaper of April 24, 1998 informs the reader that despite extravagant media attention on what many had perceived to be a widespread phenomenon, only 5% of high school girls admitted taking part in enjo-kōsai. The article confi rms the fact that the media frenzy surrounding the problem may have been overly sensationalistic. However, to say ‘only 5%’ of schoolgirls are taking part in prostitution trivializes the problem as what the newspaper is basically saying is that 5% is an acceptable number. No one should have to resort to prostitution for money. It has previously been mentioned that 5% still amounts to a large number of girls being involved in enjo-kōsai. ‘Media reports often lump enjo-kōsai cases together with issues of promiscuity and loose morals, depicting the children involved as spoiled, greedy and motivated by a desire for the latest mobile phone or BMW Series 5 sedan’（McCoy, 2004, 38）. So, the girls are viewed as the instigators, and some high-ranking male members of society, when caught in the act, are given stipend sentences. The message is that it is okay provided as you do not get caught. The history in Japan of treating women as second-class citizens is apparent when so little has been done to stop the decimation of these young girls. They represent the future and with so many feeling that they have been let down and betrayed by adults, their future at times looks foreboding.

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An Examination of the Causes and Consequences of Compensated Dating （Enjo-Kosai） in Contemporary Japanese Society

CONCLUSION

This paper has demonstrated what enjo-kōsai is, how it came to be, and of what the prognosis is for the future of those aff ected by it. Japan was dealt a severe blow due to the collapse of the bubble economy, and this came at a time when more and more Japanese women were beginning to look for equality in the workplace and a more equal standing with men in Japanese society. It has shown how various factors combined in causing this phenomenon and that the government has been slow to respond to it. The downward trend in moral values among all age groups of Japanese society, together with a high rate of consumer spending - especially among young girls - has fuelled the problem of enjo-kōsai. There have been a great number of surveys carried out to try to fi nd the number of girls actually involved in enjo-kosa. However, it is diffi cult to know the real numbers of girls involved. There is now very little coverage in the media and it could be that the problem has indeed subsided. The youth of Japan are notoriously fi ckle and could be, at this very moment, embarking upon the latest trend dictated to them by the media. According to Ishibashi Akiyoshi, a police psychiatrist in Tokyo, ‘half of the 400 teenage prostitutes he and other Tokyo psychologists have counseled extensively（most from middle-class families with two parents） do not feel prostitution is wrong.’（Reitman, 1996, 4）. There have been reports of many other young girls who do not even consider what they are doing to be prostitution. There is scope here for great improvement simply by providing basic moral education in schools as well as through the media, which has far greater control and infl uence over the lives of these young girls than do their teachers and parents. But even child welfare advocate Noda Seiko, who is a member of the Japanese parliament was quoted as saying, ‘I have no sympathy for girls in Japan; they are stupid.’（Reitman, 1996, 4）. It is disturbing when someone who is supposed to champion the rights of young girls makes remarks such as these as such remarks instill in the public the belief that it is the girls who are to blame. New measures are underway to ensure that minors are protected when they use the latest technology and penalties have to be severe enough to act as a deterrent. As with anything new, it takes time to sort out the problems, and although the government of Japan should have instigated procedures to subdue the problem of enjo-kōsai sooner, the wheels of government are notorious for turning slowly. As such, it took as long as it did to start implementing new laws and to make changes to the ways in which education, and in particular, sex education is taught in schools. Only when consigned to the annals of history will we know the true eff ects of enjo-kōsai and of the damage caused to those who were/are involved in it, from the young girls to their families and friends. Time will reveal the damage caused to the mental and moral health of those participants in general and to Japanese society as a whole.

マクレランジェラルド人間環境大学「英会話」担当

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