Prostitution and the 1960s' origins of corporate entertaining in Japan

SynopsisIt is the strong contention of the ‘Japan studies’ literature that corporate entertaining is not generally connected to the prostitution of women in Japan. White collared men are described as enjoying mere ‘sexual titillation’ in their patronage of hostess venues for after-hours wining and dining. I argue against this contention through examining the historical development of corporate entertaining as a practice of middle class Japanese men. This examination shows the 1960s' origins of corporate entertaining to be fundamentally intertwined with the development of the sex industry sector in Japan that trades women as ‘hostesses’. I look at the impact of this development on working class Japanese women, and give evidence of their prostitution, trafficking, and murder in hostess venues in the 1960s and 1970s.