JK business

The JK business is a commercial activity in Japan that allows customers to engage in pseudo-dating with high school girls. It significantly increased in scale around 2006, after the maid café boom in Akihabara, Tokyo, had died down.^[1] The abbreviation JK stands for 女子高生 (joshi kōsei, ja:女子高生), a female high school student. Typical scenario of a JK encounter: a girl gives out leaflets inviting for a JKお散歩 (jēkē o-sanpo, “a JK walk” or “a walking date”).^[2][3] Earlier the offered service was known as a "refresh business". When police began investigations into the practice of "JK"; the "sanpo business" arose. This is when a girl is paid for social activities such as walking and talking, and is also sometimes referred to as "fortune telling".^[4][5] Another activity is reflexology (Japanese: リフレ, rifure, ja:リフレ).^[6] Many of the girls work in Akihabara in Tokyo.^[7][8]

The U.S. State Department reported in 2017 that the Government of Japan "does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking", and "continues to facilitate the prostitution of Japanese children".^[9] Japan was briefly upgraded to 'Tier 1' status in the 2018^[10] and 2019^[11] reports, but was downgraded again to 'Tier 2' status in the 2020^[12] and 2021^[13] reports.

Yumeno Nito, a strong critic of government inaction on the problem, has formed a charity to assist girls in Tokyo.^[14][15][16] Cultural anthropologists have described Japan as having a shame culture, creating a barrier for teenage runaways to be reunited with their families, making them vulnerable to recruiting into the underage sex industry.^[3][17][18]