One Thursday night in September, a park in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district in Tokyo became a hotbed of sexual activity, with men wandering the area, eyes darting around in search of the perfect candidate with whom to fulfill their desires.
At Okubo Park, there are no pimps — just men, including foreign nationals, looking for paid sex and young women there to give it. By 8 p.m., there were around 30 women waiting to be called on.
“Are you standing?” a man asks one of the women, using a euphemism for prostitution. If the price is too high, the man will either walk away or try to bargain for a lower rate.
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