The legal incall service known as ‘soapland’ in Tokyo is only in the Yoshiwara area. Although Yoshiwara is famous for incall service that involves intercourse, and that is the purpose for most customers visit Soapland. Actually, prostitution is not legal in Japan.
As it is in the grey zone, the common rule is like paying the bathing fee at the front desk in a soapland incall shop, and then paying the intercourse fee to the working girl after entering the playroom. This is to protect the legal principle that the agreement to have sex for money was made one-on-one between the customer and the working girl, and that the shop was not involved. There are no penalties for one-on-one prostitution.
Now it is almost impossible to open a new incall shop such as Soapland in Tokyo because it must have a ‘store-type sexual entertainment special business’ (店舗型性風俗特殊営業) license permission, but it is not grounded since the law (風営法) has changed in 1985, the outcall service known as ‘delivery health’ is the main business nowadays.
The outcall service is licensed as a ‘Non-store type sexual entertainment special business’ (無店舗型性風俗特殊営業) that allows to do most sexual services except intercourse.
However, some shops provide sexual services for incall without a legal licence, which is not safe both for women working there, as well as for customers, because it might be owned or involved with the mafia.
