Paper short abstract:

Free magazines that advertise a variety of jobs that could be classified as sex work are surprisingly common in Japan. Analysing two such magazines, this paper aims to uncover the strategies that are employed in order to make this line of work seem palatable or even attractive to young women.

Paper long abstract:

Job advertisements for a variety of jobs that could be broadly classified as sex work - ranging from positions as hostesses, models, and video chat operators to what amounts to outright prostitution - exist both as free magazines and in the form of websites. The former are a surprisingly common sight in Japan. Euphemistically called 高収入求人マガジン ('magazines that advertise high-paying jobs'), they can be found around subway stations, hotels and restaurants and are generally available free of charge. Besides the advertisements themselves, they usually feature various articles aimed at girls and young women and are modelled after fashion and lifestyle magazines.

Since the jobs on offer are anything but uncontroversial, are associated with low social status, and have a reputation for being dangerous and potentially illegal work for highly untrustworthy employers, anyone trying to fill these jobs must employ a variety of strategies to alleviate such concerns. To be successful, these strategies must make use of the full scope of communicative tools that the Japanese language, but also the non-verbal symbolic systems that make up Japanese culture, provide. This makes analysing them very instructive.

This paper analyses several issues of two such magazines: 'Momoko' and 'Shaleo'. They are freely available in Tokyo and were collected between July and December 2014. Qualitative as well as quantitative content analysis reveals what measures the creators have taken to make the advertised jobs palatable to their target audience and what reservations they were trying to overcome. Unsurprisingly, money and the access to consumer culture that it affords are central themes that are frequently brought up in both the ads themselves and in the accompanying articles. They are, however, not as overwhelmingly dominant as a cursory glance might suggest. Equally, if not more important are the various linguistic and stylistic devices that are used to create a non-threatening undertone of safety and cleanliness, which is all the more important as both magazines are constantly trying to strike a delicate balance between explicitness and cutesy innocence.

Paper short abstract:

Using data from a major matchmaking agency in Japan we examine how family circumstances affect one's attractiveness as a potential date. We find that a greater possibility of co-residence with in-laws, as well as resource commitments deter potential marriage partners.

Paper long abstract:

Research on mate selection rarely considers singles' preferences for their future partners' family configurations and experiences. Using online dating records from a major matchmaking agency in Japan, a society with a strong emphasis on family and kinship, we examine how singles' responses to date requests correspond to potential mates' family circumstances. Results from fixed-effects logit models are consistent with the argument that singles' preferences for potential partners' family characteristics stem from both a concern about future obligations toward the partner's family and stereotypes associated with certain family traits. Singles, for example, are less likely to accept requests from those from large families, which are seen as traditional, but being from a large family hampers individuals', especially males', dating chances considerably more if they are firstborn and have no brothers, two conditions that make them the designated child to care for elderly parents. We also find that Japanese singles largely seek partners with more of the universally valued family traits, rather than traits similar or complementary to their own.

Paper short abstract:

This study focuses on the business activities around enmusubi tourism. Research shows that enmusubi tourism is supposedly spiritualistic in nature but is highly commercialised because travellers are encouraged to gain spiritual power by consuming goods, food, and services related to enmusubi.

Paper long abstract:

In Japan, it is popular among young women to go in groups on pilgrimage to shrines to pray to the gods for opportunities to meet suitable men to fall in love with, romance, and ultimately end in marriage. This is called 'enmusubi tourism'. The word 'enmusubi' refers to creating the ties that bind people together. Enmusubi tourism is different from the general love and romance tourism indulged in by women in that the women engaged in enmusubi tourism do not seek men during their travel; instead, they are more focused on their own feelings and spiritual energy in preparing to invite good fortune in love, romance, and marriage. This study focuses on the business activities around enmusubi tourism. Studying the commercial context of enmusubi tourism is necessary because this is now an important part of the tourism industry in Japan; however, the academia has paid only limited attention to this aspect. Field research was conducted in 2015 and 2016 at the Jishu Shrine in Kiyomizu, Kyoto City, Izumo Grand Shrine in Izumo City, and the route in Osaka City recommended by the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau in Osaka City to offer prayers for fulfilling wishes for love. From the research, it was revealed that enmusubi tourism is supposedly spiritualistic in nature but is highly commercialised because women travellers are encouraged to gain spiritual power by consuming goods, food, and services related to signs and symbols of enmusubi. The presentation shows the strategies of shrines to promote themselves as choice destinations for enmusubi tourism, the private business practices of owners of cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops, and hotels in the areas around shrines known for power of enmusubi, and public organisations' engagement in supporting these businesses.