Soapland General Info

[Amarie Marquez]

Salicfranc's post in Introductions asks for some information about the famed soapland experience. I am starting this thread as a response rather than simply replying to his post directly, partly because the info seems to belong here and partly with the idea that eforum.xxxers (including me) can add more information and links from time-to-time.

Fwiiw, my personal opinion is that a visit to a classic upscale soapland (at or similar to one of those in the famous Yoshiwara district) is a not-to-be-missed experience that every monger should try at least once, despite the rather considerable cost (JPY50,000-100,000 typically for a roughly 2 hour full course with an A-list "hostess"). Basically what you get for your money is a quite posh brothel-type environment, an exceptionally skillful and attractive (in appearance and personality/attitude) p4p partner, any more-or-less vanilla forms of sex you want (DFK, HJ, BJ, FS...) plus an elaborate and *very* thorough cleaning/bathing by/with the lady using her naked body to apply the soap (hence the name) PLUS (the best part in the opinion of many guys) a "nuru" (Japanese for "slippery") massage. The nuru massage typically consists of having your naked partner cover her body in a special and very slippery oil and then apply it to your naked body by slipping and sliding around all over you while you recline on an inflatable "pool float" type mat. This can transition directly into a sex act, or you can have the oil cleaned off (both of you) and proceed to a bed or futon for the culminating sex acts.

Other than the high cost, the only negative thing about soapland experiences imo is that they are usually quite scripted. In other words, it is pretty much the same every time, especially if you go back to see the same hostess, but they don't vary that much even with different partners at different standard soapland shops. This may be partly a function of my very limited ability in Japanese; if you speak the language well enough, you *might* (but I don't know) be able to ask or negotiate for variations in the standard script. That said, it is a great great script!

Anyway, here are some links that provide further info.

Two articles:
http://www.impactlab.net/2008/06/07/a-trip-to-soapland/
(And, no, I have no idea why the photo at the top of this article shows one Western woman applying soap to another one's body...not something one is at all likely to see in a Japanese soapland!)
http://www.japanfortheuninvited.com/articles/soaplands.html

An article about various Japanese commercial sex venues, including soaplands, which I mention primarily because it has a photo of a pretty typical example of the bathing and nuru massage area in a soapland service room:
http://www.vanitytours.com/v/print.php?type=A&item_id=2020

A piece of English-language porn which shows a fairly accurate example of the nuru massage technique (though no more sexually realistic than most porn in other regards):
http://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?viewkey=639729450

I hope others will add their own impressions and information, including correcting any of mine which might be out-of-date or less typical than I think or just plain wrong...

-Ww

 

[alex995bikerboy]

I have been to a soapland only once, but I can confirm it is a great experience that I plan to repeat on my next trip to Tokyo in a couple of months.
It was a short time ago, so my memory is still fresh and I can share with you some information.
The place I have been to is Prima Donna. Here is the link:
http://www.dream7000.com/tenpo/index.php?id=4
I made no reservation via web or telephone, my plan was to walk around Yoshiwara streets and see what happened. Most of the shops have a guy on the door to pull people inside. I was approached by many of them so I guess most shops are gaijin friendly. But I went there early afternoon of a working day, so I guess business was poor and they were more favourably disposed towards everybody.
There is no reason why I chose Prima Donna, it was my first time there. It was a kind of coin toss, and mine was lucky. English was very poor, a basic Japanese from you will help.
I was taken to a small waiting room, showed the pictures of available girls, made my choice, paid 35.000 yen for 2 hours and waited for the girl to get ready.
In a few minutes the girl arrived and took my hand to drive me to the room. Action was as described by Wwanderer at the top of this thread, so no need to repeat.
I agree that the best part of it was the nuru massage.
I had a great time and enjoyed the experience, it goes beyond sex and I felt very satisfied and relaxed when walking away.
Only a final warning is needed: generally in these shops the girls pictures are not 100% real, they look much better than reality. If a girl looks like a 8 to 10, you can expect a 6 to 7. And so was my case.

 

[style_trek]

Thanks for the follow-up post, a4j. It has reminded me of a few other points perhaps worth mentioning:

I have also played the game by walking around Yoshiwara eyeballing the places and their touts and waiting for one of them to welcome me inside, and it has basically worked fine for me too. Like you I have the impression that how well and quickly this technique pays off depends on how busy they are, both at that particular shop and moment and the current state of business in the "industry" in general. Major pros of this approach are that it does not require speaking more than the most basic Japanese, lets you move on and continue to "shop" if you don't like the girl(s) you get and, maybe most of all, can be done without a lot of advanced planning/scheduling and trying to communicate on the phone with the shop. Also, if you find a place/hostess you like in this "window shopping" mode, it is usually fairly easy to schedule repeat appointments with her at other times, including ones at which the shop is not hurting so badly for business. Significant cons include that you may have a quite extended wait while they locate and call the lady to come in to see you (i.e., she may well not be waiting around on the premises) and they may not be able to get the one you most want to see at all.

On the cost and looks issue, my experience is that what you pay is pretty well correlated with how good looking and skilled the lady will be. In my experience, going to the JPY25,000-50,000 range (or even lower in some parts of town I've heard) for 90+ min appointments means an acceptably attractive partner but not one of the insanely hot ones you can get well north of that price range. This is based on my experiences a few years (like 5) back, and the rates may have changed; it is said that prices are gradually dropping in the bad economic times, but I can't confirm this from my own experience.

Fwiiw, I also have found that the pictures they show you are nearly useless. It is not so much that it is not the same woman, but they are so made-up and dress-up and posed and probably photoshopped that it just doesn't tell me much. I've found price to be a better indicator of appearance than the pictures. Also, the stats, measurements, weight, height etc may be helpful if you have definite preferences in those departments (which I don't so much).

Finally, I remembered that I left one fairly common element out of my description of the standard "script". Namely, it has become fairly common to offer the customer an initial/immediate BJ at the beginning of the appointment, before the bath and so forth. There is some special name for this in Japanese, but I can't recall what it is at the moment. This is supposed to somehow be particularly sexy by expressing a kind of submissiveness on the part of the lady, that she will take you in her mouth unwashed etc. I suspect it also has the purpose of taking the edge off the guy's sexual responses so that he can get through the elaborate bath and nuru massage process without blowing his load prematurely (no longer a problem at my age, sadly) or losing his patience...or mind...waiting for the finale. I prefer to pass on this initial BJ, but it is good to know about it for several reasons. One of them is that it can cause a misunderstanding; the guy may well think that he is just going to get a quick BJ for his money and not get to enjoy the whole "full course" treatment. I suppose that could happen, but I have never heard of that sort of rip-off at a real Yoshiwara soapland.

-Ww

 

[Yia!]

I was offered no initial bj. I had it (a lot of it) only after washing.
Thanks anyway for your information, I will remember it when I repeat the experience.

 

[Claire D]

Hi Ww & a4j,

Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences. It makes me think that soapland is something one should try.

I'll report about my experience, hopefully soon.

Frank

 

[Ivory]

For anyone that might not be aware of it, Google Translate can convert Japanese language websites such as the one a4j gives for Prima Donna to "Engrish"; it can be found at

http://translate.google.com/#ja|en

Just pop the target website's URL into the text box and hit translate...and then wait a bit. The translation does not do kana that are presented as images (jpeg's or whatever) on the web page; this is often done for "buttons", for example. If you follow a link from the original target page, Google Translate automatically picks it up and translate it too, so you don't have to keep going back to the initial Google Translate page for each new URL you visit...very convenient!

The translations themselves are VERY rough, often incomprehensible and sometimes hilarious...but you can often get the general/approximate drift of what the Japanese text means. Not ideal but better than nothing for those of us illiterate in Japanese.

-Ww

 

[Kayleigh]

That is some great information. Thanks for sharing...

I remember hearing about Soaplands from a J-girl when I first came to Japan. It seems liked one of those mythical adventures that were off-limits to non-Japanese folks. Then, I learned about the whole history of Yoshiwara and was just amazed that something like that really had exists. (and still exists to a point...)

Kind of the same thing for those host and hotesess clubs. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of paying for converstaion or just the company of a lady. The old-timers in the company I work for now mentioned that 'back in the day' - taking clients to hostess bars was a very common thing to do. The soapland expereince was something extra that could have been an option as well.

IMHO, the Korean and Chinese shops are taking some of the glamour away from industry with their cheap quality and price of service...

Thanks again Wwanderer, glad to have you around here.

 

[sweetest]

does anyone want to go to the soapland next week?

 

[eclecticdoctor]

As far as I know, they are still around, even if considerably reduced in number and business...waiting for the fabled return of the healthy economy like everyone else in Japan. Anyway, all the memories called up by this thread inspire me to want to check out Yoshiwara again to see how it has changed or not. I hope the quality is even better (if that is possible) and the prices are much reduced (definitely possible)! OK, call me an optimist.

Anyway, I think I will pay this old playground a visit when I am next in Tokyo, probably in February.



From my limited but not completely insignificant experience, negotiating a major deal with Japanese partners typically involved one or more evenings that started off at the tamer levels of some mizu shobai district and then wound their way deeper into wilder and more "depraved" (and drunken) activities as the evening progressed. The group would slowly shrink as some guys reached the limits of their business socializing accounts, morality or commuting times. A soapland would be a typical last stop (for me anyway), but there were usually some others between the start in some hostess/karaoke bar and the finale in a soapland or wherever. An odd, but surely memorable, sort of male bonding ritual...



Yeah, that's the Japanese spirt...blame the gaijin!

But you are probably right.

-Ww

 

[doppler]

Fwiiw, my impression/guess is that a group, and certainly a group of more than two, of gaijin is less likely to be admitted to a soapland than a guy approaching the place by himself. One of the reasons (but not the only one) soaplands, and other sex work shops in Japan, are reluctant to admit foreign customers, especially ones that don't speak Japanese well or at all, is a fear that they will misunderstand something about the services provided or something that happens and will create a noisy fuss, get into a loud argument or whatever. Groups are regarded, probably correctly, as more able to cause this sort of problem than an individual.

So, my suggestion would be to go to Yoshiwara with a pal or as a group if you wish but to do your trolling for invitations to come inside alone. You can then meet up afterwards to compare tales (which you are required to post on eforum.xxx anyway, of course).

This advice does NOT apply if one or more members of the group is a known customer at the shop or speaks Japanese sufficiently fluently to handle all the communication issues smoothly and assure the "management" that he will explain everything to his friends and make sure there are no misunderstandings etc.

-Ww

 

[Real Deal CowGirl]

Hi guys.
First of all,i just want to thank,all of this info,it is really very much usefull.

On the other hand,if everything goes the way it has to,next year i will return to Japan for some days,even i will only be at Tokyo for two nights.
Reading about soaplands,makes me want to go,but iam very interested too in Pink Salon,even some girl from AM.

From your experience,being only two nights,and never been before this places,what you recomend me?One night AM,and other Pink salon?Soapland and Pink salon?AM and soapland? (my budget is not so big,so only could make two activities)

Thanks in advance

 

[Riki]

It is tough to give you useful advice because it is a bit like telling someone what they should order in a good restaurant. All of the food is perfectly fine, or at least might be, and it mostly depends on what the person likes or is in the mood to eat.

That said, a few comments:

Imo, a good soapland session is likely to be by far the most erotic, unusual, memorable and expensive of your three options. Re the latter, it could easily cost more than a date with an AM escort and a Pink Salon visit combined. I should also mention that the technique discussed in this thread above, of just trolling Yoshiwara looking for an invitation to enter one of the shops, is NOT a good idea when your time is very limited. You can easily strike out and not get in anywhere, or at least not anywhere you feel comfortable. That has happened to me close to half the times I've tried it I'd guess. (Again the caveat that I haven't been to Yoshiwara in about 5 years, so the scene could easily be different now.) So, you want to have the flexibility to give up and return on another night to try again. However, if you can make a reservation in advance (which require speaking Japanese on the phone with the shop), it should be ok.

Actually, an advanced reservation would also be a good idea for an AM escort; it is not so hard to strike out with that option either if you call and want to see someone with minimal advanced notice.

Given your short stay, you may be best off trying to make an arrangement (with either a soapland or AM) before you arrive in-conntry, if possible.

I should clarify that I have never used AM personally but am assuming that it is not too different from Club Boo and other such services. In many ways this would probably be your safest bet for a good experience, but it will also probably be relatively similar to what you have experienced elsewhere in the world with (good) outcall agencies if you monger in that mode with any regularity. The experience will likely have its own distinctly Japanese style/flavor but will not be all that different.

Imo, a Pink Salon is worth trying for the novelty value but is rarely a quality experience. The women are typically not the hottest (and it is so dark they may be considerably less desirable "up close" than when you see/choose them from a distance or a picture) and are usually pretty worn out and psychologically uninspired/uninspiring. Think about what it must be like for them, and you will get the idea.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth...no perfect option with a tight budget and such a short stay, but with any luck you should be able to find some sort of good time(s).

-Ww

 

[SMARTi3 - H0W U DURRiN!!!]

does anyone knows any soapland that caters for female clients?
perform by japanese female to female.

thanks.

 

[Lumidare]

This is a new one for me, let me ask a few people and see if anything turns up.

Anyone else, feel free to answer her question.

 

[bunz88]

I am pretty sure I have heard that such places exist, but it was years ago, and I don't recall any useful details or leads, if I ever knew any in the first place.

My guess is that your best bet would be to call a bunch of Yoshiwara shops and inquire (very politely...duh!) about the possibility, maybe just ask if they have any hostesses who see female clients. This will require speaking at least moderately good/clear Japanese on the phone or having someone do so for you, obviously. You may have to be persistent and call quite a few places...or maybe it is common if you ask; I don't have a clue really.

It is certainly not hard to find outcall agency escorts who will see female customers, so I don't see why it shouldn't be possible in a soapland venue too, at least in principle.

I hope you will report back here, success(es) and/or failure(s), if you do try. Sharing info is the what boards like this one are all about of course.

Anyway, good luck!

-Ww

 

[Philip H]

Ww,again,thank you so much for your words,it helped me once more.

I think i will get as maximum info as i can before i go,and take final decision one week before,calling here and there,trying to get appointment in AM or some soapland,so this way i will be able to make my own.

For sure i will write my experience,and all the info i get by that time.

Thanks a lot

 

[cupidgirl]

Coyoteloco and anyone else wanting to do some "homework" in prep for a soapland outing, this page

http://www.soapland-net.com/list/yoshiwara.htm

and links off of it can be quite useful. Feed it to Google Translate (of course) if you don't read Japanese. If nothing else it is a useful list of phone numbers and home page links for a bunch of Yoshiwara shops.

-Ww

 

[Steve-O]

Does anyone know if these are outside Tokyo--maybi Tachikawa or Hajima? I strongly doubt Fussa area but maybe?

 

[Positive Rodent]

I definitely want to try out a soapland now, they sound amazing.

March won't come soon enough

 

[monicaMuffin-la]

How Does a person get to Yoshiwara please post detailed instructions from shinjuku station