CARNAL NATION

Bloomberg reports that the Bank of Japan published a report last week on the economic potential of sex work and the pleasure industry. The report, entitled “Susukino, Recent Trends and Changes to a Pleasure District,” is part of the central bank's new focus on service industries amid the general economic slump in exports, traditionally the leading engine of Japan's economy. The report looked at trends for both the brothels and restaurants in Susukino on the island of Hokkaido, which has the largest pleasure district in the country. Japanese law permits licensed brothels to operate within specially designated areas; the brothels can offer a wide array of services including oral sex. Intercourse is prohibited. But why an economic report on the sex industry? "Any study into services is most welcome,” said Martin Schulz, senior economist at Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo. “We’ve got hundreds of studies on exports and manufacturing. What’s needed is creative thinking on services and if that includes brothels, so be it.”

The report found that between 1989 and 2008, the number of restaurants in the area declined by 14 percent. However, the number of brothels more than quadrupled during the same period, growing from 63 in 1989 to 264 in 2008. “The number of brothels has increased. There’s no question about that,” said Tadao Yonezawa, 66, an official at the Susukino Tourist Association. “It must be because people want those services. Where there’s demand, you get supply.” The report concluded that to make such pleasure zones more economically viable, developers should seek to appeal to a wider audience, including women.