Search YouTube for “Entering the entertainment industry through pillow business at 14.”

Papa-katsu and New Year’s greetings, I see. A creative twist on a New Year’s message? Thank you. Happy New Year, everyone.

Prostitution means having sexual relationships with multiple unspecified partners in exchange for compensation. It’s illegal, but there are no penalties. “援助交際” refers to prostitution involving minors. Anyone under 18 is committing a crime under child prostitution laws. An “arrangement with a mistress” generally refers to a contract in which a married man provides money or other compensation in exchange for sex with a woman and maintaining a mistress-like relationship. The difference between such an arrangement and papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan) is that single men may also participate in papa-katsu, and the arrangements can be more casual, including lighter terms and amounts. One reason papa-katsu has developed such a negative image is that, for better or worse, it has become increasingly casual. Multiple partners and one-time arrangements are now seen as normal. When that happens, it starts to be viewed as something close to prostitution. Men may engage in papa-katsu with a pay-per-meeting allowance that isn’t particularly high, while expecting something resembling a mistress arrangement. Meanwhile, women may be looking for generous, substantial terms despite wanting a casual papa-katsu arrangement. I think this mismatch between men and women happens quite often. Incidentally, what she does on the Gairoku Channel is an arrangement with a mistress. It’s neither the papa-katsu that young women today generally envision nor prostitution.

I searched for it on YouTube and have started watching. Since they’re openly showing their faces, I wonder if it’s made up—wouldn’t that expose them to tax evasion charges? If it’s true and they’re genuinely close, though, then it wouldn’t be prostitution.