Peeping into the Pink Box:
inside Japan's sex clubs

What do you need to get deep into Japan's sex clubs? For Joan Sinclair, she needed one year, a few contact numbers and a very understanding husband. The results are now available for you to see, dripping with color, in her new photo book, Pink Box.

After an overheard conversation lead to a walking tour through Kabukicho in Tokyo, the creativity of fuzoku (commercial sex), Japan's second largest industry and most public secret, stuck in Ms. Sinclair's mind for nearly ten years and brought her back with camera in tow. Fuzoku comes wrapped in bright colors and flashing neon with clubs that cater to the narrowest fantasies and customers who agree to very strict rules and guidelines - in direct contrast to the black leather aesthetic of the sex industry in most of the West. "It's a different world. It's a little bit kitsch. It's a little bit quirky and it is so different from anything else we have in the West. It is a reflection of modern society and a reflection of modern humor", she says.

Documenting the variety and creativity of the ‘Pink neighborhoods' and how these relate to and represent the immense consumer culture of modern Japanese society was a driving force of this photo-documentary. "From an aesthetic and academic perspective I was drawn to it. Academically, what in modern Japanese culture makes these clubs so creative? Aesthetically, it's got this comic aura about it. What about it mimics the art of, for example, manga?" These questions are explored through color photos of over 90 sex clubs in Pink Box.

Before arriving, Ms. Sinclair had some willing friends help her research everything possible about the ‘Pink industry' that gives outlet to Japan's pressure-cooker society. She was sent materials such as guidebooks to clubs that were available only in Japan. Other friends read books written in Japanese and described the highlights for her; one even went to a meeting with the author of a book about his experiences in the clubs. Once in Japan, the information booths and colorful advertising magazines, along with her contacts, filled in the gaps.

Gaining access to the clubs proved to be the biggest hurdle. Through contacts or chance meetings, Ms. Sinclair was able to establish relationships with customers and advertisers who were at first surprised by, but then enamored of, the project. These fountains of information helped her create lists of clubs to visit and set up the invaluable face-to-face meetings with club owners and managers that eventually got her in the door. Fuzoku advertising magazine editors featured pictures of her working on the project and she even wrote a column about the soaplands she visited.

Working in cramped conditions with a maximum of 15 minutes per club as she shot between customers, Ms. Sinclair was able to capture the visual ambiance from both the customers' view and flyon- the wall perspectives. From clubs where customers can bathe with women in green jelly, to ‘cosplay' clubs where women dress up as cartoon characters, to clubs which offer access to the every- day banalities of nurses' stations and make believe schools with names like ‘Not Fit to be Educated', Ms. Sinclair has explored the gamut of choice. "There is a sense of humor about it that we don't have here [in the West], and I wanted to bring that world to people who normally wouldn't go to that world."

Every photo in Pink Box has a fascinating, unique story behind it. The door guard, owner, manager and the women all had to agree to Ms. Sinclair's presence and picture taking before she was allowed inside. The women volunteered and were chosen by the clubs for how their look promoted the clubs' theme, be it young, old, large or the prevalent kawaii.

Although not your average coffee table book, the sticky pink plastic cover of Pink Box wraps visually interesting wonders that most will never see in person.

PS Don't forget to check the ‘Pink Dictionary' in the back so you too can be fluent in the language of Pink!

Text: Amanda Hare • Photos: Joan Sinclair