No Underwear Allowed for No-pan Kissa Why Japan Shut Down the Cafes
The Japanese are a crafty lot, always coming up with curious ideas about their private lives. For instance, in the 1980s they came up with a special network of cafes where the waitresses walked around literally without underwear, wearing only short skirts. The first such establishment opened in Osaka in 1980. However, today No-pan kissa are being closed en masse and banned across the Land of the Rising Sun. Let us try to understand why.
In This Article:
The Apex of No-pan Kissa in the 1990s A Thousand Cafes and Weeks-long Reservations
No-pan-kissa reached its apex in the 1990s. Across the country, more than a thousand such cafes operated. Tables in Japanese No-pan-kiss back then were reserved weeks in advance, despite the extremely exorbitant prices in the establishments. But already in the 2000s the popularity of No-pan-kiss declined rapidly. And almost all such cafes in central parts of cities closed... But why? Young Magazine explains the situation: "No pan-kiss достигли апогея своего уже в 1990-е годы. По стране работало свыше тысячи подобных кафе. Столики в японских No pan-kiss тогда были зарезервированы на недели вперед, несмотря на крайне конские ценники в заведениях." "Потому сегодня в Японии на плаву полулегально остались лишь некоторые наиболее раскрутившиеся No pan-kissа. Как правило, в укромных местах - чисто 'для своих' богатеев, криминальных авторитетов или же туристов. Например, в злачном токийском районе Ёсивара."
Today’s Reality A Few Semi-Legal Cafes Remain Hidden in Places Like Tokyo’s Yoshiwara
Today in Japan only a handful of the most well-known No-pan-kissa remain afloat, operating semi-legally. They tend to be tucked away in discreet locations—solely for their own kind: wealthy patrons, criminal authorities, or tourists. An example of where such venues survive is Tokyo’s seedy Yoshiwara district.
Earnings for Workers Remain Astronomical Despite Decline
Nevertheless, young Japanese women still are not averse to earning money in such cafes. For the earnings of No Pan Kissa workers remain astronomical when it comes to tips.
