| The story below is originally published on Mainichi Daily News by Mainichi Shinbun (http://mdn.mainichi.jp). |
| They admitted inventing its kinky features, or rather deliberately mistranslating them from the original gossip magazine. |
| In fact, this is far from the general Japanese' behavior or sense of worth. |
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| ※ この和訳はあくまでもボランティアの方々による一例であり、翻訳の正確さについては各自判断してください。 もし誤訳（の疑い）を発見した場合には、直接ページを編集して訂正するか翻訳者連絡掲示板に報告してください。 |
Life of a professional mistress not always a fistful of yen 2006,07,07
Spa! 7/11 By Ryann Connell
Japan's mistress business is reaching its headiest days since the '80s bubble era, courtesy of a crackdown on sex services and an improving economy, according to Spa! (7/11).
Miho Nagakura knows exactly what it's like to be a kept woman, having lived for almost five years in a posh central Tokyo apartment, given a 200,000 yen monthly stipend and lavished with luxuries by a lad who loved her from the moment he first laid eyes on her.
"We had normal sex once a week - he never wanted anything weird and I was quite happy to do his cooking and otherwise look after him.
He told me to make something of myself, so I started taking English conversation, flower arrangement and other classes a few times a week.
It seemed he got a lot of enjoyment out of watching me grow into a lady," the 29-year-old medical equipment worker tells Spa!
All good things come to an end, though, as Nagakura discovered.
"It looks like he found himself a younger mistress.
He stopped visiting me as often and then the relationship just fizzled out," she says.
"He didn't even give me a payoff."
Kana Hikawa knows what it's like to be a professional mistress in Noughties Japan, too, but unlike Nagakura, she's strictly business with little feeling involved.
Hikawa enrolled in an online matchmaking service where women upload their profile and photos for free and the men pay an annual fee running into several hundred thousand yen.
For that sum, men can choose the registered women they fancy and are permitted to take them on a date on the premise that if they enjoy each other's company, they will enter a contract for the woman to become a mistress.
"On the day after I registered, I was introduced to two guys and I picked the one most likely to have multiple mistresses.
That way, he'd probably have more money around I could also get away with meeting him less but still getting paid," the shrewd 26-year-old credit card company worker tells Spa!
"Before you agree to sign a contract, there's a tryout romp.
I used every technique I'd ever learned with every other guy I'd slept with, put all my effort into the session and really tried to sell myself.
I refused to be passive, jumping on top and spending at least 10 minutes performing fellatio."
Hikawa's efforts paid off and she ended up signing a contract where she received 100,000 yen in cash every time she agreed to meet the 45-year-old tax accountant whose fancy she had tickled.
Not every professional mistress has a happy tale to tell, though.
Satoe Kawai was less than happy with her
"He bought me presents like saucy lingerie and even an anal probe.
I was more like his sex slave than a lover.
One time during sex, he suddenly thrust his fist in without a word of warning," the 27-year-old woman tells Spa!
"I was tempted to call the cops on him."
Kawai found her way into being a mistress by posting a message on an ordinary lonely hearts site, but stressing that she was seeking a 35,000 yen payment any time she met somebody.
Within half an hour, she'd been swamped with messages from guys eager to take her up on the offer, but countering with sums considerably less than what she was seeking.
Eventually she settled on a man who said he couldn't afford 35,000 yen a meeting, but would pay her 100,000 yen a month if she agreed to meet him every Saturday.
Kawai says she needed the money and agreed to his condition.
But things soured for when Kawai when their sexual relationship began to take a twist toward the twisted.
"What got me through all the unpleasantness of the abnormal games was the delight I felt at not being broke all the time," the professional mistress tells Spa!
"Now, I've got myself a regular job.
It's a bit boring at times and, I know this is a given, but earning a legitimate living is the best way of all." (By Ryann Connell)
July 7, 2006
