First time for everything...

[RedCat]

Hi!

I just found this forum and am so happy that I did.

I am a 45year old American guy. I have travelled a lot in Europe, but never to Japan. But I will finally make it to Tokyo in July and I am very excited to explore.
I will be there for 10 days and am travelling solo. I have work to do in Tokyo, but will have flexibility to travel some.

Honestly, I am looking forward to everything...from the food to the architecture...and of course to the adult entertainment. I have some experience with P4P in Europe (German FKK clubs, etc) - but from what I can tell, the options are MUCH more interesting in Japan.

Some things...

PIV is not a must for me. I enjoy touch, massage, oral, hand...PIV is great, but I see a lot of guys who focus really heavily on whether that is offered.

I am interested in the pink salon (those are the BJ spots, right?) experience as well as Soaplands and love hotels.

I am not really into any fetish/kink. But I also haven't really had the opportunity to do any kind exploring there, so I'm not NOT into trying new things.

I don't speak Japanese...but know enough to say "sumimasen" and "nihongo ga wakarimasen" and a few other polite phrases to show respect and to acknowledge that I am the one who needs to do better in communication.

I am kind of a big guy, 6', 260lbs. Formerly athletic, but a desk job for 20 years will put a gut on anyone. I have long hair and a beard. Kind of a viking aesthetic but not really leaning into that. I am pretty quiet/introverted.

I know that some of these things will limit the access I have to certain things...and that's OK. I can't do much about them (other than maybe shave).

Any tips on how to have a great, varied, safe time would be very welcome! I will happily post experiences to contribute to the page.

 

[Danbo]

Since you have for sure read a few threads on this forum you will know that not being able to speak Japanese will limit your choices quite a bit.

To be very frank, I think the combination of being tall, a heavy guy with long hair AND beard will close even more doors for you. In the US/Europe this is completely normal, but if you visit shops where you have to talk to staff first, this could look too intimidating to get a pass.

Shaving and leaving your viking aesthetic at home is probably a good idea.

 

[RedCat]

Yep. I am doing a lot of reading here and had pretty much come to the conclusion that the beard would have to go. That's fine. They grow back.

Plus, it looks like July is going to be hot and humid in Tokyo, so it will be more comfortable without it anyhow.

I am working pretty hard on the language skills and have a decent knack (I get by in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Polish), so hopefully I will at least be able to be respectful and polite.

 

[Cinnabums]

6'
260 lbs
Means nothing to a Viking and neither to a Japanese but I assume your big.
Scary and intimidating to many of the gatekeepers(touts).

Got rid of my beard recently and service level changed remarkably for the positive, the majority of girls prefer clean shaven baby faces. Also, met a DH girl the other week, I had a one day stubble and she suggested I shave before playing.
So be smooth as a babys ass when you meet girls.

10days, it's a short time.
Booking in advance with backup plans is my suggestion.

 

[RedCat]

Right right, metric. 183cm/118K - Not huge...but big.

Beyond the basic physicality...I don't think I am intimidating. I am pretty good about being soft spoken, respecting personal space, and I have done enough travel to know how to communicate a lot of my intentions non-verbally. Gotta smile with your eyes.

I grew up in Europe, so don't give off the typical "ugly American" energy...in fact a lot of my international travel for work came about because my boss WAS that guy...bull in a china-shop, loud, impatient, etc.

No one liked doing business with him, and now I have his job.

But off goes the beard.

With respect to reservations...how far in advance?

With DH services, I got the impression that you got a love hotel, then called to book.

Also, since I have you (and I have read a bunch of your posts...) since PIV is not really all that important to me, are there massage-style alternatives to Soaplands that offer the shower/nuru experience, but are not "full service"?

 

[Cinnabums]

With respect to reservations...how far in advance?

For popular girls, +1 month otherwise a few days.

With DH services, I got the impression that you got a love hotel, then called to book.

Book girl, find hotel and then call shop and tell them hotel name and room number.
The normal procedure but I guess there is different ways.

Also, since I have you (and I have read a bunch of your posts...) since PIV is not really all that important to me, are there massage-style alternatives to Soaplands that offer the shower/nuru experience, but are not "full service"?

There are matshops. I like Yokohama Happy Mat Paradise!

 

[RedCat]

Yeaaah, that seems very much my jam. Time to do some searching/reading on matshops. Thank you!!

 

[RedCat]

The day is here...I am sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to board and trying to figure out my plan of action for some fun activities in Tokyo.

The beard is gone, the hair is still long, but cleaned up. My Japanese is still pretty limited because well, it is. But I recognize the importance of a polite, quite approach...so we shall see.

I am staying near Haneda airport initially, and thinking about heading south to Yokohama Happy Mat Paradise. It looks fantastic. (If there are other matshops in the greater Tokyo area that are foreigner-friendly, it seems like the closest to what I am going to enjoy most.)

I have been reading about Sekukyaba, and would LOVE to find one...that kind of soft-play sounds like a lot of fun. The US just doesn't have that kind of offering. Onakura seem fun too, but my guess is language is going to kill that.

I feel like Soaplands are probably a wrong step for me...I don't need full service and the potential for making an ass out of myself seems high. In my head, I thought they were akin to German FKK clubs (like Artemis in Berlin), where the girls walk around and mingle.

Once I move into the city center (Roppongi), I am thinking of trying a HD service. Not sure where to start, but it seems like several websites are only accessible once in Japan.

Just to be sure, Y-Shirt and Asia mystique are escort services, not HD, correct?

Appreciate all the advice and folks posting reviews...I'll post my own (fails too) soon!

 

[Sudsy]

HD service

You mean delivery health? (DH)

 

[RedCat]

Ah, yes. Sorry, dyslexia + new terminology can be a pain.

 

[Alice]

I feel like Soaplands are probably a wrong step for me...I don't need full service and the potential for making an ass out of myself seems high. In my head, I thought they were akin to German FKK clubs (like Artemis in Berlin), where the girls walk around and mingle.

Once I move into the city center (Roppongi), I am thinking of trying a HD service. Not sure where to start, but it seems like several websites are only accessible once in Japan.

Just to be sure, Y-Shirt and Asia mystique are escort services, not HD, correct?

Y-shirt is a soapland and in case you didn’t figure out yet, soaplands are nothing like FKK. The girls don’t mingle (in person selection is rare, especially for tourists without language skills who already have very limited options) and the sessions are much longer and more intimate service.

Asian Mystique is a service that does offer FS standard, but of course you can request them not to go all the way as long as you pay the same. Probably the easiest to order over to a hotel in Roppongi without having language ability.

 

[RedCat]

Y-shirt is a soapland and in case you didn’t figure out yet, soaplands are nothing like FKK. The girls don’t mingle (in person selection is rare, especially for tourists without language skills who already have very limited options) and the sessions are much longer and more intimate service.

Asian Mystique is a service that does offer FS standard, but of course you can request them not to go all the way as long as you pay the same. Probably the easiest to order over to a hotel in Roppongi without having language ability.

Yep, that's what I thought. Just making sure I understand.

I figure there is no need to pay the premium of a FS shop if I am not going to indulge. (I assume I will be paying the foreigner tax regardless tho).

Thanks!

 

[Danbo]

I have been reading about Sekukyaba, and would LOVE to find one...that kind of soft-play sounds like a lot of fun. The US just doesn't have that kind of offering. Onakura seem fun too, but my guess is language is going to kill that.

Lol, there is also another thing to consider, because you are a big 120kg guy. A lot of Sekukyabas (like the ones run by campus group) are super cramped shops with tiny tiny booths. This sounds ridiculous, but you could have problems fitting comfortably into a booth with a girl sitting next to you 🤣
Just a thing to keep in mind. Shops like Kurenai or others with a more spacious layout could be a better choice because you have more space to sit/lie down comfortably.

 

[Alice]

Yep, that's what I thought. Just making sure I understand.

I figure there is no need to pay the premium of a FS shop if I am not going to indulge. (I assume I will be paying the foreigner tax regardless tho).

Thanks!

That kind of depends. Some shops don’t have foreigner tax and some FS places prices are not that different from non FS places (cheap soaps and mid tier delivery health could have the same price for example).

 

[Sudsy]

Ah, yes. Sorry, dyslexia + new terminology can be a pain.

It happens to the best of us... and the rest of us!

 

[RedCat]

That kind of depends. Some shops don’t have foreigner tax and some FS places prices are not that different from non FS places (cheap soaps and mid tier delivery health could have the same price for example).

That makes a lot of sense. I guess in my head, I am making a hard-line distinction between FS shops and more "by the rules" offerings. But as with everything, I suppose the lines are more subtle.

 

[Alice]

That makes a lot of sense. I guess in my head, I am making a hard-line distinction between FS shops and more "by the rules" offerings. But as with everything, I suppose the lines are more subtle.

It’s strange how things work. Soaplands are kind of more “by the rules” than random delivery healths. They have brick and mortar shops, licenses and make sure their girls test monthly.
Yes, the “illegal” thing is basically standard there, but they get away with offering it because of their status, if delivery healths try the same thing they have a high risk of getting shut down.

 

[RedCat]

Lol, there is also another thing to consider, because you are a big 120kg guy. A lot of Sekukyabas (like the ones run by campus group) are super cramped shops with tiny tiny booths. This sounds ridiculous, but you could have problems fitting comfortably into a booth with a girl sitting next to you 🤣
Just a thing to keep in mind. Shops like Kurenai or others with a more spacious layout could be a better choice because you have more space to sit/lie down comfortably.

Oh, that's interesting.

I mean...by Western standards I am not HUGE, but part of the fun is in exploring the world that isn't "by Western standards", even if that means I stand out or am uncomfortable. Learning to navigate a space where I am not the demographic that it was designed for is, for me, academically kind of cool.

I am less worried about fitting into the chairs than I am about etiquette and just navigating a new experience without being a complete weirdo.

 

[RedCat]

It’s strange how things work. Soaplands are kind of more “by the rules” than random delivery healths. They have brick and mortar shops, licenses and make sure their girls test monthly.
Yes, the “illegal” thing is basically standard there, but they get away with offering it because of their status, if delivery healths try the same thing they have a high risk of getting shut down.

Hm. That's a strong argument. I guess...at the end of the day, I wa t to have fun, be respectful, and not be too terribly irritating to the folks I interact with.

And here I was thinking I'd cleverly narrowed down my options!

 

[MikeH]

This sounds ridiculous, but you could have problems fitting comfortably into a booth with a girl sitting next to you

If the girl is sitting next to you instead in your lap you are already doing it wrong!

 

[RedCat]

Just landed. I am glad I shaved!

Time to check in, hit the shower and then see if I am brave enough to risk rejection at Happy Mat Paradise!

 

[Cinnabums]

Good luck!

 

[Frenchy]

Kind of a viking aesthetic

You should book @Simonka ! That’s her fetish.
Sadly I am not that type but she took very good care of me anyway, so I can only imagine what it could be for a Norse-ish guy

 

[RedCat]

You should book @Simonka ! That’s her fetish.
Sadly I am not that type but she took very good care of me anyway, so I can only imagine what it could be for a Norse-ish guy

Looks like she is on hiatus...but also, I shaved the beard, so the look is way less viking and more just...big dork.

 

[RedCat]

Good luck!

So...by the time I settled into my hotel and reviewed the website, I saw that they don't take new customers after 21:00, and if I managed to play my cards JUST RIGHT, I would arrive about 5min before that.

I decided that was maybe cutting it too close, as one of your previous reviews mentioned that they only have six ladies who see foreigners. Instead, I went to 7-Eleven and got a snacky dinner and went to bed.

I was up at 4am, and by 6am, I was pretty stir crazy. I read more of your reviews (I totally owe you a beer at this point), and saw that Bijin Lab opened at 8am and was much closer to my hotel.

I braved the metro, over-shot the stop...discovered just how bad my Japanese is...but still managed to ask for help and find my way there. The three guys were super nice and looked the part in their suits and we're pretty amused by my disastrous language skills. But after aotnof sumimasens, and some back and forth, they accommodated me and set me up with Rai. I decided to go for an hour at 23K (opposed to 19k on their website, but whatever.)

Rai was super and I will do a proper review, but the experience definitely confirmed that, given my deficiency in the language, unless I go somewhere that offers a very specific service (like HMP seems to), the provider is going to assume that I am looking for FS/PIV and focus only on that. And since I know that's illegal, I couldn't think of a way to say that I DIDN'T want that without accidentally asking for it.

Anyhow, a good-not-great first go. Definitely all of the not-great was on me.

The experience was cool though and I am very much looking forward to the next two weeks. But now I am gonna dry off and make my way to my next hotel, which is more city-central.

At this point, I think HMP may have to wait until I am leaving, since it's close to Haneda, but pretty far from Tokyo proper, where I will be for most of the trip.

Onwards!