JK business

Tokyo’s ban on high school girls working in the controversial JK industry goes into effect this summer

Becomes the first city in Japan to specifically target businesses that boast about their customer services being performed by high school girls.

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Japanese graduates rush to make a little extra cash…by selling their school uniforms online

It’s not uncommon for graduates in some countries to throw their caps up in the air in celebration, but in Japan some graduates are throwing their old uniforms up for auction instead.

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The JK business: Documentary examines the Japanese schoolgirl industry

From traditional culture to the latest in “Cool Japan,” Japan has a lot to boast about. Yet there’s another side to the island nation which has stirred up international contention over the past few decades.

Even those unfamiliar with specific components of Japanese popular culture have likely heard about the popularity of high school girls in Japan, as school uniform-clad girls often appear in the latest advertising, music videos, TV anime, and other forms of the country’s media. Dig a little deeper and you can also find a service industry which involves high school girls providing a range of services to older men in return for payment. Known colloquially as the “JK business” (the “JK” is derived from joshikosei, or “female high school student”), this phenomenon often includes such services as “JK walking” or “JK massages,” which may or may not be veiled fronts for prostitution in actuality.

Today, we’d like to introduce you to the darker side of the JK business through the lens of a short foreign documentary which has raised considerable debate online.

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