Telekura

Telekura (テレクラ Terekura?), an abbreviation for "telephone clubs" (テレフォン クラブ terefon kurabu?), are telephone-based dating services originating in Japan.

In the original incarnation of the telephone club, popular in the mid-1990s, a male client would pay a fee to enter a booth with a phone. The phone would then ring with calls from women or girls willing to go on a date — the implicit understanding being that this would lead to paid sex.[1] These clubs have been outlawed as fronts for prostitution in some jurisdictions in Japan.[2]

In modern telephone clubs, members pay a fee, after which they are supplied with the mobile phone numbers of women who sign up voluntarily to the sites. The caller then may arrange a meeting with a girl. Participants in the practice of enjo kōsai are thought to make use of this service.[2]

References

  1. ^ Lloyd, Fran (2002). Consuming bodies: sex and contemporary Japanese art. Reaktion Books. p. 76. ISBN 1861891474. 
  2. ^ a b Chaplin, Sarah (2007). Japanese love hotels: a cultural history. Routledge contemporary Japan. 15. Routledge. ISBN 0415415853.