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]
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