Sunday Times 2
Disturbing, or just plain odd?
They claim it is not sexual – but it is at best odd, and at worst disturbing. A new ‘specialty shop’ has opened in Japan offers a chance to spend time with girls cuddling and snuggling. The attraction in Tokyo’s Akihabara electronics district, home of eccentric maid cafes and lingerie bars, is for clients who want to simply sleep with them, without having sex.
Soiney is a small shop on the third floor of an old run-down building. Odd items in its detailed long list of menus also include slapping face or staring at each other.
Bizarre: Employees wear costumes at Japan's first 'cuddle shop' which has opened in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district
‘This is not a sex service,’ said its manager who requested to be identified by his last name Koda told ABC News. ‘It is for men who feel lonely and just want to be with someone.’
Koda got the idea for Soineya reading an online blog about Jacqueline Samuel, from Rochester, New York, who opened her business charging £37 an hour to cuddle and snuggle.
‘Japanese men are tired from excessive work hours. They just want to feel loved and cared for,’ he said. At Soineya, an hour’s stay at one of the seven dimly lighted cubes separated by boards and curtains costs 9,000 yen or £74.
The entire store is approximately 600 square feet, and each cube is about the size of a queen size bed decorated with stuffed animals, heart-shaped cushions, cloud-shaped lamps, and accessories that play lullabies. Koda opened shop a month ago with seven female employees who he claims are from 17 years-old to 25-years-old.
‘We can wear cute pajamas or one of these costumes,’ Sakura, a petite employee who appears no more than 15, told ABC News. Costumes include school uniforms and a sailor’s suit with a blue mini-skirt from a popular Japanese cartoon, Sailor Moon.
Each time a client requests for the woman to change outfits cost 1,000 yen or £8.Standard course is lying down on the floor mattress with the partner for a minimum of 20 minutes to maximum 10 hours that would foot a £390 bill. Clients could pick a certain partner at an extra cost.
One of the most popular ‘optional service’ menus for Japanese men is sleeping with head on the woman’s lap: 1,000 yen or £8 for every three minutes. If could be vice versa, the lady sleeping with head on his lap, but the price is doubled. Same condition goes for massages, costing more to massage his partner than to be massaged.
Lending an arm pillow while clients sleep, patting on the back, or petting on the head costs 1,000 yen for each three minutes. The cheapest additional option is holding hands, at 1,000 yen for 10 minutes.
In order to ‘break the ice’ and to bring some fun into the experience, the customer could request to stare at each other for one minute at the price of another 1,000 yen or £8.
© Daily Mail, London
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