Customer Reviews

Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubs

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Most major Asian and European cities have well-traveled Red Light Districts frequented by wide-eyed US tourists. Locals view the sport as a mere curiosity, or humorous interlude. Sort of an Adult Disneyland. Sex is simply no big deal overseas, and why should it be? Tokyo (and Moscow) differ is this aspect. There is a whole Underground of Sex Venues and corporate brothels not accessible to Americans. Not safe to even attempt entry. Pink Box offers a rare and exclusive glimpse inside the perfumed halls of forbidden lust. Tokyo's "Fuzoku" (Sex Industry) is a multi-billion dollar industry, tightly controlled by the Yakusa (mafia). It is very public, yet strictly off-limits to gaijin. It is legal? With a 400 year tradition under their belt, all is winked at by the establishment.

As the author sets the story line, Japan's society is formal, strict and polite. With centuries of social roles and traditional uniforms, the below surface sexual desires are too enticing for them not to satisfy. The sex industry is not only a product of society, but a part of society. Expressing no opinion, Sinclair teases you into the Japanese world of naughty to unbridled perversion in toe-curling photo essays of sexcapades. Almost voyeuristic. The menu of sex club delicacies take the form of breaking these rigid societal rules, with a common theme of fondling the cleanest, purest, teenage girls in off-limits role-playing scenarios. You'll discover surreal fetishes, bondage and softcore groping in dens of sin outfitted with one-way mirrors, kinky stages and elaborate sets. Clients immerse themselves in fantasies, from fake hospitals with nurses sans panties, to submissive hentai characters, naughty stewardesses and elevator attendants, disciplining teachers, secretaries and schoolgirls...even illicit gropings in immaculate train cars stocked with frightened, willing teens in short skirts.

Obtaining just a written in-depth review of the Pink Trade would be highly praised. But for Sinclair to have such a vividly photographed document coupled with interviews is quite extraordinary. She alternates snapshots from pure innocence to peek-a-boo eroticism in close to 200 crisp, glossy photos shot in 80 different clubs. One compelling, unexpected discovery; the girls' interviews bore no resemblance to the stereotypes so reviled by feminists. While Sinclair's publisher pressed her for heart-wrenching stories, abuse, and psychological damage, she found that it simply was not there. In every discussion she encountered educated, well-balanced ladies making conscious decisions. They enjoy their work, and are quite happy with their psycho-sexual choice of employment, to the tune of a six figure income.

Sinclair's erotic Orientalia photography is tastefully raw. It's both a curiosity and a turn on. The controversial undertones make this a great purchase for any couple looking for ideas to stir up the evening. As far as the text, Sinclair is a lawyer, and thus a highly intelligent, engaging writer. Now, if you actually want to actually indulge in these wild festivities in real life around the globe, this book will not show you the how, what or where. (For that, you need The Hedonist: World Travel Guide) Pink Box is quite a riveting expose into the bizarre Japanese sexual psyche. Pick up your copy, and close the blinds.

I purchased this book out of an interest in all aspects of Japanese culture as well as that of the international sex industry. It is a beautiful full-color book, with page after page of photographs of sex workers, their clients, and their highly imaginative fantasy environments. Occasionally we will see an image of an actual session-in-progress.

The book is professionally neutral, I believe, and leaves it up to the reader to have a reaction. Ms. Sinclair treats her subjects with respect and dignity, and quotes from both workers and clients are peppered throughout, adding additional layers and insight to the author's thorough explanations.
I believe it is the ideal ratio of text to photographs. The layout as well (as colorfully designed as FRUiTS, by Shoichi Aoki), I must say, is very attractive and heightens the experience of reading this book, whether reading alone or sharing with open-minded friends on your coffee table.
The neon pink vinyl slipcover is the icing on the cake.
Excellent piece of work.
The website, [...] offers a preview and an interview with Ms. Sinclair.

Just after her 30th birthday, San Francisco attorney Joan Sinclair returned to Japan (she had been an English teacher there in her early twenties) to embark on an ambitious project of photographing the sex clubs in Tokyo's red light district. She remembered the cornucopia of sex options in Tokyo and had always wondered why it wasn't written about or photographed. She soon learned that the main obstacle was access to clubs. Sinclair couldn't pay her way in, so she cajoled and befriended the right players and now provides both American and Japan with a glossy look behind the closed doors of the sex industry.

The book is as much a voyeuristic look inside the pink box as it is a thorough guide to the menu and customs of the sex industry. Clubs offer services in fuzoku (commercial sex) ranging from hostess services in the geisha tradition, to image clubs ("play" rooms to fulfill fantasies with schoolgirls and police officers), to telephone clubs with internet stations and live chat, to a few full-on brothels. Clubs cater to males, females, and swinging couples. Many operate in legal limbo--sex for money is illegal, so customers pay for legal aspects and any intercourse is a private affair between consenting adults. Customers must obey the rules or face ejection and banishment, complete with posted Polaroids of offenders!

Looking thought the several hundred photos in this book (of workers, customers, menus, and settings), I was struck by how small the fantasy rooms and cubicles are. Sinclair writes that she often had to shoot with a unipod due to the space restrictions. I especially enjoyed the club menus and questionnaires translated in the book, indicating acts beyond my imagination which can be requested by the customer.

This is a fascinating look into an aspect of Japanese culture I never knew existed. Joan Sinclair got incredible access -- access not only to the actual establishments, but access to the inner lives of some of these women and men whom she portrays with honesty and integrity. She has a fresh, exciting lens which comes through not without a revolutionary edge. This is an original. The intro by Farrer is also excellent.

I bought this book with the intent of seeing some "behind the scenes" of Japan; specifically in regards to the sex club, fetish, etc. I think the photos, with corresponding stories were very well done. While I haven't read the book cover to cover, the pages I have looked at have all been very well done. The photography is great. And the writing is well done too. It definitely brings you into their (the girls') world. To me it seems like a Nat'l Geographic travelogue of Japan's fetish clubs.

If you're looking for an off-the-tourist-path view of a slice of Japan, I think this book will help give you a flavor of--at least the seedier/fetish side of Japanese culture.

For me, it helps paint a more realistic view of Japanese culture, and balances the formal, rigorous, daytime public view of Japan.

This is one of the most amazing journeys that a photographer has ever ventured upon. Joan Sinclair is a lawyer from the United States, but she is also a seeker, an artist, and so much more. Her dedication, cultural finesse, journalistic intensity, and photographic skills are simply astounding. She has accomplished the impossible here by venturing into the sexual "underground" of Japan - a world where foreigners are rarely, if ever, allowed entry. Over the course of a year she finagled her way into over 80 different sex clubs where she got to know the workers intimately (as a photographer). The massive amount of work she created and presents here is mind-blowing, and depicts a fantasy world where every sexual desire is not only catered to, but is actually embraced.

Sinclair's photography is riveting, personal, and crafted with the eye of a seasoned photojournalist. She has captured a most moving and exhilarating world that very few will ever come to know. This is truly a brilliant accomplishment and a must-have book for all collectors.

The Pink Box is about Japan's fantasy and sex clubs. While full of interesting and, sometimes, shocking photos taken while in many of the clubs the book also explains how the clubs work. The rules they follow, the people who work there, the types of people who come to enjoy the clubs and why they survive in Japan in the first place. It is serious but with a touch of humor and great fun.
And some of the girls are just hot.

Pink Box explores the world of sex clubs in Japan. The stories are very interesting and the photos are quite erotic and a little over the edge. It makes people wonder why this book has been banned in Japan but at the same time a good read, with the stories of famous Japanese politicians getting in trouble with geisha call girls in the past.

I spend a bit more then a week in Tokyo, a trip that I booked spontaneous as I could get a flight with frequent flyer miles and I had vacation anyhow.

It is an amazing piece of work. Walking through Kabukicho (Tokyo red Light District, the biggest in Japan) I could not really figure things out but interest was peaked. What where all the overdressed boys do in the street? I expected slutty hookers. I had the white rabbit audio tour (you can find it here, search for kabukicho), which was a blast and I recommend strongly anybody going to Tokyo doing that.

But, the book is made entirely of very beautiful pictures. There is certainly that side to this world, however I did see during daytime a girl that clearly worked in one of the clubs, she had a very deep knife wound right above her ankle (healing), in fact she fell down in front of me and I was hoping she would be OK as it would have been a challenge to help her up - not that I wouldn't have done that but still, the initial barrier was there. She got up on her own ... So, there is a repulsive disgusting element as well and the book fails to show that.

I would not want the beautiful and funny journey through japans sex industry to be disturbed by this, but felt that this book was missing out a huge part of it - the nastiness that is definitely there as it is present in any other red light district in the world.

Great coffee table book! Once you pick it up you can't put it down.

Filled with hundreds of very interesting stories and photographs, this book is great choice for any fan of Japan or erotic photography.