It was half out of curiosity and half out of financial necessity, because sometimes even tsking the train in Tokyo was expensive without clients. I had heard about Shinjuku Ropes from this cute European guy who was a guest at the same Asakusa hostel I stayed at for a couple weeks. On his last day in Japan, he happily shared that his last stop in town was to buy a couple pairs of used panties from this notorious used panty and fetish place that, he suggested was a place I could also sell my used undies if I wanted. He warned that it wasn't for a lot of money since he had bought 2 pairs for USD $7 but it might be worth checking out if I was in town. I heard him say the compensation was something close to USD $15, which would barely cover the cost of replacing the sold underwear. He did warn me that the kinds they wanted were the big white brief styles, which were the kinds that were popular for upskirt peeking under a schoolgirl uniform, but on the day that I happened to wake up in Shinjuku with nicely worn underwear I was wearing thongs. When I asked him for the address of the place, he sent me this very detailed blogpost written by a Japanese Australian woman, which sounded a lot like a piece that could have been written by me, except I didn't fit grandpas fetish so my experience couldnt have been more different! The blog said that I could earn up to $40 per pair for showing my face, $30 if I hid my face and the maximum if i let him photograph me peeing in my underwear around my ankles. Of course, having had so many years as a pro I was down to maximize my experience there and ready to show grandpa what he wanted (even though in the U.S this kind of sex work would get me $150-200, i was there for the cultural experience and content for this blog, so I had already knew I wasnt in it for the money).
Upon arrival into the 2nd floor of Ropes, grandpa looks at my tattooed arms and says I don't qualify to even do the photos because Japanese schoolgirls don’t have tattoo sleeves, so the most he could offer without photos was $15 a pair. In Japan, having tattoos is a serious taboo but this place wasn't capitalizing on THAT taboo. Ropes specialized in the taboo that Westerners found hard to process because for us sexualization of minors is not only illegal but also disgusting and wrong and not in that kinky taboo way. In fact, most of the anime porn featuring underage school girls can't even be sold in the U.S. But, at Ropes, you can browse through entire racks of school girl uniforms from different schools, PE short sets, swimsuits, white sneakers and various other authentic apparel.
Grandpa is hesitant and slow moving, but not because of age. He's probably in his 50s but looks in his 40s like an Asian retired man typically does. He doesnt look like a Hollywood "Grumpy Old Man" type. I have to negotiate hard to make this 1500 yen. At first he wanted to offer only 1300. i had to use all my Japanese language skills to hustle this sale. it felt like my stripper days when Id have to work so hard to get that $20 dance on a slow $80 nite. And that is the thing that truly distinguishes me from being Japanese. I’m not shy, unsure, giggly and soft spoken. i've been a pro for over 15 yrs, travelled around the U.S and beyond doing various types of sex work. I knew what people have paid to experience my sexuality and I wasn't going to leave there without 1500 yen at least. The entire negotiation took about 30 minutes of hard hustling for the sale. It wasn't entirely humiliating even though it could have been. I tried to make it fun, just like I did in the days doing lap dance sales.
