Late at night, a group of young girls in high heels and heavy makeup are wandering the streets of Japan's busiest cabaret halls. They looked at it all the time, as if they were waiting for something.
At this time, a middle-aged man with a briefcase bag under his arm, some bald, walked to one of them, and after some whispering, they held hands and got into the taxi together.
Under the impact of the epidemic, Japanese women are not protected by their families and society, and even female white-collar workers in the elite are facing the embarrassment of being stretched, and they are forced to enter Japan's gray industry "daddy work". What kind of industry is this? What is the current situation of Japanese women?
Elite female white-collar workers all shout that they can't live
In Japan, young women have been most affected by the pandemic. According to a new survey, women cut their salaries and layoffs far more than men, at 740,000, compared to less than half of men, at 320,000.
Salary cuts and layoffs mean no source of income, compared to stay-at-home wives who serve their husbands at home. The female elite of the enterprise, who have always relied on self-reliance, quickly fell into the bottom of society after spending their savings. Most of them are highly educated, hard-working, and competent, but they still cannot escape the chain of gender and class contempt in the Japanese workplace.
Lingnami, who used to work as a personal fitness trainer in Tokyo, had a salary of as high as 19,000 yuan per month (converted into RMB) before the outbreak of the epidemic, but the epidemic shattered many fitness clubs, and she was ruthlessly dismissed at the first time, without any compensation, and could only rely on odd jobs to receive a meager income of 720 yuan per month, not even enough to buy daily necessities!
Those female college students who had no income were not much better. Their retired and elderly parents are still unable to protect themselves, let alone pay them for living expenses. A female college student with excellent grades was so embarrassed that she began to sell her remaining hangers in exchange for more than 100 yuan to buy rice.
On the other hand, those full-time wives with husbands, although they can still "rely on their husbands", if they fail to marry a good husband with responsibility, the situation is not much better than those self-reliant female elites. A Japanese documentary news television reported that many husbands vented their anger and violence on their wives by being laid off and cut salaries, and they were beaten to a blue nose and swollen face but did not think about divorce.
According to statistics, 1 in 10 married women in Japan during the epidemic has experienced domestic violence, which is not unrelated to the anger and fear that men have nowhere to vent.
It was in such desperate despair that women who could not count on them had to aim their lives at the custom industry that they had always despised. In fact, as early as 1955, Japan openly recognized the legitimacy of the custom industry.
Under pressure from popular opposition, the authorities introduced a law in 1956 to restrain the industry's overgrowth, but Japan still tacitly allowed the custom industry to go underground, after all, it contributed $24 billion a year to GDP and has always been a major player in generating national revenue.
Among the many subdivided custom industries, the top priority of these female white-collar workers is the very popular "daddy work", what kind of industry is this? Why do female white-collar workers and college students prefer to step into this industry to earn extra money?
"Daddy lives", what kind of strange existence?
Among the ways to receive orders in these industries, there are several more popular ways, such as online orders on social apps, standing on the street near the venue, etc., and there is a way to get money quickly and pay well, which is popular among female white-collar workers and college students.
It is mainly by standing on the side of the street and waiting, those men with financial strength will turn their eyes away, and after the two agree, they will get a certain amount of financial reward by eating a good dinner and chatting together. Because most of these women are older, mostly between 40-55, such employers have an image title.
Some female white-collar workers who have been laid off for up to half a year, forced to make a living and really have no savings to maintain their lives, gritted their teeth and dressed up to go out late at night, most of them are very painful and entangled in their hearts, secretly convincing themselves that as long as they finish these orders, they will immediately stop if they earn some money.
But the reality will not get better as they wish, and this kind of transaction can earn about 200,000 yen in one transaction, equivalent to nearly a month's living expenses. With no other source of income, they are forced to continue. A female white-collar worker who used to work at an international airport has been a top student since she was in school and is proficient in the languages of three countries.
However, after the aviation industry was hit hard, her salary dropped by 90%, and even the daily commuting fee was not enough, and she originally wanted to "stop after a few orders", but she had no choice but to swim among a dozen "patrons".
When waiting for orders on the street, they frankly said that the most embarrassing thing is to meet acquaintances, so most of them are in a very contradictory state when collecting customers, both want to be noticed by generous customers, and are worried about meeting colleagues and acquaintances, they can only bow their heads and hide it, and leave the street immediately after completing an order.
Compared to real danger, meeting acquaintances can only be regarded as a small witch.
As women, their own resilience to risk is quite weak. If in the process of accompanying the meal and chatting, the other party suddenly crosses the line and wants to do something crazy, these women have no ability to resist at all, and can only accept silently. They do not have access to social welfare agencies, let alone eligible for dibao.
Some female white-collar workers with good performance also have to accept the pressure of crazy commissions from intermediaries who are introduced to customers every month. During the epidemic, some intermediaries who relied on "daddy work" could get a monthly commission of 500,000 yen just by introducing trading customers to women. It is not so much that the pandemic has pushed these young women to a desperate situation, but that Japanese society has historically treated women with malice and inequality.
There is no dependence, and he is also "sucked blood" by his parents
Some netizens wondered, since they can't rely on their husbands, what about the girls and their parents?
At the mention of this, we have to be more sympathetic to these young women. A special survey found that many traditional families still adhere to the idea of son preference, and when the epidemic hit, parents let their daughters go out to work and deduct most of their living expenses to support their sons.
A female college student who is in her junior year not only has to help her brother earn tuition, but also has to work several jobs at the same time to help her father pay off gambling debts. Just washing dishes in the restaurant has long filled the hole in the family, and he has no choice but to start a "daddy work" business. In order not to affect her studies, she often waited for clients to pick her up while taking online classes.
But even in front of a large table of delicious meals, she did not have the slightest appetite, but nausea in her stomach. Because she knew what awaited her after eating. Now, her biggest wish is to go back to the restaurant to wash the dishes, and also to wash away her already soiled body.
In a world where the epidemic is becoming more and more normal, the plight of Japanese women will become even worse. But the Japanese authorities have done nothing to adjust fiscal spending to specifically support young women. I can only say that these poor girls were born in the wrong country!