Modern Day Geisha — Japanese Rifure

A common Rifure room where you and your chosen companion can talk and relax

“Modern Day Geisha” is a project dedicated to introducing the various ‘female companionship’ businesses that have come, gone, and currently thrive in Japan.

But that’s only the beginning: rather than merely explore how this industry functions, I’ve also conducted interviews with over a dozen women who currently, or have until recently, work in these businesses — a “modern day geisha,” if you will.

geisha (noun) [gei·​sha ˈgā-shə also ˈgē-]
a Japanese girl or woman who is trained to provide entertaining and lighthearted company especially for a man or a group of men
(Merriam-Webster)

Before we get into the interviews, it would be helpful to have a bit more context about what the job these women perform actually entails and how the business functions. So without further ado, today we’ll be talking about the リフレ (rifure) business model.

Cherry Cherry has changed its name multiple times, all under the same management, due to a long-running issue with “under the table” business practices. But that, too, is a part of the Rifure industry!

What Is Rifure, Anyway?

The first question you’re probably asking yourself is: what does rifure actually mean? While I’d love to answer that for you, unfortunately the jury is still out on that and even Japanese businesses operating under this business model don’t seem to know. Some of the proposed options include:

• Reflexology (a type of massage that this has no connection with)
• Refresh (this could be possible, but that also doesn’t quite fit the business model)
• Reflation (a term referring to prices stabilizing and returning to the norm after a period of inflation… not quite right)

So in light of the fact that I can’t find any solid answers on the matter and that businesses interchangeably use the aforementioned terms (quite clearly without looking up what the words mean), we’re just going to proceed with calling this the Rifure industry for the sake of simplicity.

Most women choose ‘stage’ names and disguise their face under cute emoji, or masks, etc. to try and ensure their friends and family don’t easily spot them.

The Working Women

By and large, most of the women working in a Rifure business are in their early- to mid-20s. Though these businesses are supposedly on the up-and-up when it comes to strict legal compliance and don’t deal in illicit ‘adult’ services, they do not hire anyone below the age of 18, nor do they allow any customers under the age of 18 to engage their services.

From the interviews I’ve conducted, the women working in these places come from all walks of life and many of them simply see this as a job they can do in their spare time without strict scheduling requirements like most companies. University students are especially common since they can work around their class schedules, though there are even some who work this as a side-job outside their main career.

A typical “menu” of services at a Rifure business (source: Milky Rolik)

Selling Companionship at Affordable Prices

With that out of the way, we can now discuss the business model and how it operates. Please note that the information I provide here comes from 1) sources I’ve found online; and 2) interviews I’ve conducted personally and thus will not apply in all cases.

So what kind of services are available? I’m glad you asked!

Depending on your perception of Japan, Rifure businesses are either surprisingly tame, or downright bizarre.

Pay-by-the-hour

First off, you’re going to need to pay up in advance for a block of time and choose a woman with whom you want to spend your time with. Most of the time, there’s a photo posted showing which women are available at the moment or you can also check their website and Twitter where you can find more information on the women’s personalities, etc.

For some reason, the Rifure industry seems to have branded itself with the image of high school and most places have the women dress up in generic high school uniforms.

In most businesses, the time management/fee structure is generally broken down in the following manner:

• Indoors
  – You and your rented companion spend your time in a small (semi-private; usually closed off by curtains) room and can chat or take advantage of other ‘options’ (to be discussed later)
  – Some places offer a TV and video games, etc. so you can play games or watch a movie together
• Outdoors (‘date’ option)
  – You and your partner of choice can go out on the town and go shopping, have lunch/dinner, see the sights, go to a movie, or whatever your heart desires — and wallet can afford. Note that you will pay all mandatory expenses incurred during the ‘date’ (e.g., train fare, meals, entry tickets, etc.)

Ever wanted a head massage from a woman dressed up like a police officer? Want no more, because you can have all this… for a price.

The up-sell

The Rifure industry is quite impressive in how they apply the modern day Software as a Service (SaaS) DLC model to real life human interactions. In the event that you’re not content merely to sit face-to-face with your chosen companion, there’s a whole bevy of ‘options’ available for you to purchase to spice up your time together. The following is a very brief list of some of the most common options available:

• Indoors
  – Co-sleeping (添い寝; soine: lit. to lay down together): Note that you don’t actually need to sleep, but you and your companion will lay side by side
  – Arm pillow: Rather than simply laying side by side, your companion will rest their head on your arm, like a pillow.
  – Massage: A very simple massage, with all clothing on and conducted with all the same quality you’d expect of a practical stranger with zero training in giving massages.
  – Thumb-wrestling: I’m serious, you can pay money to thumb-wrestle.
  – Butt pillow: Literally exactly what it sounds like. You can pay to rest your head on your companion’s rear for ~3 minutes.
  – Hug: You can buy a hug. Yes, purchasing hugs is a thing.
  – Cosplay: Possibly the biggest money maker of them all, most of these businesses have a catalog of costumes (from fun Halloween style costumes to more risque options) to choose from.
• Outdoors
  – Hold hand: Generally limited to a certain block of time, you can purchase the chance to hold hands with your rented date.
  – Sharing an umbrella: Want to share an umbrella in the rain? Welp, that’s gonna cost you.
  – Purikura: Yes, even taking a photo together will cost you.

Secret options

As you’ve probably already noticed, the Rifure business is actually quite tame and above-board in the services they provide. Outside of explicitly paid options (which are very specific in what you can and can’t do), there is generally little to no physical contact between you and your companion.

… at least as far as the business is concerned.

Depending on the individual woman you’re spending time with or on the specific shop you’ve gone to, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for there to be 裏オプ (uraopu; lit. secret option menu). These racier options tend to be negotiated separately with the customer and the woman working and are paid directly.

Note that since these are not technically a part of what the business is offering and may take you into less-than-legal territories, these types of discussions are usually best left with a simple question to see if they’re open to other off-the-menu options, or wait to see if your companion brings it up.

The pay off after a long day’s work

The Pay Structure

So now that we’ve established what’s in it for the customer, I think it’s worth taking a look behind the curtain, so to speak, and see what the workers are getting out of this.

In nearly every situation, the women ‘working’ at these shops are not employees and thus do not receive hourly pay, insurance benefits, or any kind of worker protections. The nicer establishments will pay the women’s train fare to and from home if they stay for a minimum amount of time in a given day, but that’s about it.

It probably won’t surprise you to know that the women are generally paid at the end of each day, in cash, and everything is done completely under the table.

So how do they get paid? Well, they essentially receive a cut of whatever the business takes in for their time with a customer. While the exact numbers will vary from business to business, the following is pretty standard across the industry:

• Time packs: the most basic of fees, the cut is 50:50 between the business and the worker.
  – No one asked my opinion, but this cut seems outrageous for “outside” (date) packages when you consider that the business isn’t providing a room, utilities, or any real services other than serving as the go-between… but I digress.
• Options: A standard 40:60 split across the board, with the slightly higher share going to the worker.
• Secret options: As the name implies, these are kept secret both from the public and even the business, so it’s a 0:100 split in favor of the worker.

While I would personally balk at the idea of only receiving 60% of money taken in for letting someone rest their head on my butt, all told this can be an incredibly lucrative way for young women to make money on the side. Even more so when you consider that this is paid out in cash and almost certainly isn’t reported to tax authorities as income.

And that concludes your crash course introduction to the Rifure industry! I hope you found it informative. Of course, if you have any questions at all, I’m more than happy to answer what I can to the best of my ability.

Next time around, we’ll be interviewing several women who currently work, or have at one point in time, at a Rifure to get a better perspective of what it’s like and hear some interesting anecdotes along the way.

I hope you stick around for more in this series!