Enjo Kosai
The transmission and transplantation of ideas across borders is intimately dissected for the originally Japanese concept of “enjo kosai”. The literal definition of assistance, and socializing and entertainment for “enjo” and “kosai”, respectively, fail to fully signify the complexities stripped and incorporated through border politics. Derived from the convergence of economic and sociocultural spheres, the practice of enjo kosai encompasses the realm of freelance teenage sex work. In Japan and Taiwan, the repulsion from institutionalized spaces has driven those who practice enjo kosai to collectivize as a united force of marginalized sexualities and minorities that sought out “sex work” rather than traditional vocational norms. Enjo kosai embody part of the youthful sexual liberalization prominent in precarious workers. As part of a displaced workforce, enjo kosai have been forced to navigate a subversive economic situation not dissimilar to those faced by students at less prestigious high schools or universities. Displaced youth, in expressing rights to their own autonomy, sex, and against authority, naturally look more towards individual social capital instead of that of institutions when pursuing interests.
The integration of “enjo kosai” in Taiwan and lack thereof in Hong Kong was due to its occupancy of similar cultural and social spaces allowing for maximal interaction with youth. The consumption of “enjo kosai” in Hong Kong was short lived due to minimal intersection with peripheral youth or popular culture because sex work is professionally recognized and regulated. Nevertheless, the reconstruction and convergence of “enjo” with “kosai” in Hong Kong still butts against normative forces from its socially fringed position.
The realization of increasingly sexualized subcultures in Taiwan easily and rapidly transfused their sexual energy into the mold of the “enjo kosai”. This sexual restlessness and “liberalization of sexual values and practices” has resulted in “dramatic increases in sexual activities among teenagers…much earlier than before” (Ho 2003). Changing sex values and practices have presented different sexual desires than before and increasingly sexually comfortable youth have transitioned more naturally to accepting “enjo kosai”.
The commodification of “enjo kosai” subculture has further anchored itself in Taiwan as decontextualized goods have been stocked in globally mass markets. Marginalized creative forces have been redirected instead to international consumption, perhaps in an attempt to normalize these subversive and “deviant behaviors” (Lam 2003). However, media portrayal of “enjo kosai” is still through lens of mainstream normativity, as Lam explains the dorama “God, Please Give Me More Time”, where the otherness exhibited by the “enjo kosai” subculture is not wholly encompassed. Mainstream outlets only partially desegregate themselves from the subculture trends; by going through “a process of internal self-purification”, the elder generation provokes a reluctant dialogue to attempt to understand but ultimately only distinguishes itself from the “obscure culture [that] belongs to the outside world” (Lam 2003). However, given the increased flexibility, autonomy, and pay, a professionalism has emerged as part of the very conscious decision to participate in “enjo kosai” that refutes normative arguments citing the lack of respectability associated with sex work.
Even in media portrayals, enjo kosai are depicted via the lens of mainstream normativity whose perspectives do not fully encompass the otherness exhibited by this subculture. Their work is alienated by mass media to segregate and define distinct boundaries between traditional and precarious work. Even so, the majority of those who practice enjo kosai are invisible from the public sphere. Teenage schoolgirls or dropouts have a variety of work opportunities ranging from nightclubs to illegal brothels that are sought out personally and not through institutional methods. Conversely, the professionalization and institutionalization of sex work in Hong Kong resulted in the short-term consumption of enjo kosai. When sex work was regulated and accepted in Hong Kong, the intersection between individual social capital and vocational opportunities was instead dominated by institutional social capital that led to a marketplace for sex that was more stable than those in Japan or Taiwan (Ho 2003).
The integration of “enjo kosai” in Taiwan and lack thereof in Hong Kong was due to its occupancy of similar cultural and social spaces allowing for maximal interaction with youth. The consumption of “enjo kosai” in Hong Kong was short lived due to minimal intersection with peripheral youth or popular culture because sex work is professionally recognized and regulated. Nevertheless, the reconstruction and convergence of “enjo” with “kosai” in Hong Kong still butts against normative forces from its socially fringed position.
The realization of increasingly sexualized subcultures in Taiwan easily and rapidly transfused their sexual energy into the mold of the “enjo kosai”. This sexual restlessness and “liberalization of sexual values and practices” has resulted in “dramatic increases in sexual activities among teenagers…much earlier than before” (Ho 2003). Changing sex values and practices have presented different sexual desires than before and increasingly sexually comfortable youth have transitioned more naturally to accepting “enjo kosai”.
The commodification of “enjo kosai” subculture has further anchored itself in Taiwan as decontextualized goods have been stocked in globally mass markets. Marginalized creative forces have been redirected instead to international consumption, perhaps in an attempt to normalize these subversive and “deviant behaviors” (Lam 2003). However, media portrayal of “enjo kosai” is still through lens of mainstream normativity, as Lam explains the dorama “God, Please Give Me More Time”, where the otherness exhibited by the “enjo kosai” subculture is not wholly encompassed. Mainstream outlets only partially desegregate themselves from the subculture trends; by going through “a process of internal self-purification”, the elder generation provokes a reluctant dialogue to attempt to understand but ultimately only distinguishes itself from the “obscure culture [that] belongs to the outside world” (Lam 2003). However, given the increased flexibility, autonomy, and pay, a professionalism has emerged as part of the very conscious decision to participate in “enjo kosai” that refutes normative arguments citing the lack of respectability associated with sex work.
Even in media portrayals, enjo kosai are depicted via the lens of mainstream normativity whose perspectives do not fully encompass the otherness exhibited by this subculture. Their work is alienated by mass media to segregate and define distinct boundaries between traditional and precarious work. Even so, the majority of those who practice enjo kosai are invisible from the public sphere. Teenage schoolgirls or dropouts have a variety of work opportunities ranging from nightclubs to illegal brothels that are sought out personally and not through institutional methods. Conversely, the professionalization and institutionalization of sex work in Hong Kong resulted in the short-term consumption of enjo kosai. When sex work was regulated and accepted in Hong Kong, the intersection between individual social capital and vocational opportunities was instead dominated by institutional social capital that led to a marketplace for sex that was more stable than those in Japan or Taiwan (Ho 2003).
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Sex Work in Japan: Precarity, Risk, Empowerment?, Japanese Fashion: Reclaiming the cultural production of femininity, What Does Precarious Labor Actually Look Like?, Utilization of Social Capital by Precarious Youth, Transformation of Heterosexual Relationships in East Asia due to Sex Work View all tags
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