Hey everyone, I'm in Tokyo right now, came here yesterday and have 3 weeks left (maybe leaving sooner idk yet).

Long story, buckle up.
I went to a Soapland today, place is called Kinpeibai Yoshiwara Soapland, located out in 4 Chome-31-2 Senzoku, Tokyo. Website is: www.kinpei.net
Read online that this is a very foreigner friendly place, however dead wrong.
price is as follows:

50 minutes¥ 15,000 –
70 minutes¥ 20,000 –
90 minutes¥ 25,000 –
110 minutes¥ 30,000 –
130 minutes¥ 35,000 –
Nomination fee¥ 2,000 –

Btw, there's a 10,000 yen foreigner fee. So that should be 30,000 total for a 70min session.
When I walked to this place via Google map I saw many out touts on the street standing outside the doors to other soaplands and the like. Tons of them out there in the area. You can even see the girls walking about the street in broad daylight.

Anyway, I walked into the place and they ushered me into the waiting room (see pics) where everyone else was waiting. Pics of all the girls on the wall. The man knew I was a foreigner and brought me some cards of the available girls. Cards written in English, different and more expensive than the cards the locals got. I asked for the the 70min package for 20,000, and the man said no, not allowed, plus some mumbo jumbo in Japanese and told me the price was 35,800 total on the calculator. This includes the foreigner fee btw.
Total I paid was 35,800 yen in cash. From my wallet and the wallet was put back into my trousers.

Sat there for 5mins before the girl came through the door and held my hand and guided me through the halls into the room. Looked nothing like the girl in the photo. From what I read online, says it was a wash down then nuru massage plus make love, but I got different.
She asked me to remove my clothes which she folded and put into the basket and she took off her own clothes to put into a closet. After that she quickly washed me down with soap and water while I sat on a wooden stool and then told me to sit in the bathtub full of water while she cleaned herself off. Then gave me a towl to dry myself, and then onto the bed for sex, so no nuru massage. A quick capped Blowjob for a few mins then different positions for sex, and some light kissing. Not much skill, or she didn't want to bother. After 15mins or so I finished and asked me if I wanted a drink, I said ok and she ordered 2 ice teas via telephone to be delivered to the room. I was lying on the bed while she opened the door, and at that brief moment I thought I saw her throwing something out the door while she brought in the ice tea. I took a few sips and we just layed on the bed until the time was up. After we finished laying down we showered, separately ofc. Then I got dressed and noticed my wallet was missing from my trousers. I asked her where my wallet was and she said something I didn't understand so I translated it in Google. Then she recorded a voice translation telling me the time was up and the staff at the desk will help you find it. I kept asking her repeatedly where my wallet was and she made an X with her arms and pointed to the door. I asked her if I can check the closet and she kept saying time is up and asked me to go to the desk for help. So I left the room which was a big mistake. Went to the desk and asked them, and they checked the waiting room and then walked back to the room where me and the girl was and checked there. The girl was long gone and so was my wallet wherever the hell she or they took it. They said nothing is there so I sat in the waiting room again and translated a fuck ton of msgs asking what to do next as my wallet had all my bank cards, pasmo travel card which I had topped up about $50usd that day and my hotel card (which is liable for a 2000 yen fee if lost). They kept telling me to wait and wait and wait while they ushered in new Customers to the wait area. I waited for almost 45mins before I contacted my Japanese frd and he immediately called the police (koban), there was one right around the corner from where I was. While I was sitting there I realized that the closet inside the room me and the girl was in was facing the wall and the opposite side had a bunch of lockers, at that brief moment I think my wallet was either put in the closet for someone to take from the opposite side, or she threw it out the door or she really did steal it and placed it inside the closet with her clothes. One police officer came and spoke to the staff. Then we went out to the street and the police brought me to the station for 2hrs to fill out a form (see attached). Got on the phone with a English speaking police officer and he ended up coming down from another koban booth. In the end nothing could be done as there's no hard evidence someone stole my wallet he said. We talked for over an hr and he said that these establishments get permission from police to operate and that a lot of soaplands are bad places but the one I went to was a good one with no trouble on record - one cop that worked at the koban has been there for a long time and said no trouble happened there before like this. No thefts no nothing. He said if I saw the girl take it they could arrest her but they said I could have dropped it in the waiting room or the room I was in and another person picked it up. He even asked me if I wanted to see the girl again and maybe they can bring her into the station for more questions when she is free but she was working at that moment. Police told me to contact the UK Embassy tmrw as we tried that day after 4pm and it was closed. I just ended up going back to the station and then travel back to my hotel with whatever loose change I got in my backpack.

If you come to Japan and decide to go to a Soapland, please be careful and not bring a wad of cash in your wallet with all credit cards and other stuff. Just bring what is needed for the service and keep your other cards at the hotel.
Take it for whatever it is, I lost over 100,000 yen in cash from my wallet and the credit in my pasmo card plus bank cards, hotel key, etc.

I read stories about foreigners being conned in Japan, drugged in bars and robbed but no way that I thought I would get my wallet stolen on the second day.

If you read this and do decide to go ahead with the Soaplands, etc. Just be extra careful, keep an eye out for the girl and also the foreign-hating staff that works there.

so sorry to hear your experience in Japan, I have been there many times and every Japanese seems friendly to me. I didn't venture into soap lands mind you. But I am surprised that happened in Japan. Again, thanks for the warning and hope the rest of your trip gets better.

Sorry to hear what you went through bro.

Whever I have gone to these places, I always have my local friend accompany me.b   That way, no problemos!!

Agree that it is usually better to go with a Japanese speaking friend.  Although theft is rare in this type of establishment, it does happen. Hope the rest of your Japan trip fared better.

When I go punting I never take my wallet with me.

Just Cash in 2 separate pockets, 1 pocket is small money for taxi & drinks and the other pocket for the punting money.

Started doing this after my friend was pick pocketed on the street in HCMC. They are so good and you will not know it happened.

Hope it all works out for you

Indeed mate, I remember a long time ago I had some money stolen out of my wallet at a walk up in Tsuen Wan. I was not a lot, maybe 200 or 300. Since then I try to be careful when punting, only take cash and never take cards or anything important.

Thanks for the tips. I was planning to visit there early next year. I'll probs change my plan and go somewhere else..

I try my best to never carry my wallet into these sorts of places no matter where in the world I am.  Even in Thailand..   I take enough cash for what I need. And if I do have to take a wallet, it has minimal items in it.  Enough cash for the services, plus 100Euro extra for taxi and stuff like that.  I never trust because you just never know.   I also carry cash in two different pockets and some hidden depending on my pants.  Sorry to hear this happened to you, service bad and then this,

Carry just the cash you need and no wallet or credit cards.

Also leave smart phone at hotel.

Leave expensive watch or rings at home. I have an inexpensive watch I wear when I travel abroad.

On a specific drinking/punting excursion in Tokyo, I only ever carry cash - large notes in left front pocket, some smaller notes in back pocket to pay for the odd drink (so people don't see a stash of large notes) with phone, hotel key/address card (without room number) & MTR card in other front pocket with my emergency "oh fk I've been roofie'd, where the fk am I and how the fk do I get back to the hotel " 10k Yen note tightly  folded and hidden in the little jeans "jonny pocket" above right hand pocket.  10K can pretty much get you anywhere in a taxi in Tokyo which change for a Big Mac on the way........

For foreigners, this is particularly relevant in Roponggi but also Shinjuku a bit. This is from experience by myself, some friends visiting and also advice from expat friends who have lived there a long time.....

I also follow this approach in a lot of Eastern Europe, some of SEA and, naturally Las Vegas - only take out what you are prepared to lose!!

[ Last edited by  aurufc at 14-11-2017 17:33 ]

First of all, sorry to hear it. Personal theft is more than just the stolen valuable--it's a violation, and causes anger, resentment, fear, all sorts of bad feelings. Thanks for taking the time to write it all down. IMO you did exactly the right thing, and I'm glad you had a native speaker you could contact. Japan is a structured society and even a fully bilingual hotel clerk won't help you as much as someone you know.

Things in Japan are to-the-minute, and no matter WHAT she did, she can't go over time (trains leave/arrive on-the-minute etc). Thus the X with the arms and all that. However, if valuables disappeared in a place of business it is THEIR responsibility and of course the police are in charge of investigating crime.

I lived in Japan for a year and speak a bit of the language. The society is deeply xenophobic, with a fear of foreign people, foreign ideas, etc. This seems at odds with all the Westernized stuff you see around the cities, but it is what it is. Most Japanese people don't have passports, are monolingual, and live in a web of obligations. They're wonderful people (with of course their share of jerks, creeps, serious nationalists & racists like most other countries), and they can be infuriating.

I note that a lot of bros posted their own mongering-safety-strategies as responses, and it's good to read all of them. I have a PacSafe wallet (I don't work for them or anything, but I think they make effective gear) with a short slash-resistant cord that attaches to belt or belt-loop, which I think would deter pickpockets. That's the theft I fear most as professional pickpockets are skilled, as Austin821 noted.

Crime's not as common in Japan so it's easy to let your guard down, but here's: 1) a foreigner, 2) in a sex establishment. I don't know, but I can pose a question: could it be that organized crime elements in Japan have a financial stake in such establishments? Could it also be that the police are not as keen to investigate crimes at such places for that or a similar reason?

Anyway, I don't have any special advice after what happened, but I want to thank you for writing the report. I have yet to monger in Japan (when I lived there, there were no gaijin-friendly options that I knew of) but I'm considering it, so this is important information for me and other bros. I would NOT expect a technician at a Japanese soaplands to boost my wallet. From your description, it sounds premeditated and slick. I'm a bit shocked, and I wonder if they'd do the same to a Japanese client, perhaps a seriously drunk one.

Weird. Anyway, at least you had enough change for the train, and your passport.

JtB

[ Last edited by  JackTheBat at 14-11-2017 14:39 ]

I once had my credit cards "cloned" from a massage place in Tokyo. I realised it must have happened when I (with the girl) went over to another room take a shower. I got back and then the massage etc. took place and I left, my wallet and all the cash was there. A few days later there started to be some transactions on a card that the bank caught, then on another card... then I put 2 and 2 together.
I learned 2 things:
1) which banks are best at catching frauds (the large multinationals) and
2) don't bring your wallet with you.
So cash only since then.

Be on guard for thieves but punter can be his own worse enemy.

Punting typically involves:
    -Drinking
    -Constant distractions (girls, crowds, new situations, unfamiliar locations, the transaction)
    -Disrobing (separating oneself from all your stuff)   

All of these are big opportunities to misplace or leave personal items behind such as a wallet, phone, watch, rings, passport, etc. Leave this kind of stuff at the hotel.

I second what JTB has to offer. I have a pacsafe slingpack. I keep it with me at all times and my wallet and iPad in there. Material is slashproof as previously stated, but also, all the zippers are tamper resistant and require multiple steps to remove. Granted, if someone really wants to take your stuff, there's nothing 100% theft proof... But these subtle deterrences are fantastic. There is no subtle way to steal your sh*t. So at the very least, you catch them in the act.

~UD

I also had a really awful experience but in China:  http://forum.sex141.com/eforum/v ... highlight=%2Bdooper

It only occurred because I broke rule #1, You broke rule #2. I will repeat these two crucial punting rules.

Rule #1 - NEVER go anywhere alone with anyone you don't know, to anyplace you don't know. This applies to travelling in general but especially when in unknown areas and always while punting or gambling.

Rule #2 - NEVER take anything with you that you cannot afford to lose. Also applies when in unknown areas or punting or gambling but also when partying under conditions that might involve heavy drinking or other stupid inebriates.

Rules reminded me of the one time I broke rule 1. Total dumbassery.

Was walking along Nathan in TST around Mody road. This is a typically crowded shopping area and pedestrians are often approached with a sales pitch for tailored shirts, watches, etc. Some dude asks me if I need a watch even though I was wearing a brand new watch. I like Breitlings so I thought WTF and asked if he had this brand.  Oh of course he did and I just needed to follow him to his shop. So I did.

We walked several blocks, down a side street and an alley. The entire walk I kept asking "Wheres your shop?". We ended up in a trash strewn doorway and he waved for me to follow him. Again, "wheres your shop?" He indicated to follow him through the doorway to an elevator down below street level. I looked around and realized we were alone, there was no watch shop and the vibes felt toxic.  Dude started to act far more desperate than typical watch salesman.

Shit happens. Avoid it by following Rule 1.

The copy watch "shops" are in the main in some old place without street frontage... after all he was offering you a copy, not a Breitling.  It's illegal.
You would probably have been OK, but you did well to step back.

Truly unfortunate incident, I'm shocked this would happen in Japan. I'm really sorry to hear about your mishap.

Kinpeibai is a foreigner friendly budget soapland, both of which, when combined together, usually means you're in for a bad time. Budget soaplands are notorious for heavy photoshopping, so the general rule of thumb is: if a girl is lying on her back in a photo she's fatter in real life. Most girls are also at least a cup size smaller than what's stated in the websites. I'd like to add foreigner friendly doesn't mean you won't get a gaijin tax, it just means that they're willing to do business with you as opposed to shops with doormen that rudely turn you away. 10,000 yen is considered fairly standard for most soaplands, for high end soaps it can hit up to 20k (looks at Don Juan).

Anyway, looking at some local reviews of Kinpeibai, no thefts have been reported; but many have complained about the decline in product quality and service.  I hope you won't be put off by this experience, and try out a mid-high tier soap in the future. I second what the veterans say about not carrying too much cash on you, especially in Yoshiwara or Kabukichou.

As for the police being useless; that's to be expected as a foreigner dealing with Japanese police. The excessive amount of red tape, coupled with their nationalist streaks usually mean that nothing good would come out of any investigation. I love the Japanese, but if you had caused a scene on the premises it most likely would've been you that was arrested.

I don't think there was even a shop. Going down below street level several alleys off the main street? Naaa.
My gut told me at the time that if I got on that elevator I was going to have to fight my way back. As much as I love a good brawl, wasn't in the mood being in a foreign country.

[ Last edited by  JJJ37 at 23-11-2017 09:39 ]

Unfortunate this happened in Japan, which has a reputation for being very safe.  That being said, I think the combination of being Gaijin and being in a semi-legitimate establishment (semi only because it is tolerated in that one district, but generally it is illegal) increases the chances of theft happening.  Even so, I think the chances of physical harm are still close to nothing, as long as you do not cause a scene or try to get physical yourself.  

As for Rule #1, I'll admit I've broken this rule more times than advisable, but most times they have led to some interesting or wild times, including now a girl who lives in Central America that flies to the US to see me (regular girl who I met off an app, and who drove me around the city), a girl in VN who I met off of wechat and kept warm for over a year and then first time we met ended up having a crazy romp, and sadly, one time in Shanghai where I was taken for a ride at a bar after meeting a girl off an app, to the tune of a few hundred USD (we did have a fair amount of drinks, but it was way overcharged).  

Good rules to live by in general though.  Keep your wits about you (less alcohol!) and don't carry more than you can lose, and lock up in your room everything else valuable.