Page 6 of The Dragon 1

“Why didn’t he just meet us at the door?”

“Look, I was happy he was even going to let me come in here and observe. I’d gotten shut down by all the other places in Tokyo.”

Zo glanced around at the half-naked women laughing near the buffet then lowered his voice and leaned in. “Things aren’t like in the States. Sex is super private here in Japan. There’s a whole coded etiquette around pleasure. You don’t brag. You don’t overshare. You just—know where to go and keep it discreet.”

That made sense.

Not much English literature existed on Tokyo’s sex industry. The culture closed their doors to outsiders, which they calledgaijin, literally meaning “outside person.”

Although Zo lived in Tokyo for ten years, he would still be considered agaijin, even if he stayed in the city for the rest of his life.

Additionally, not many of the kinky spots serviced foreigners.

The few that did, remained silent to sociologists, anthropologists, and basically non-fiction writers like me who were fascinated with the whole scene.

At least money talks here like it does in the states.

I sighed. “Jun and I exchanged emails before I left New York. My publisher’s Tokyo office helped me with the correspondence and monitored everything.”

“But have you met this guy in-person?”

“I met with him this morning and handed over the money.”

“Money?”

“Sometimes you have to give a little cash to the locals to get an insider's look.”

“Not in Tokyo. There's no honor in bribes, so if someone is asking for money then they're probably a shady character.Honor is important here,” Zo looked around. His gaze went to a half-naked woman dropping grapes into a chubby man’s mouth and then back to me. "How much did you give him?”

“$5,000.00.”

“Yen?”

“US dollars. My bank account was not happy about that either.”

“Jesus Christ, Nyomi. I wish you would've let me come with you when you met him.”

“No use crying over spilled milk.”

“And what do you get for 5k? It better be room and lodging for a month.”

“I have two weeks access. I can interview the employees, walk through bathing areas, as well as observe any erotic cleansing sessions if the customers agree,” I headed off. “Let’s go. Jun said his office is past the second lounge.”

Zo got to my side. “I’m feeling uneasy. I don’t know about this.”

“What don’t you know?”

“There’s too much money here. My gut says something is wrong.”

“Now you’re freaking me out.”

“This place has a whole lot of money here. Look at those shoes,” He gestured to an olive-skinned woman playing the piano. “Where there’s money, there’s crime.”

“Let’s hope not too much crime.” I stepped around Zo and headed straight for the manager’s office. “Come on, Jun says I have to meet the owner before I’m allowed to observe anything. Once I get his permission, we’re officially on our soapland luxury tour.”

“Wait—owner?” Zo caught up quickly and gently grabbed my arm.

One of the guards turned toward us and narrowed his eyes.