JK Business in Japan

The JK business is a commercial activity in Japan that allows customers to engage in pseudo-dating with high school girls. It significantly increased in scale around 2006, after the maid café boom in Akihabara, Tokyo, had died down. The abbreviation JK stands for 女子高生 (joshi kōsei, ja:女子高生), a female high school student. Typical scenario of a JK encounter: a girl gives out leaflets inviting for a JKお散歩 (jēkē o-sanpo, “a JK walk” or “a walking date”).[2][3] Earlier the offered service was known as a "refresh business". When police began investigations into the practice of "JK"; the "sanpo business" arose. This is when a girl is paid for social activities such as walking and talking, and is also sometimes referred to as "fortune telling". Another activity is reflexology (Japanese: リフレ, rifure, ja:リフレ).[6] Many of the girls work in Akihabara in Tokyo.