Interview with former sex worker about compensated dating, drugs, and tattoos

The tabloid Spa! recently ran an interview with a 33-year-old, heavily tattooed employee in the construction industry who goes by the online name Cyber Lisapi.

Lisapi did compensated dating from junior high school and has also worked at a brothel (fuzoku). Her colorful past also includes addiction to illegal drugs.

In the interview, she shares more about her turbulent life. We’ve shared some edited highlights below.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, her childhood was unsettled.

“My parents divorced when I was about six years old. My mother worked as a hostess at a club, so I don’t think she had much time to think about home life. When I was about 10, my mother brought in a new father, who was a dealer at an illegal casino.”

How did she get into compensated dating at such a young age?

“I happened to meet a man on a dating site who offered me ¥100,000 for one sexual encounter, so I decided to go along with it. But he just promised to pay me at a later date and then disappeared.”

Her home life contributed to the situation.

“My mother worked late and wasn’t home, so I was always the one looking after my younger sister. When I was in junior high school, I got tired of that lifestyle and started wandering around late at night. That eventually led to me being picked up by the police, who found out about the compensated dating from my emails. I was even called in to assist with crime scene investigations.”

She became addicted to host clubs at age 14, which somehow led her into the sex industry.

“It all started when I got hooked on host clubs. I don’t know how it is now, but back then, drinks were pretty cheap for the first time. I remember if I was lucky, I could enjoy myself at a club for around ¥1,000. I was at an age when I admired older people. I forged an ID and started working at a brothel at age 14.”

She got her first Japanese-style tattoo when she graduated junior high school.

“I got a flower tattooed on my chest. I’d always wanted to get a tattoo.”

Next came drugs.

“When I was 17, I had a boyfriend who was 15 years older than me. I still believe that meeting him had a huge impact on my life, both good and bad. He was the one who introduced me to drugs. He was originally a businessman, but shortly after we started dating, I began supporting him financially. One day, my boyfriend collapsed and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. There, we found out that he had intractable quadriplegia. We also found out that he had hepatitis C.”

And as if things couldn’t get any worse . . .

“When I was 22, I became pregnant with my boyfriend’s child. The pregnancy occurred while he was undergoing treatment for quadriplegia, and the doctor told us that the embryo could be teratogenic. Deep down, I wanted to have the baby, but my boyfriend wanted me to have an abortion, and my family was also against it, so I ended up having an abortion.”

It inevitably led to the breakup of their relationship.

“He was divorced and had a child with his ex-wife. When I found out I was pregnant, he told me that it would be difficult to remarry until his child was an adult, so I wondered if there was any point in being together. I ended the relationship.”

Her drug-addicted ex-boyfriend later died and Lisapi also took a long time to recover.

“I was repeatedly hospitalized and and cut off all my old relationships. I was in a relationship with a drug dealer for a while, and I had to make a complete break from who I was at that time.”

She also lost her closest friend who was like a sister to her.

“Looking back, I lived a rebellious life, and pushed my mother to the point where she was overcome with guilt. If you ask me if I have no regrets about the way I’ve lived my life, I do. However, someone who had overcome a far more difficult situation than I had said something that really took me by surprise. ‘Life happens the way it happens, so as long as you don’t hurt others, you should live how you want.’ I think that up until now, I didn’t have enough perspective to consider how other people might feel because of my actions. I hope that through my painful past, I can become a person who can accept others.”