About

Getting a massage in Japan can be a bit nerve-racking for foreigners, especially if you don’t speak Japanese fluently, or even at all. Giving massages to foreigners can also be a challenge for Japanese therapists if they don’t speak the customer’s language. We hope to bridge the divide between foreigners that want to get a massage in Japan and the therapists and businesses that are eager to accommodate them.

There are numerous challenges related to foreigners getting massages in Japan. Some Japanese businesses only publish materials in Japanese. This makes it hard for non-Japanese speakers to understand which shops are foreigner friendly, to understand how to make an appointment, and to communicate with the staff and therapist.

Therapists like to know their customer is comfortable and happy and will often check in with the customer during the massage. If they don’t speak the same language this can be difficult. Things as simple as asking about the pressure or asking the customer to flip over can be challenging.

Given that providing sexual services as part of massage is legal in Japan, it can be scary and confusing for foreigners to choose a massage place. With just some common sense and keeping an eye out for red flags, one can mostly distinguish legit and sexual massage businesses but we hope to make it explicit by having it known that (to the best of our knowledge) all therapists and businesses on our site only offer non-sexual, legit massage.