When I was 29 I was living in Tokyo and working for a Japanese ad agency specializing in foreign-language export advertising. Living in Japan I quickly learned that most people wrongly believe the Japanese are sexually inhibited simply because they are reserved, quiet, and often shy. Not so. Unlike Americans, the Japanese are not burdened by the ill effects of Judeo-Christian guilt. They are far from sexually repressed.
Japanese are however, inhibited by the broader notion of "what will others think of me." Japan is a giant anthill. All the ants are paying very close attention to one another. And generally speaking, they all think alike. The society is incredibly homogeneous. Fads spread overnight. While living there I would suddenly discover some obscure thing -- for example the frill-necked lizard -- which would suddenly appear everywhere as if out of nowhere --on TV, billboards, advertisements, posters, students' notebooks and so on. None yesterday. Everywhere today. The same is true of rumors and gossip. Fads spread like wildfires in Japan.
The Japanese are really concerned about the spread of rumors and gossip about them. Rightly so, if someone in your circle of family, friends, classmates, or colleagues learns something about you, they will all know it. So Japanese are not burdened by religious guilt, but they are concerned about societal awareness. So, a woman who would like to be sexually adventuress might inhibit her behavior because she would be branded as slutty by family, friends, classmates, colleagues or whatever group she belongs.
Most Japanese tend to be very secretive about their uninhibited activities and very likely to have a very different approach with people who cannot out her to anyone else in her inner circles. Likewise, they are restrained in publish lest someone in their inner circles see what they are doing. But behind closed door, they are not prudish, inhibited, nor modest.
So, what may look like an uptight, virginal woman could be a wild, insatiable tigress once you have her alone. Many such women are looking to release their inner slut but will not risk being branded as one by their family, friends, classmates, or colleagues. And will do so when they know there is no chance her escapades might be discovered by them. And they are very, very cautious about this. Their best chance is when on foreign vacation or simply traveling to a different city in Japan where no one knows them. I learned rather quickly, as a gaijin (foreign) resident I was considered like a walking foreign vacation. I was assumed as safe as it is impossible that I know a random woman's family, friends, classmates, or colleagues. Better still virtually every Japanese woman has a fantasy about fucking a white guy. Life in Japan is like being a rock star and every female wants to be a groupie at least once.
The only drawback is the news about sexual violence in American makes the Japanese woman a bit reluctant. But if you can speak even a little Japanese, the fear disappears instantly. And since I can, I found that I could sleep with virtually any Japanese woman I wanted to separate from the herd with a brief chat. My success rate was definitely over 90% regardless of age, vocation or marital status. Something impossible to expect in the USA. But in Japan, simply ask and you shall receive. And I did, 2 or 3 times a week for three years.
But even more amazing I was approached 4 or 5 times by women who simply walked up and asked to fuck. That has never happened before nor after anywhere else. All these encounters went the same way. The woman approached me when I was alone and said in Japanese, "Do you speak Japanese?" I replied, "Yes a little." And that was enough to eliminate the fear. The next question was simply, "Do you want to have sex?"
However, all but one of these propositions happened with women who had been drinking. The encounters were either in a club near closing time which is about 11:30 as the last trains all leave Tokyo for the suburbs around midnight. Or it happened when I was on one of those last-call trains and a clearly drunk woman approached me and boldly asked for sex. I politely told all of them "no" with some excuse why. I did not want to wake up with a hungover woman who suddenly realized she did something she regrets. And it was unethical.
But then, there was this one time that things were different. Very different. I was on the next-to-last train on the Marunouchi line to Shibuya. I had to change trains in Shibuya to the local Inokashira line and travel just three stops to my home station of Ikenoue. With one or two trains remaining, it was not standing room only like the last train of the night often was. I took a seat. Directly across from me was a very attractive woman in business attire, a very nice matching skirt and jacket (perhaps Chanel) with a Hermes scarf added for flair. Classy. Then I noticed she had a Birkin bag. Rich too.
A Japanese woman of this status would not normally pay any attention to a gaijin in jeans and a leather jacket. But she noticed I was sizing her up and she returned my gaze and smiled. That is never done by Japanese of either gender on a train. Japanese do not make eye contact nor smile at anyone else on the train. Especially not a foreigner. They always remain eyes down and rarely speak even if traveling with friends.
When she smiled at me, I smiled back and nodded -- a gesture that Japanese do to simulate a bow of respect. She nodded back. The train stopped in Shibuya and the doors opened on my side of the train so I exited and walked to my change of platforms. I glanced back and discovered the woman was walking to the same train. I slowed my pace, so she caught up to me as I passed through the ticket turnstile. I decided I would speak to her and ideally get on the same train car.
I waited for her to pass the ticket-taker, and said with a smile, "Same train again," in Japanese. Knowing that use of Japanese would put her at ease.
She replied in formal Japanese, "Yes, it seems so," as we walked along the platform. I planned to follow her into whatever car she chose. Once seated, now side by side, I asked what station she was going to. She said, Inokashira-koen. That is the second-to-last stop on this line, a quiet suburban area near Inokashrira park and the Kanda River. Upscale and beautiful. Like her.
She replied, "And you?" I told her my apartment was in Ikenoue, only three stops away. She said "zannen" which means regrettable. I asked why, thinking she was looking down on my student-filled neighborhood. She said in Japanese, "Not much time to get to know one another."