About CHONMAGE

What this site is

CHONMAGE is an English-language guide to going out in Japan — the club and bar districts, the etiquette, and the part most travel sites gesture vaguely at: the legal adult-entertainment industry.

Most English pages about Tokyo nightlife are the same recycled top-ten list. When they reach anything adult they either sensationalise it or go silent, which leaves visitors guessing about things that are genuinely worth getting right — what is legal, what a venue actually costs, and which places will turn you away at the door for not speaking Japanese. We write the version we wanted when we arrived.

Who writes it

A small Japan-based team. We go to the districts we cover, read the Japanese-language venue pages that never get translated, and check prices and entry policies rather than copying them from a five-year-old blog post.

How we write a guide

• Prices are stated in yen, with what they include. Set fee, extension, transport, nomination — the parts that turn a ¥15,000 evening into ¥30,000.
• Foreigner policy is stated plainly. If a type of venue routinely refuses non-Japanese speakers, we say so instead of implying anyone can walk in.
• The law gets its own section. Japan's rules around paid adult services are specific and widely misreported. We describe what the law actually permits, without coyness and without encouraging anyone to break it.
• Scams and touts are named. The bar-tout scam in Kabukicho and Roppongi is the single most common way visitors lose real money here.
• We update rather than republish. Changed guides carry an updated date.

What we won't do

• We don't publish sexually explicit material. Adult topics are covered informationally.
• We don't cover anything illegal, coerced, or involving minors — and we don't link to operators we can't verify as licensed businesses.
• We don't sell positive coverage. A payment never buys a recommendation or a rank.

How the site is funded

Some links on this site are affiliate links: if you use one, we may be paid a commission by that operator at no extra cost to you. That funds the site. It does not change what we write, and sponsored placements are labelled as sponsored wherever they appear. The full terms are in our affiliate disclosure.

Corrections and contact

Prices move, venues close, policies change. If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we'll fix it: hello@chon-mage.com.

A note on staying safe

Drink within your limits. Don't follow touts off the street. Agree the price before you sit down. Carry your residence card or passport. The legal drinking age in Japan is 20, and this site's adult sections are written for readers aged 18 and over.