Abstract
The objective of this paper is to reveal the process through which individuals begin to engage in enjo-kosai (paid dates) based on interviews with individuals with such experience, based on Beckerʼs notion of “deviant career.”
As a motivation that leads individuals to continue to engage in enjo-kosai even after their first experience, a very important factor is whether they recognize giving or receiving money as right conduct or not. In addition, the motivation can be transformed and developed by the following process of learning; (1) learning the “techniques of enjo-kosai,” (2) associating those techniques with outcomes, and (3) the discovery of private “pleasure.”
In this process of learning, individuals who have engaged in enjo-kosai refer, as frames of reference, to manga (cartoons), magazines, and information on the Internet where enjo-kosai is described.
In particular, websites on which enjo-kosai itself is introduced, along with some “Deai-Kei” websitesʼ forums where conversations between buyers and sellers are on display, make communication between men and women in enjo-kosai visible and clarify appropriate ways of behavior for individuals engaging in enjo-kosai. In this sense, those websites seem to be alternatives to “interaction with deviants who are rich in experience,” in which Becker places great importance for understanding the development of action and motivation.
Individuals engaged in enjo-kosai, however, do not construct any relationships with others engaged in the practice in spite of seeing themselves as deviants through interactions with others who do not engage in the practice. In summary, people begin to involve themselves in enjo-kosai without any direct interactions with others engaged in the practice.
