Marco comments

Hey folks,

I don't think gender equality has a lot to do with hostess clubs. I don't know exactly what "amount of service" you receive there but let me put it this way. In Sweden (which is number 5 in the gender gap index 2017) prostitution is nearly illegal (illegal to buy, legal to sell). In Germany (which is number 12 in the gender gap index 2017) prostitution is legal. So there are on oposite ends of the scale but in terms of gender equality there are very close together. Japan has stronger laws against prostitution than Sweden and is at place 114 (!) in the gender gap index 2017. 

I am not a long time in Japan and certainly not an expert but i think these students perfectly realized what the problem is. The most important step to tackle a dificult issue is to speak about it! And as much as i love this country and the people which live here, addressing difficult/embarrassing subjects is certainly not their strongest suit. So what the students do their is in my humble opinion the perfectly right thing. Best wishes for them!