Terekura
Terekura ( Japanese テ レ ク ラ ) is an abbreviation for the English term telephone club ( テ レ フ ォ ン ク ラ ブ , terefon kurabu ) and refers to telephone-based dating agencies that originated in Japan to circumvent the prohibition of prostitution .
In the original version of the Terekura, particularly common in the mid-1990s, the male customer paid for a booth with a telephone. From outside, women could be connected free of charge via the club's telephone exchange.
With the spread of mobile phones, the “real” Terekura were increasingly being replaced by virtual clubs.
The vast majority of Terekura conversations take place with the tacit consent that there is a high probability that this will lead to paid sex. The meeting point is usually a love hotel .
Terekura and the anonymity resulting from it were the most popular and easiest way to initiate Enjokōsai ("temporary escort") before the advent of internet-enabled cell phones and therefore were targeted by the Japanese police .