Waikiki Porn Shop Finds Success Catering to Japanese Tourists

WAIKIKI, Hawaii—An article on Salon.com today by Susannah Breslin explores the Velvet Video, a small brick-and-mortar adult shop on Waikiki tucked away next to a Prada boutique. In fact, the article is titled, “In Waikiki, The Porn Is Next To The Prada.” It’s a nice if slight story about a San Diego transplant who opened her little x-rated shop in 2007 and is going strong. But the message we took away is one that is only indirectly made by Breslin—that the rare success of this retail porn shop is due to the fact that owner Monica Aguon specifically caters to Japanese tourists. Indeed, the store’s clientele “are a mix of locals and tourists, gays and straights, military and businessmen. They’re from the mainland and other islands, Australia and New Zealand, China and Japan,” writes Breslin. But reading between the lines, it sounds as if the Japanese make the difference. “Like the nearby gun ranges,” notes Breslin, “Aguon makes a point of catering to Japanese sin tourists. In Japan, adult movies are censored, the explicit parts pixelated into an indiscernible blur. ‘My stuff isn’t censored,’ Aguon says, and her prices are competitive. ‘I show them aloha,’ as she puts it.” The store also features an arcade that gets regular use, but in an age when internet porn is not only ubiquitous but often free, there is usually a distinct reason why a retail outlet is successful enough to leave the owner considering opening another location. In this instance, it sounds as though Asian tourists seeking unique content may be the key.