Adult entertainment guidance center appears in Akihabara; some worry neighborhood is changing japantoday.com

With its hot pink sign and gigantic font, the storefront does a remarkable job of standing out, yet at the same time doesn’t seem to want anyone to be able to see inside from the street. The reason for this “HEY COME ON IN (but no one will see you)” dichotomy has to do with the service being offered. The new tenant of the Kitchen Jiro building is a muryo annaijo, which translates to “free guidance center.” However, muryo annaijo don’t specialize in general tourism info like sightseeing recommendations or maps of the subway system; those kinds of places are called kanko annaijo/“tourism guidance centers.” Instead, muryo annaijo are where people go to get info on local hostess bars, erotic massage parlors, and other business in the fuzoku (adult entertainment) industry.