An American Gigolo in Tokyo

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Tons of Americans travel overseas to teach English in other countries. A few of them even stay to keep teaching or find other jobs. But not very many find a gig like the subject of our newest Secret Lives of Men column. AC, a Black man, moved to Japan in his 20s to teach and stumbled into the porn industry. Then, he became a gigolo. In his words: "Black men in this industry are stereotyped. But I've gotten used to it. Once clients meet me, they sometimes lose their preconceived notions." Read his full story below.

—Chris Hatler, deputy editor

Plus:

My Life as a Black Sex Worker in Tokyo

Many of my clients are Japanese women who are curious about foreigners and Black guys. Others are in sexless relationships with men who have erection issues. If I can help them restore their confidence or make them feel beautiful for one night, then I'm happy.

From a young age, I was a very sexual person. I knew I wanted to have a lot of sex, and I also figured that to do that, I would need to meet women who felt the same. I never considered making sex my career. Or at least not until one day in Tokyo, when I was with a friend who got a call about a job. He turned it down, then cupped his hand over the phone and asked me, "Do you want to work in porn?"

Until that moment, I had no idea he was in the adult industry. Soon I was too.

My first jobs were behind-the-scenes work for a porn studio that specialized in scenes of Japanese women with Black men. One day on set, a porn actor's dick couldn't get hard. The director was running out of time. "Do you want to give it a shot?" he asked. I managed to get hard and get the job done. Soon I was performing in porn regularly.

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