Real field reports and columns on Japan's adult-entertainment world
News
On the 14th, the Metropolitan Police Department's Cybercrime Division arrested a man who ran a website brokering prostitution online, on suspicion of violating the Anti-Prostitution Act (procuring prostitution). About 3,000 people from across the country had registered on the site, and its monthly revenue is believed to have exceeded three million yen.
News
On the 16th, the National Police Agency announced that it had carried out nationwide simultaneous searches in cases of sexual exploitation targeting minors. Forty-two people were arrested or referred to prosecutors, and more than 30 minors were victimized. Contact made through social media is cited as the main driver of the spread of victimization.
News
On the 21st, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly passed a revised ordinance strengthening regulation of operations involving the sexual exploitation of youth, including the so-called 'JK business.' Penalties were raised from administrative fines to criminal punishment, and the scope of regulated operations was expanded. The move drew attention as a precedent for ordinance revisions by local governments nationwide.
News
On the 9th, the Tokyo District Court handed down a guilty verdict against a man charged with coercion and other offenses for forcing a woman to appear in an adult video. According to the victim's testimony, she was 'driven into a situation where she could not refuse,' and the court found that there had been 'a substantive absence of free will.' The ruling drew attention as a judicial judgment concerning harm from coerced adult-video appearances.
News
Prostitution via matching apps and social media has surged, and the National Police Agency announced it has begun a legal review aimed at tightening regulation of related operators. Addressing emerging platforms not fully covered by the existing 'Dating-Site Regulation Act' has become a key issue.
News
Amid a continuing state of emergency, the operator of an unlicensed sex business that kept running was arrested for violating the Businesses Affecting Public Morals Regulation Act. He claims he 'did not know about the closure request,' but police view the long-running operation as a serious matter and consider the conduct egregious.
News
On the 10th, the Metropolitan Police Department and Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested six people, including ring leaders of a Chinese-affiliated prostitution organization, on suspicion of violating the Anti-Prostitution Act (provision of premises) and other offenses. The group operated out of apartments in Tokyo and Yokohama, using more than a dozen Chinese women to provide prostitution services, and is said to have recruited customers via the internet and Chinese-language social media.
News
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau and the Metropolitan Police Department on the 18th arrested a man who operates a sex-industry establishment on suspicion of violating the Corporation Tax Act (tax evasion). The man allegedly failed to report about 100 million yen in revenue over the three years from 2017 to 2019, with the evaded tax said to total roughly 30 million yen. The case is drawing attention as part of stepped-up tax investigations of the sex industry.
News
With the second declaration of a state of emergency, a cluster that emerged at a sex-industry establishment in Tokyo drew attention. Several infected people were found to be connected to the same establishment, renewing questions about thorough infection-control measures across the industry.
News
To coincide with the year-end high-alert period, authorities carried out a coordinated crackdown on sex-industry-related businesses across the seven prefectures of the greater Kanto region. In the coordinated raids conducted in late December, 16 illegal operations were confirmed, and 21 operators and others were arrested or referred to prosecutors. Despite the pandemic, illegal businesses appear to have ramped up activity in anticipation of year-end demand.