Kabukicho ‘girl’s bar’ busted in sofa snafu

TOKYO – A female employee at a specialty hostess club was arrested over the weekend for sitting next to a customer.

The infraction occurred when a 24-year-old lady staffed at “girl’s bar” Double, located in Tokyo’s red-light district of Kabukicho, was found to be sitting next to a male patron on a sofa just before 2 a.m. on Saturday morning.

The girl’s bar is a nightlife trend whereby casually dressed young women serve drinks and make conversation from behind a counter – and not while seated next to a customer, as is standard practice in a conventional hostess club. This orientation is an attempt to circumvent the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses, which prohibits entertainment of customers after 1 a.m. Bars only for drinking, however, are not classified as entertainment.

In recent years, discos, hostess clubs, and various sex businesses in Tokyo have come under increased pressure as a result of stricter enforcement of this national law, which dates back to 1948. Following this citywide crackdown, dozens of girl’s bars have opened across the metropolis to exploit the loophole in the law.

The National Police Agency, however, realizes the true nature of the operations. “We consider them to be of the same category,” said a NPA official in an interview earlier this month. “We are not distinguishing them from other adult businesses.”

Double opened in April.

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