‘Girl’s bar’ death in Osaka a symptom of nightlife dangers for young women

Following the death of an 18-year-old high school girl employed at a female-staffed bar in Osaka early Sunday, likely due to alcohol poisoning, Nikkan Gendai (Feb. 15) reports that the incident is the latest example of the dangers to young women in the world of adult entertainment.

To recap, emergency services arrived at Sora in the afternoon of February 12 to find a third-year high school student lying face up on the floor. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sora, located in Osaka‘s Chuo Ward, is a variation of a hostess club termed a “girl’s bar,” which are clubs legally registered as after-hours, eating-and-drinking establishments so as to avoid more strict regulations under the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses.

According to the Osaka prefectural police, the 27-year-old male owner of Sora discovered the girl at around 12:20 p.m., by which time her body had already gone cold. The employee added that she had started her shift at around 11 p.m. the day before and went to sleep after finishing.

Fuzoku writer Yukio Kamimura tells Nikkan Gendai that the situation in Osaka is likely due to a customer knocking out the employee with liquor.

“Male customers in these places are dealing with girls who don’t know how to drink. They’ll throw back drinks in one go,” explains Kamimura. “The girls will get drunk fast and collapse. Customers will often boast on various Internet sites about getting such-and-such girl at such-and-such bar to pass out.”

In addition, the scribe says, incidents involving encounter cafes, in which young women may be escorted off the premises by male customers, and the peddling of “legal herbs” are on the rise.

“Girls taking low-quality herbs will find themselves feeling light-headed and frequently wetting their beds each night,” Kamimura says. “Their speech patterns will also turn towards melancholy. Playing on their ignorance is a way to take advantage of these girls.”

The article says that real problems unfold in clubs in which patrons pay to see women wearing their school uniforms through a two-way mirror at a nozoki heya club. Shrewd customers will take illicit photos and follow the girls home later to confirm the location of their residence and school. The photos will then be displayed on the Web sites, with the girl’s school name listed.

“As to the encounter cafes, the girls will be offered 10,000 yen for being able to watch her masturbate with her panties on while in a karaoke box or other similar establishment,” continues Kamimura. “The guys will then secretly take photos of some of the girls. There have been cases of these shots appearing on the Web as well.” (A.T.)

Source: “Osaka no gaaruzubaa de ga henshi, joshiko fuzoku toraburu saishinban” Nikkan Gendai (Feb. 15, page 7)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

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