Officers took the manager of “girl’s bar” Venus, Keita Fukuda, 28, into custody for staffing the club with three girls, aged 15 and 16, which is a violation of the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses regarding the employment of minors.
Such a bar is a variation of a hostess club in which the business is legally registered as an after-hours, eating-and-drinking establishment so as to avoid more strict regulations under the adult-entertainment law.
The female staff members, who generated between 20,000 and 30,000 yen per day in sales, worked as street touts. They brought interested customers inside to the bar.
Staff members at Venus were charged a 30,000-yen penalty for not arriving at work, while those arriving 30 minutes’ late received a 1,000-yen deduction from their salaries.
Law enforcement became aware of the violations after a 16-year-old girl complained to prefectural police about the penalty system.
