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Imperial Household Agency employee arrested in ‘happening bar’ bust

Club 406
Club 406
TOKYO (TR) – During a raid earlier this month of a bar that allows customers to engage in sex, a male employee of Japan’s Imperial Household Agency was arrested on charges of public obscenity, police revealed on Sunday, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Nov. 17).

On November 8 at around 10:00 p.m., police busted “happening bar” Club 406, located inside a one-room apartment in the Yotsuya 3-chome district of Shinjuku Ward, for allowing three unclothed men and women to partake in obscene acts.

Taken into custody by police were Koji Takeda, the 53-year-old manager, two other staff members and three male and female customers, including an employee of the Imperial Household Agency, the government agency that oversees matters related to the Imperial Family.

According to officers from the Yotsuya Police Station, the suspect from the agency, aged in his 50s, has admitted to the charges. He was in charge of serving the Akishino family until the spring of this year and is currently on leave from duty.

Entry fees for men at Club 406 begin at 8,000 yen (1,000 yen for women). According to images on the bar’s site, white robes are provided, and the interior features counter and sofa seating.

The bar, which bills itself as a “gathering spot for perverts,” strictly forbids drug use and entry by organized crime members and prostitutes seeking customers.

According to police, Takeda recruited customers via the bar’s Web site. The business collected an average of 600,000 yen per month in revenue.

“We are now confirming the facts in the case,” a representative of the Imperial Household Agency told TV Asahi (Nov. 17).