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Dusk til dawn sex service system dooms Gunma honban hotel

Prostitutes working out of a love hotel in Ota City charged 12,000 yen for full sex
Prostitutes working out of a love hotel in Ota City charged 12,000 yen for full sex
On January 13, Gunma Prefectural Police announced the bust of a prostitution ring operating inside a love hotel in Ota City in September and October of last year.

Officers arrested Sachiko Yamamoto, a 67-year-old part-time manager of the inn, and Mikio Oshima, 59, the head of an out-call “delivery health” service that dispatched the working girls to the hotel.

Enforcing the law prohibiting prostitution is nothing new, but, according to Nikkan Gendai (Jan. 20), applying it to the manager of the hotel required special circumstances.

An investigator tells the evening tabloid that Oshima, who averaged 200,000 yen per night in sales, employed 26 girls at his operation.

“The going rate for honban was 12,000 yen for the first 60 minutes,” says the investigator in referring to full sex. “The system involved the girls leasing the rooms from 6:00 p.m. until the following morning for 5,000 yen.”

It was this special provision of a place of operation that resulted in the arrest of Yamamoto.

“In spite of her not receiving a direct commission (for the sex sessions), Gunma police found her to be a suspect in the crimes,” continues the investigator. “Providing a location for such a business is a violation of the Anti-Prostitution Law.”

Such a regulation seems a tad strict, commiserates Nikkan Gendai. For a little elucidation on the matter, the paper turns to Yoji Ochiai (@ayjochi), a former prosecutor at the Tokyo District Court. The current lawyer says that Yamamoto could face up to three years in prison and a fine of 100,000 yen.

“The same principle applies to the bust of a soapland” says Ochiai in referring to an erotic bathhouse where female masseuses provide full sex.

It could be worse for the manager. If it is determined that Yamamoto was receiving the payments as a part of a business “on a continuous basis,” which is debatable since the charges apply between September 11 and October 2, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 14), the prison term could reach seven years.

“If, for example, a woman is using her apartment for enjo kosai” — compensated dating — “this part of the law is not applicable,” says the lawyer. (A.T.)

Source: “Fuzoku keieisha totomoni…rabuho no paato obasan ga tsukamatta wake,” Nikkan Gendai (Jan. 20, page 5)