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Kanagawa cops bust ‘JK’ cafe in employment of minors

Yoshiyuki Okumura
Yoshiyuki Okumura

KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have busted a so-called “JK” business in Yokohama over the alleged employment of teenage girls to serve customers, reports Nippon News Network (Sept. 9).

In June, managers Yoshiyuki Okumura, 39, Yuki Sasaki, 31, allegedly employed teenage girls at Joshi Kosei Cafe Kiminokaze to serve male customers, including the provision of alcoholic beverages — a violation of the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses.

The cafe employed 14 girls aged between 15 and 17. On a typical weekday, five or six girls were on staff at wage rates as high as 1,400 yen per hour, according to the Asahi Shimbun (Sept. 9). Since opening in April, the parlor collected around 10 million yen in sales.

Okumura denies the charges. “Since the female employees did not entertain and only engaged in conversation over a counter, I do not acknowledge a violation,” the suspect is quoted.

In recent years, law enforcement divisions nationwide have been cracking down on businesses going by the moniker JK, meaning joshi kosei, or teenage girls, over fears of exploitation.