Yoshimi Arai was taken into custody by officers at the Sugamo Police Station after he allegedly used kerosene and a lighter to set fire to an umbrella and some plastic in front of a “snack” hostess club in Toshima Ward on the evening of March 2.

“I entered the club, but I did not start the fire,” Arai is quoted by police in denying the allegations.

According to the report, just before the incident, when seven customers were being entertained inside the club, the suspect had been denied entry. Once the flames became noticeable, the manager extinguished the blaze.

Police said that the suspect had previously attempted to win favor with a hostess in her 30s.

“I liked her,” the suspect is quoted in a report by Nippon News Network.

Moritoshi Kurita, 33, employed as a deputy manager in the accounting section at industrial rubber firm Shibata, allegedly utilized his office computer on 55 occasions between April 2009 and July 2010 to transfer 230 million yen to his personal account. All told, he is accused of defrauding the company out of 530 million yen, of which roughly 500 million was sent to a hostess living in Katsuchika Ward.

“She fell ill and surgery was necessary,” Kurita is quoted by police.

Of course, Nikkan Gendai knows a ruse when it sees one. The tabloid’s trusty smut journalist Yukio Murakami is a bit surprised at the tactics used by the wily woman, saying that the claim that she requires surgery necessitates decent acting on her part. “Typically, the gal will say that she is being raised by a single mother, and her mother must undergo chemotherapy treatments,” the journalist says. “The treatment will run three million yen, and a lady will be recruited on the Internet to play the role of the mother.”

Murakami adds that marriage will already have been discussed so it will be impossible for the victim to abandon her. “After receiving the first payment,” he continues, “the condition will later resurface, and a second treatment will be needed to strengthen her immune system. A trip to an overseas hospital might also be an option.”

Nikkan Gendai then goes on to list the types of frauds typically pulled by hostesses.

A “pet fraud” will involve the girl’s dog, which is said to be entering a contest. If successful, the hostess can then drop the night gig and become a professional dog breeder. Of course, the judge will first need to be bribed (one million yen). Various other fees for preparation in the new career might then run between 500,000 yen and one million yen.

Seeking funds for plastic surgery procedures is another common scam. “I want to have sex with you and I therefore must look beautiful,” the hostess might tell her customer. Funds for eyelid work (300,000 yen), breast enhancement (700,000 yen), and underarm hair removal (500,000 yen) will then be needed. Afterwards, while the victim might notice a slight change in her appearance, the upgrades will be due to the use of such common items as a push-up bra and regular shaving razor.

Targets can vary. A gal might seek a guy looking for a sugar mama, and will tell him that if he assists with tuition for nursing school she will be able to take care of him later on. (The tabloid compares this approach to that of convicted “black widow” Kanae Kijima.) In the end, though, he will be taken for one million yen and the hostess will disappear from the club. (K.N.)

「キャバクラ嬢に約5億円」元経理係長の男を逮捕

Source: “Kyabajo no sagi teguchi” Nikkan Gendai (Apr. 14, 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.

On February 12, emergency services arrived at bar Sora in Osaka’s Minami area of Chuo Ward to find a third-year high school student lying face up on the floor. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death was later determined to be acute alcohol poisoning. The 27-year-old manager was taken into custody initially for violating the Food Sanitation Act and later for allowing a minor to work after 10 p.m., which is prohibited under the Labor Standards Act.

Sora is a variation of a hostess club termed a “girl’s bar,” which are clubs legally registered as after-hours, eating-and-drinking establishments. The clubs are, in fact, more or less hostess clubs in disguise.

“In the Minami area there are a lot of these types of illegal joints,” says a local restaurant employee. Osaka prefectural cops have busted seven girl’s bars so far this year.

“On March 19 and 22, multiple clubs in the Minami and Umeda entertainment areas were raided by 30 investigators,” said a representative from the Osaka prefectural police. “Going forward, the crackdown will be enforced continuously.”

The girl’s bar, which was born in Osaka up to eight years ago, aims to replicate a hostess club experience. The concept has proved popular and expanded into many entertainment areas of Japan, sometimes as one of a few specialty genres, including restaurant izakayas and bars staffed by AV actresses and pin-up models.

“The basis of the system is that the girls are bartenders behind the counter serving the customers,” says a fuzoku shop employee. “At a regular club or lounge that is not the case. Casual, enjoyable conversation with a cute, young girl is the sales point, and because the girl’s bars are reasonably priced relative to a hostess club they’ve spread like wildfire.”

Another reason for the popularity is exploitation of a legal loophole. With female staff members positioned behind the counter, opposite the customers, as opposed to positioned side by side, such as in a hostess club setting, the establishment can pass itself off as a regular bar and not be subject to the strict Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses.

The popularity has brought trouble.

“In order to keep costs low, young girls who will work for low wages are being hired,” says a source in the industry, “and as an extreme sales point, the customers are allowed to touch the female staff members. The existence of shops ripping off customers with high fees is another problem.”

The trend is not limited to Osaka. In February, police raided the two outlets of the chain Pippi, located in Tokyo’s Roppongi and Kabukicho entertainment areas, for allowing female staff members to sit and serve at the same table as customers. The clubs were staffed by adult video (AV) actresses and pin-up models.

Tabloids ran stories about Pippi before the bust. “The articles were saying that the girls would sit next to the customers as a part of the service,” says a Roppongi restaurant manager. “With those rumors floating around, the cops heard about it and made the busts.”

Yet the illegal clubs are continuing to operate in spite of the actions of law enforcement. In order to overcome the current situation, “the police must begin a concentrated effort,” says the same manager.

On February 24, officers took managers Yuji Isa, 51, and Hiroaki Kato, 30, and two other employees of club Pippi, located in the Roppongi and Shinjuku entertainment areas, into custody for allowing female staff members to sit and serve at the same table as customers — a violation of the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses.

Pippi is a variation of a hostess club termed a “girl’s bar,” which are clubs legally registered as eating-and-drinking establishments that under the adult-entertainment law are not allowed to offer personal one-on-one companionship.

Pin-up models Asami Tada, 23, and Rio Natsume, 27, served as founders of the Roppongi branch, which opened last September and has netted revenues of 15 million yen. The Shinjuku outlet opened in August and has amassed 24 million yen in revenue.

“At the time of the raid, the Roppongi club was having a special ‘pin-up idol day,’” said a person affiliated with the investigation. “Four of the 10 gals in the club were idols. At the Shinjuku branch, a similar event was being held for AV actresses, who numbered five of the 13 girls present.”

Nikkan Gendai notes that in addition to the aforementioned idols Mai Koide is a staff member at the Roppongi branch. The Shinjuku club is staffed by AV actresses Nana Otone and Shoko Akiyama.

According to the operation’s Web site, which has since been taken down, both outlets offered an all-you-can-drink service starting at 5,000 yen for 60 minutes from 11:30 p.m.

AV writer Kazuo Kajiyama says that weak monthly earnings of between three and four million yen per branch forced management to escalate services whereby customers were able to sit next to the hostesses. “Tada, Koide, Otone, and Akiyama do not have real name value,” says the writer. “Natsume, however, does have a degree of popularity, but she had a baby last October. So she hasn’t been able to work. It is natural that things have declined.”

Kajiyama adds that customers are growing weary of girl’s bars and there have been numerous closings as a result. “Clubs offering AV actresses are popular,” he says. “But in the end it got to where the big-breasted actresses were offering glimpses of their nipples to maintain interest.”

グラビアアイドルら接待　六本木で「無許可」営業

Nikkan Gendai (Jan. 25) reports that snack bar operator Kenichi Ando, Matsuba-kai gang member Jiro Sato and four others were arrested on a charge of violation of the Immigration Law and abetting prostitution. Specifically they lured two Thai women to Japan and charged them 5.5 million yen for “travel expenses,” which they were expected to pay back by engaging in the world’s oldest profession.

The two women, ages 32 and 35, were taken into protective custody.

According to police, when not working, the women were held in a padlocked room.

“The women claimed they were threatened by their keepers, who told them, ‘If you don’t pay back what you owe us, you’ll be going back home to Thailand in a white shroud.’” a police source is quoted as saying. He added the women charged their customers 12,000 yen per hour-long session, which allegedly included intercourse. “A woman from Taiwan also seems to be involved, we’re looking into her role in the prostitution.”

“Tricking foreign women into working as hookers is one form of ‘white slavery,’ “pink” journalists Yukio Murakami tells the paper. “It’s one of the ways gangs make their money. Japanese recruit women from Thailand and the Philippines, and set them up with gangsters. The women are then taken to lonely hot springs where men visit solely for meeting prostitutes. Most of the action is upstairs over the snack bar.

“The keepers eavesdrop on the women while they’re turning tricks to make sure they don’t beg the customers to help them,” Murakami adds.

The women are only paid enough to buy bento (boxed meals) and cosmetics, and are prohibited from going out. Until their “loans” are repaid, they are made to work like “horses pulling carts.”

“If a woman is attractive and popular, then about the time that she’s worked off her loan she’ll be told, ‘A customer complained about your poor service, and we’re levying a fine on you,’ or some other lie to keep her on the job longer,” Murakami adds. “In addition to Filipinas and Thais, females from Russia living in Tokyo and other cities who have run up large debts are also sent to work in the onsen gulag.”

Nikkan Gendai sternly advises its readers against having anything to do with such criminal enterprises. (K.S.)

Source: “Tai josei ni baishun kyoyo; ichijikan niman-en ‘jinshin baibai’ no jittai,” Nikkan Gendai (Jan. 25, 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.

Kenichi Ando, 31, manager of bar Snack Yume, located in Shibukawa City, and gang members Jiro Sato, 43, and Toshio Onosato, 33, were taken into custody by officers from the peace preservation division of the TMD for violating the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act regarding the employment of a Thai female.

Ando is alleged to have utilized a broker in Thailand to recruit two women to come to Japan by promising a high income. The suspect imposed a debt for living and transportation costs of 5.5 million yen.

Between June and November of last year, Ando employed the women, aged 32 and 35, as prostitutes inside a second-floor room to repay the debt. To ensure they would not flee, their passports had been seized, police said.

Ando has reportedly denied the allegations.

According to police, gang member Sato routinely made visits to the club to collect protection money. Police are investigating whether the money flowed back to the gang’s coffers.

Fuji News Network reports that the number of arrests in the case totaled six.

タイ人女性に売春強要の疑い、６人逮捕

“Tonight is quiet here, so no problem. Tell you what: take three and I’ll send them over.”

The above exchange, relates Shukan Shincho (Jan. 26), took place not long ago between two bar “mamas” while getting their hair done at a beauty salon in Ginza 7-chome.

“I’d never heard of the renting out of hostesses,” said another mama, who overheard the negotiations. “Clubs are all rivals. Aren’t they worried the girls will steal their customers?”

But according to a Ginza veteran, business at the clubs slumped badly following last March’s earthquake and tsunami, and as personnel costs (stipends to the hostesses) make up 55 to 60 percent of operating costs, the clubs would have trouble staying afloat even if they extracted penalties from the hostesses who fail to make their sales quotas.

Of course clubs could lay off regulars, but would then have to worry about how to apportion their hostesses on the rare occasions when things get busy.

“If the ratio of customers to hostesses exceeds three to one more, it’s common wisdom that customers will feel neglected and never come back,” the mama at a medium-size club tells the magazine. “In the past there were services that would dispatch hostesses to join customers at hot springs resorts, but from the year-end and New Year, and then in March and April, when companies typically engage in personnel changes, things get busy and it’s not easy to get enough gals,” says the manager of one club. “And there are lots of girls who for whatever reason aren’t suitable to work at Ginza.”

To deal with any shortfalls, the mamas have come up with a system of hostess rental, where the girls are dispatched for a straight 3,000 yen per hour. The rules are strict: a hostess may not give out her cell phone number to the customer of another club, nor may she accompany him outside the establishment.

Still, the system is not without occasional stumbling blocks.

“Once I went to another club and the hostesses were all decked out in long dresses with revealing décolletages,” recalls one hostess. “I came wearing a pants suit, and some customers suspected I was on hire from another place. But the regular hostesses came to my rescue by telling them, ‘She’s a newbie and doesn’t know any better.’”

It also seems at least some hostesses for hire fully justify the outlay.

“This girl in her mid-20s had an incredible capacity for booze,” recalls the aforementioned manager. “She kept ordering small bottles of beer, emptying 20 bottles and leaving our customers gaping in amazement. After that, I wasted no time going to her club when her services are needed, and personally escorted her to our place.” (K.S.)

Source: “Hosutesu no kashikiri ga hajimatta himasugiru Ginza kurabu-gai,” Shukan Shincho (Jan. 26, page 45)

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.

Shota Mizuno, 28, and three others entered the basement club on the evening of December 21. When it came time to pay the bill, at around 1:30 a.m., an insufficient amount was offered and a dispute erupted. Mizuno then allegedly opened three fire extinguishers and sprayed white retardant powder at the entrance to the premises.

When a staff member in his 20s attempted to stop Mizuno, the suspect hit him in the head. According to police, Mizuno was highly intoxicated.

“I was under the influence of alcohol and do not remember a thing,” the suspect is quoted by police. “If the allegations are indeed true, I am deeply sorry.”

The public relations chief at the Tokyo Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Tatsuya Yuasa, said that the arrest of a staff member is indeed regrettable. “Once the facts are confirmed, this will be dealt with in a strict manner.”

消火器をまき散らし、店員殴る　消防士を暴行の疑いで逮捕

Just before 3 a.m., a 43-year-old upper-level member of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest crime family, was drinking in a hostess club in the Roppongi entertainment district with several acquaintances when a group of approximately 20 men entered and started a fight. The gangster received a serious wound to the head from being hit by a beer bottle.

The Sankei Shimbun, citing the Azabu Police Station, reports that a 30-year-old member of the original drinking party suffered a broken toe. Two others were also injured.

The whereabouts of the group, which fled soon after the incident, is being investigated.

According to the police, upon entrance of the premises, the group targeted the gang member. Employees of the bar and other customers were uninjured.

六本木で暴力団幹部ら襲われ重軽傷

Officers from the TMD’s community safety division took manager Hossein Walid, a 29-year-old Bangladeshi national, a 29-year-old manager, also from Bangladesh, and two others into custody for violating the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses by employing minors at Pub Eternal, located in Tokyo’s Hamura City.

“I thought the hostesses were 18 years old,” Walid is quoted by police in denying the allegations. The other manager has reportedly admitted involvement.

According to police Walid falsified the employment applications of the female employees, with one being as young as 15 years of age. Between April and November of this year, the club collected 4.5 million yen in revenue, according to police.