Noisy gay orgy in Shinjuku prompts raid by the cops

On the evening of October 29, a squad of officers from the Shinjuku Police Station raided a men’s club in Shinjuku 1-chome and arrested its operator, one employee, and three customers — who had been caught cavorting bare-ass naked or nearly naked — on charges of obscene behavior in public or abetting such behavior.

Shinjuku 1-chome borders on 2-chome, home to Tokyo’s largest hangout for gays.

Shukan Jitsuwa (Dec. 1) reports that at the time of the police raid, some 25 patrons were on the premises.

The club, named “Destruction,” had been in business since 1997 and was well known in the trade as a place where gay men went to seek companionship.

“The club’s on the second floor of an office building,” a local news reporter tells the magazine. “There are about 20 private cubicles closed off by curtains and one large room. There are peepholes for looking into the cubicles. Most of the customers prance around completely naked or nearly so, and if you brush up against another customer, that’s likely to lead to some action.” Read more

Illegal Tokyo casinos popular with baseball stars

In November, Japanese prosecutors arrested Mototaka Ikawa, 47, the former chairman of Daio Paper, after he admitted to a breach of trust in connection to 10.6 billion yen borrowed largely for gambling purposes.

“In the beginning, he used to go to gambling joints in Japan,” a reporter for a national paper tells weekly tabloid Shukan Taishu (Dec. 12). “But he eventually went overseas, where he was able to bet higher. He then became addicted.”

The tabloid says that Ikawa started in the murky underworld of illegal Japanese casinos — establishments that big-name celebrities and sports stars also frequent.

(It should be noted that, aside from motorbike, horse, boat, and bicycle racing, gambling is prohibited in Japan. Pachinko is not classified as gambling.) Read more

Tokyo times: Legislation to limit perusal of Ginza pussy

On a typical evening at 1 a.m., the lights in the Ginza club district start to dim, but standing out will be at least one brightly lit pet store, in which a number of dogs and cats can be viewed by passersby, typically bar hostesses and their customers. However, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Post (Nov. 18), these late-night shops will be the subject of new regulations to reduce abuse beginning next year.

On October 31, the Ministry of the Environment announced new guidelines that will ban the exhibition of pet commodities during late hours. Set to start next June, the legislation aims to prohibit the display of cats and dogs after 8 p.m.

In Tokyo, late-night shops are common in the entertainment areas of Ginza, Roppongi, and Shinjuku. Most of their visitors after midnight are hostesses in flashy make-up and outfits who wonder aloud how ownership can be attained.

“I visit here after I’ve dealt with particularly difficult customers or simply felt fatigued,” a 25-year-old hostess tells the tabloid as she locks her eyes on a Chihuahua, priced at 250,000 yen. “By looking at them, I can feel a soothing feeling. I will feel sad if I don’t get to see them.” Read more

Tokyo man busted for employing teen in hooker service, customer list 1,500

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested three men responsible for a prostitution service after a teenage girl was revealed to be an employee, a violation of child welfare statutes, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Nov. 9). Read more

New law to clamp down on Osaka’s ‘legal herb’ market

The Minami entertainment district of Osaka has seen a serious growth in the sales of drugs designed to fall within a legal gray zone, but law enforcement might get the upper hand with a new law, reports Shukan Asahi Geino (Nov. 3).

“Legal herbs” have documented adverse effects, but there are no laws regulating their possession and utilization, which has putting law enforcement in a difficult position.

“America-mura is known to be an area for drugs,” says a news reporter covering the society beat. “There are 20 clubs situated there, an area smaller than Shibuya, and many often receive illicit drugs, like weed, from foreigners. Pedestrians are approached out of nowhere for possible transactions.”

Dating back approximately one year, shops with signs reading “specializing in legal herbs” began to emerge. Now about 10 can be spotted in one area. With prices in the range of 1,000 to 3,000 yen per gram, most users are teenagers and those in their 20s. Read more

Dateline Tokyo: First ‘alibi-ya’ busted

“Alibi-ya” is a uniquely Japanese service that skirts the boundaries of legality. Its typical function is to assist women in concealing their participation in the world’s oldest profession by providing them, for a set fee, with a respectable identity. The alternate identity is mainly used to conceal knowledge of the women’s employment from their families. The alibi-ya, upon request, will provide women with spurious tax payment certificates and other documentation needed to lease apartments or secure loans.

In recent years the service has also been alleged to create false identities for foreigners lacking legal status in Japan. Read more

Real yakuza bust: Expansion of anti-gang legislation may give unwanted results

Following a nationwide push, gangsters in Tokyo are preparing for pending legislation that will crack down upon their traditional rackets — a development that may provide citizens with more than they bargained for, reports weekly tabloid Spa! (Jan. 25).

“Dealing with organized crime is this year’s top priority for police forces in Japan,” said Takaharu Ando, the commissioner general of the National Police Agency, at a press conference on January 6.

A special law to eliminate boryokudan groups, as yakuza criminal syndicates are referred, originated in the Kyushu region last year and quickly spread to 27 prefectures, including Hokkaido. It is expected that similar legislation will soon be enacted in all 47 prefectures of the country. Read more

Shinjuku: Right-wing rant

(Cartoon by Politicomix, December 6, 2010)

To see photos of right-wing groups protesting near Yasukuni Shrine, go here.

Right-wing protest in Shinjuku

(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, December 5, 2010) Read more

Carnival ‘snake lady’ at Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku

(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, November 19, 2010) Read more

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