Starting on April 1, businesses throughout Chiyoda Ward will be prohibited from promoting the service utilized by men known as “joshi kosei osanpo,” or a walking date with a high school girl.
In the Akihabara area of the ward, businesses have been using the service as a cover for what is essentially prostitution as the jaunt will often conclude with a sexual encounter inside a love hotel room.
Since December of last year, officers have taken 13 girls into protective custody in the vicinity of JR Akihabara Station.
In October, officers arrested Akira Shibetani, a resident of Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, on obscenity charges for paying 18,000 yen for the undergarments of the third-year high-school student during an osanpo excursion in Akihabara on April 22.
Violators of the new regulation will not receive a punishment. However, police officers will patrol the Akihabara area will encourage compliance with the measure.
