Revelations about employment in the fuzoku (sex-related) trade, however, have been less frequent.
Likely then in the name of hard-nosed journalism, weekly tabloid Friday (April 3) pursues a former member of a popular idol group who is apparently employed at a parlor in Tokyo — and the Internet is full of speculation as to her identity.
The magazine dispatches a writer to a particular onakura establishment (short for onanii kurabu), which typically involves a girl watching the customer masturbate or providing a hand-job.
After arriving at the parlor, the reporter makes arrangements for the girl in question and the pair thereafter departs for a love hotel in a Tokyo location that is not named.
“Nice to meet you,” the girl tells the reporter, who quickly takes note of her big eyes and long, dark hair.
The club’s flat rate is 20,000 yen for the first hour. It includes unlimited options for the customer, including fondling the girl’s chest, requesting costume changes, or engaging in a deep kiss.
Friday’s reporter decides on a 20-minute plan priced at 3,000 yen that includes no extras. As a hand-job proceeds, he finds out her age (21), date of birth and height (about 150 centimeters).
Since the article hit newsstands, the Internet has been abuzz about her name.
“In May of last year, there were rumors about Yuko Sugamoto, the ex-member of HKT48, entering the sex trade,” says a reporter in Cyzo Woman.
At the end of that month, she used her Twitter account (@yukos_cook) to address the speculation and began discussing the “scary” aspects of the world of show business.
Sugamoto “graduated” from the group in August of 2012, which was not long after a photo emerged of her and a boyfriend.
Details about the idol in question in the Friday article are few. The girl is said to have ranked at the top of the group in fan surveys, and there is also mention of an image with a boyfriend surfacing just prior to her departure.
Blurry photographs in the article show the supposed ex-idol attired in her underwear inside the room of the love hotel.
In the end, the girl is asked to confirm her identity by Friday’s reporter, and she denies being a former idol.
The reporter checked the parlor’s Web site 30 minutes after the session and found that her entry had been removed.
Cyzo Woman says that concerned fans within Japan’s idol industry must simply wait and see. (A.T.)
Source: “’Kokumin-teki aidoru guruupu (gen) menbaa fuzoku jo’ o tsuini hakken!” Friday (April 3, pages 89-92)
