On an early Sunday morning in March, Tokyo police raided bar Dark Night and arrested Daisuke Aoki, the 34-year-old manager, and two other employees on charges of public obscenity.
Dark Night, located in the Ueno area, is referred to as a “happening bar,” which means it is a venue for patrons to perform sex acts with one another.
Police also arrested seven of the 48 male and female customers (aged between 20 and 66) present on the same charges as they were fully engaged at the time of the raid.
According to Shukan Post (Nov. 13), the identity of each member of the Seductive Seven had been kept under wraps until recently.
On October 20, Japan’s Ministry of Defense announced that a female private in the Ground Self-Defense Forces had been suspended from duty for 10 days as a result of being a suspect in the case.
“The person in question, her boss and officials all provided testimony at a disciplinary committee,” says a representative of the Ministry. “For such a case, the disciplinary action is determined on the basis of a report resulting from the testimony.”
A colleague tells Shukan Post that the woman is 30 years old and quite attractive.
“She’s quite a glamorous type,” says the colleague. “Her hair is cut short, much like (television personality) Mari Yaguchi.”
According to the Web site of Dark Night, which has since been taken down, the club billed itself as offering “a gathering place for those with an abnormal form of desire.”
During the raid, officers also confiscated a number of items of clothing and props, including chains, belts, masks, handcuffs and ball gags. Entry fees for single men ranged between at 8,000 and 12,000 yen (women were not charged).
Dark Night proved to be popular. In September of last year, weekly tabloid Friday reported that the president of the insurance firm Hoken Minaoshi Honpo entertained a number of his mistresses at the club.
On the day of her arrest, the private went to Dark Night alone on a day off. She told the committee that she visited as a means of “stress relief.”
If the investigation is correct, she must certainly have harbored plenty of anxiety. Dark Night was holding a special event on the day of the bust. “It was restricted to regular customers,” says an investigator. “You had to have a certain number of stamps on your membership card to attend.”
Under Japan’s Self-Defense Forces Law, the private was obligated to live in a garrison. Her private life, however, largely remained a mystery.
“She looked stunning when I saw her going out,” continues the aforementioned colleague, “but I never had imagined that she was headed to a happening bar.”
Female personnel comprise roughly five percent of the Self-Defense Forces. Many of them, says the colleague, “are treated like idols.”
However, another colleague says that maintaining a relationship can be difficult due to regulations that require female personnel to live in garrisons.
A representative of the Ground Self-Defense Forces says that the case did not interfere with the private’s ability to work.
“From the time of the incident until the punishment was issued, she was carrying out her duties regularly,” says the representative. “However, there may be a lingering sense of unease and it is possible that she is considering retirement. From now, we will endeavor to ensure that this does not happen again.” (A.T.)
Source: “Rikujojieitai ‘bijin rikushi-cho’ ga hapuningubaa de ‘danjo 7-nin ranko monogatari,’” Shukan Post (Nov. 13, page 151)
