TOKYO (TR) – Earlier this month, Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested two employees at a so-called “girl’s bar” for allegedly forcing a female bartender into prostitution.
As Shukan Bunshun (Oct. 30-Nov. 6) reports, the case was essentially sexual slavery with the suspects using a GPS (global positioning system) device to force the 27-year-old staff member to serve hundreds of customers between May and July.
On October 14, police accused manager Maoya Suzuki, 39, and female employee Ai Tano, 21, of violating the Anti-Prostitution Law. Law enforcement also accused the suspects of forcing the staff member to sleep in the club over the same period.
During questioning, Tano admitted to the charges. “I monitored the location information [from the GPS] and went with [Suzuki] to check if there were any streetwalkers.”
However, Suzuki denied the allegations. He said, “I did not force her into prostitution, and I did not force her to sleep in the designated location.”
“You’re ugly”
Referred to as a girl’s bar, Suzuki’s establishment — E-Wave Morning — provides services similar to those on offer at a hostess club.
“The manager, Suzuki, told the victim, ‘You’re ugly and sales are low, so go sell your body,'” a social affairs reporter tells the weekly. “He then forced her to work as a streetwalker on the streets around Okubo Park area in Shinjuku Ward’s Kabukicho district. He reportedly gave her a GPS and threatened her, saying, ‘We’re watching you, so make sure you earn money.'”
The victim was required to submit daily “work reports.” According to police, the suspects prostituted her to approximately 400 men almost nonstop for three months until July.
She was instructed to transfer the total of 6 million yen she received during this time via electronic money to Suzuki. In return, she was only given 3,000 yen a day for meals.
“The victim received 10,000 to 20,000 yen from customers, excluding hotel fees, but if she didn’t make enough, Suzuki would beat her and tell her to lose more weight, leaving dozens of bruises on her body,” says the same source.
In July, while investigators were patrolling the Okubo Park area at night, they spotted the victim standing in the same place for a long time, obviously waiting for customers. They arrested her on the spot on suspicion of violating the Anti-Prostitution Law.
The actions of Suzuki and his associates were revealed during a subsequent interrogation. (The victim was not indicted).
Internet sensation
After her arrest, Tano garnered significant attention on the internet for her attractive appearance, which apparently did not go unnoticed by Suzuki.
The bar is located on the seventh floor of a building located outside the North Exit of JR Ikebukuro Station. It has different managers during the day and at night, with Suzuki’s team occupying one of the shifts as a girl’s bar.
Tano did well as far as sales, and Suzuki took a special a liking to her, which resulted in her getting the title of manager.
“She was the most popular girl in [Suzuki’s] establishment,” an employee in the areas tells site News Post Seven. “She drank quite a bit and had a bold sales style. The girls at the establishment were all of a high standard, but she was by far the best of them all. I imagine she was making quite a bit of money…”
After joining the bar, the victim worked normally for about six months, but sales didn’t increase and she was targeted for better performance.
“They canceled her apartment lease without her permission and forced her to sleep in the store’s backroom, a room about one tatami mat in size and littered with trash,” a source close to the investigation says to Bunshun.
She apparently had no close friends to turn to for help.
The source goes on, “She told the female police officer in charge, ‘I was physically and mentally exhausted, and the idea of running away never even occurred to me.'”
Tokyo police have stepped up its crackdown on prostitution in the Okubo Park area, but some in Kabukicho say, “Wouldn’t they have been able to protect women in such serious situations sooner?”
Bunshun says that even though Suzuki has denied the charges his inhumane acts will surely be condemned.
