TOKYO (TR) – A new regulation in Chiyoda Ward will restrict a special companionship service in an effort to reduce child prostitution, the city assembly announced on Wednesday, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (Mar. 20).
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.