OSAKA (TR) – A file titled “One-shot Training” was found by Osaka Prefectural Police on the computer of a nightclub host. Though the name might imply it is about how to repel troublesome customers or perhaps serve a how-to guide for becoming a number-one host, it is neither.
In fact, the file outlines the “method to make maximum sales” from a customer through just one visit to a club through a parade of acts that are highly illegal.
Hosts forcing customers bear large debts and make them work at commercial sex establishments is becoming a worsening problem nationwide. However, in these cases the debt builds up over multiple visits.
This “Training” file provides police with a new wrinkle in the continual crackdown on hosts seeking to scam young women in the nation’s entertainment districts, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 15).
“Girlfriend”
The host who had this manual on his computer was 26-year-old Shunsuke Fujioka. He was a host at club Aria, located in a multi-tenant building in the Minami area of Osaka City.
The file four conditions. Namely, she must be a “girlfriend,” have a daytime, be over 20 years old and have no knowledge about hosts.
The existence of the file emerged during an investigation into a case that began around May last year. At that time, a woman in her 20s from Hyogo Prefecture met Yuto Fujisaki, then a host at Aria, on a dating app.
The two went on multiple dates, and the woman came to believe that she was Fujisaki’s “girlfriend.” She knew that he was a host, but they didn’t meet at the club initially. Such an introduction to their relationship may have lowered the woman’s defenses.
In mid-June, the two were having dinner at an izakaya. Fujisaki suddenly said, “I’m going to be late for a meeting at the club. If you accompany me, I won’t have to pay the late penalty. The first time is 3,000 to 4,000 yen.”
The woman was forced to visit Aria as a customer, accompanied by Fujisaki.
Kept at the hotel until the morning
The file also says, “Get the girl so drunk that she can’t make rational decisions.” It adds, “Open a random bottle of champagne. Don’t tell her the price.” It also says, “Make them always write on the back of the receipt. No matter how drunk they are and say they can’t write, make them write it.”
In the case of Fujisaki’s “girlfriend,” the hosts at Aria got her exceedingly drunk.
The file adds, “Always stay with them until the next day. Make them borrow money.”
Fujisaki later took her to a hotel in Chuo Ward. At around 2 a.m. the next day, he threatened her. “You ordered a lot of drinks, didn’t you? You can’t go home until you pay.” The woman was kept at the hotel until the morning.
After leaving the hotel, she went with Fujisaki to a private room at a karaoke bar. There, Fujioka and Fujisaki’s boss were waiting for her.
“Borrow as much as you can from a consumer loan company.” Fujioka threatened the woman, forcing her to go through multiple consumer loan machines. She borrowed a total of about 1 million yen from three major companies. She was subsequently forced to pay a total of 1,087,000 yen in host club fees from the previous day.
Consumer loan companies
Osaka police later became aware of the situation. In October, police arrested Fujisaki, Fujioka, and Kenta Sawai, the 37-year-old manager at Aria, on suspicion of confining, coercing and blackmailing women.
During the course of the investigation, police not only found the the “One-shot Training” manual but also another file titled “Borrowing Training.”
The latter teaches hosts how to utilize consumer loan companies. It is here that the conditions presented earlier are crucial. The document reads, “Over 20 years old, daytime job (part-time work is also acceptable, with at least one year of employment), and no past debt.”
It gives this example: “Up to one-third of annual income can be borrowed. For an annual income of 3 million yen, found consumer loan companies can at 1 million yen each means 4 million yen total.”
The document also goes into finer points, saying that this will serve as proof that the woman entered voluntarily when the security camera footage is viewed later.
Committee of experts
The National Police Agency has set up a committee of experts to take serious measures against the high fees charged by host clubs, with the possibility of amending the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses also a possibility.
In a similar case, a woman calling herself “Itadaki Joshi Riri-chan” (Sugar Baby Riri) was handed an 8-year prison term in October for exploiting men’s romantic feelings and scamming them out of cash.
The defendant, Mai Watanabe, sold manuals for how to commit the crimes. She later gave the swindled funds to a host.
In the Aria case, police believe that other women have been victimized by hosts using similar methods. The investigation is ongoing.
