OSAKA (TR) – “All is fair in love and war,” or so goes the proverb credited to John Lyly. But when love springs during a pandemic, well, all bets seem to be off.
At least, that was the case this week for a commercial sex parlor in Hirakata City. On Wednesday, Osaka Prefectural Police accused the fuzoku parlor Hoshi no Ojisama (The Little Prince) of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Law.
According to police, manager Yasufumi Kumai, 63, and employee Junji Hamada, 45, are alleged in May to have misled the public by claiming the business was free from the novel coronavirus when it reopened during the recent state of emergency.
“Since employees need to make a living, I did it to attract customers,” Hamada told police in admitting to the allegations.
COVID-19
On April 7, the government of Japan declared a state of emergency in Osaka Prefecture due to the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19.
The Osaka Prefectural Government requested that fuzoku businesses shut from April 14. The following day, Hoshi no Ojisama, which is located inside a multi-tenant building near JR Hirakata Station, closed its doors.
The government requested that such shops refrain from reopening until June 1 as a preventative measure in halting the spread of the virus. However, Hoshi no Ojisama resumed its operations on May 16.
Record number
Upon reopening, the web site of the parlor proclaimed that all employees had “tested negative” for the coronavirus to recruit customers.
On that first day, the parlor attracted 62 customers, the most in a single day over the past year. Further, they served more than 500 persons over the next two weeks.
Earlier this month, police first arrested Kumai and three other persons for providing sexual services in a prohibited area (within 200 meters of a hospital).
