OSAKA (TR) – To borrow a phrase, all in the family.
Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested the female owner of ryotei, or a traditional Japanese inn, in a brothel quarter of Osaka City, her daughter and grandson on suspicion of forcing working women into prostitution.
Takako Okuda, 76, who is the owner of Senhime, located in the Matsushima Shinchi entertainment district of Nishi Ward, reports ABC News (Oct. 16).
In one case, Okuda her daughter, 52-year-old Naoko, are suspected of introducing female employees to male customers for prostitution at Senhime and another traditional inn they run in Nishi between April and August.
Upon their arrests on suspicion of violating the Anti-Prostitution Act regarding brokering, the two suspects have admitted to the charges. “[We] made [the women] engage in prostitution,” one of them was quoted.
Women who could no longer pay the debts they had accrued
According to evening tabloid Nikkan Gendai (Oct. 17), Okuda and her daughter operate a total of five traditional inns in Matsushima Shinchi.
In a separate case, police suspect that Nobuko’s son, 31-year-old Senjo, was forcing women who could no longer pay the debts they had accrued at host clubs to work at those inns run by his mother and grandmother. Senjo has also been arrested on suspicion of violating the Anti-Prostitution Act regarding soliciting.
Senjo operated the host club Swamp in the Minami area of Osaka City. An investigative source says, “He made the female customers who had been out of work get into debt [at the club] and forced them into prostitution at [the inns run by his relatives].”
When a female customer joins a sex shop, the scout who acts as an intermediary receives a scouting commission, but since both sides of the transaction are essentially run by Senjo it didn’t cost him any money.
“In this way, he increased sales at both the host club and inns,” the source continues. “He also sneakily asked the prostitutes at the inns to go drinking at the host club.”
