A news report from earlier this week revealed that a fund management organization of Koichi Kishi, the head of the Upper House Budget Committee, included a 35,500-yen bill from a session at an SM bar in Tokyo’s Roppongi district on a political funding report for 2013.
“Kishi himself did not participate,” a spokesperson from the office of the Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker said. “It was a private secretary in attendance with a supporter.”
The spokesperson added that since no live performance had taken place it was similar to a trip to a “normal” bar.
In further examining the funding report, evening tabloid Nikkan Gendai is not sure what constitutes normalcy but finds that Kishi’s office has a definite penchant for illicit nightlife, having spent a total of 1.75 million yen at clubs in a number of entertainment districts in the capital.
The visit on May 17 to the SM bar in Roppongi is the stand-out entry.
“Men are charged 10,000 yen per hour while women need pay only 2,000 yen stay as long as they’d like,” says a writer covering the fuzoku (sex-related) trade. “The atmosphere encourages gentlemen with similar tastes to gather.”
The Web site for the establishment, which is not named but a Google search reveals it to be fetish bar Mistress (@mistresscojp), shows photographs of female employees using of whips, ropes and candle wax on male customers, some of whom are attired in gimp masks.
“Although the live show is not over-the-top as far as erotic content, female customers are able to change into a number of different costumes,” continues the writer. “On occasion, customers will get tied up and things could get out of hand as far as a compromising situation developing. Now, as to whether this is appropriate for politicians, well…”
Six days before, the organization spent 75,000 yen at a high-end lounge in Yujima. But a particular club in Akasaka appears to be the organization’s favorite. Between January and March of that year, the organization visited the establishment seven times and spent 806,900 yen.
The group returned to the lounge in Yujima on multiple occasions and also visited hostess clubs in Roppongi and Shimbashi (22,000 yen on December 21).
The Ginza area, too, was popular, with the group hitting a lounge and jukujo “bunny club” in June and September.
“Politicians are supposed to be very critical about the use of financial resources, but it is separate matter when it comes to common sense,” political commentator Asao Yamaguchi tells the newspaper. “Even with the (recent) dubious funding (scandals), I get the feeling that they think they can get away with things because of the large representation of the LDP.”
Exactly who was in attendance during all of these visits is unknown. When contacted by Nikkan Gendai for clarification, a representative of Kishi’s office said the person in charge was tied up, so to speak. As of March 3, the newspaper had yet receive a response from the office. (K.N.)
Source: “SM baa mo.. Kishi saninyosaniin-cho ga seiji shikin de yoru no kurabu katsudo,” Nikkan Gendai (March 5, page 3)