TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Thursday announced the bust of a hostess club in Shinjuku Ward for illegally employing a teenage girl and overcharging customers, reports TV Asahi (June 4).
Between March and May, Ken Ichimada, the 35-year-old manager at club Radia, located in the Kabukicho entertainment area, is alleged to have violated labor laws by staffing the club with a 17-year-old girl as a hostess.
“Since everything was entrusted to the person in charge, I don’t know anything,” said Ichimada in denying the allegations.
A former employee at the club was charged with violating a metropolitan ordinance that prohibits bottakuri, or inflating bills. The employee is alleged to have demanded 50,000 yen from two male customers in November of last year.
The customers had arrived at the club after being lured by a street tout who promised a rate of 6,000 yen per hour.