TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested the former president of a company that operated an unlicensed taxi service for hostesses following a fatal accident involving one of his drivers last year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 14).
On October 16, Eiichi Oyamada, 77, of Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, is suspected of conspiring with executives from ISANA to have a driver in his 30s transport six kyabakura hostess employees in Minato Ward, Tokyo to their homes in Saitama Prefecture and other locations.
Also on October 16, the driver is suspected of falling asleep at the wheel while driving in Nerima Ward and hitting and killing a woman on a bicycle.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of violating the Road Transportation Act, Oyamada admitted to the allegations. “I was beginning to find it difficult to make ends meet with my children’s tuition fees and debt repayments,” he said.
Since 2024, ISANA, based in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward, had contracts with a total of 12 clubs in the Shinbashi, Kanda and Ikebukuro areas. Approximately 40 drivers on the company’s staff used their personal vehicles to transport female employees home after the clubs closed.
ISANA charged cheaper fares than regular taxi services. Oyamada and his co-workers generated approximately 170 million yen in sales by arranging transportation for hostesses over the first 10 months of the year.
After the incident on October 16, the driver fled the scene. He was arrested arrested on suspicion of violating the Road Traffic Act for hit-and-run and other charges. During the course of that investigation, it was discovered that ISANA was operating an unlicensed taxi service.
The company itself and five employees, including former executives and five drivers, were also referred to prosecutors in the case.
