The February 3 issue of weekly tabloid Friday profiled the incredibly popular adult-entertainment club Gallery Shibuya in the Shibuya entertainment area.
That same publication attended the police raid of the establishment several weeks later. A story that appeared in its March 9 issue indicated that high school girls displayed their private parts to customers, which is a violation of employment laws.
On February 21 at 6:00 p.m., about 10 officers arrived in the Dogenzaka area. About 34 minutes later, the group then gathered at the club’s door, which is black and unmarked, and entered following the chief’s directive. A paddy wagon arrived at around 7:00 p.m. and a female investigator led seven girls, with black jackets over their faces, into the vehicle as flashbulbs from Friday’s photographer popped.
On February 21 at 6:00 p.m., about 10 officers arrived in the Dogenzaka area. About 34 minutes later, the group then gathered at the club’s door, which is black and unmarked, and entered following the chief’s directive. A paddy wagon arrived at around 7:00 p.m. and a female investigator led seven girls, with black jackets over their faces, into the vehicle as flashbulbs from Friday’s photographer popped.
Male customers and staff members soon followed.
General promotion for Gallery Shibuya indicated that customers could sketch, or shasei, the nether areas of the female staff (joshi kosei) for an outlay as low as 7,000 yen. That might seem puzzling until one realizes that an alternative writing of a word with the same pronunciation means ejaculation.
In the adult-entertainment industry, the club is known as a nozoki heya, in which women standing on platforms strip before customers seated on the opposite side of a one-way mirror. Typically tissues will be provided as part of the service.
At Shibuya Gallery, entry started at 5,000 yen for 60 minutes. Particular girls would then selected at a rate of 2,000 yen for 10 minutes.
Due to the genuine nature of the performers, who sported thick white socks below their uniform skirts and dangled numerous accessories off their bags, the club was regularly well-attended, reportedly having a one-hour wait at the time of the raid.
“One was aged 16, three were 17, and the last three were 18,” says a local writer for a newspaper, confirming the legitimacy of the employees hauled out of the club. “When officers entered, half the male customers were either naked or half-naked.”
A street tout tells the tabloid that a bust was inevitable, noting that a number of joshi kosei types had been streaming into the club for some time.
“I don’t know officially if the first article by Friday was the reason for the bust,” says the same writer. “But that had to have been the case.”
The youth affairs division of the National Police Agency also cracked down upon other shops operating in a similar manner in Shinjuku, Suidobashi, and Koiwa on the same day.
The charges levied said that allowing minors to reveal their undergarments is deemed to be in violation of the Labor Standards Act, specifically a clause related to dangerous employment.
Friday wonders what the punishment could entail considering the staff and management knew the business was illegal.
Hiroshi Itakura, a professor emeritus in crime at Nihon University, says that the punitive clause within the Labor Standards Act could be a maximum of six months in prison or not more than 300,000 yen in fines.
The tabloid knows that there are several other clubs in the metropolis offering similar services and hopes this serves as a warning.
Source: “‘Joshi kosei no hibu wo shasei dekiru mise’ dekihatsu no shunkan,” Friday (March 9)