Tokyo police said Wednesday that this year they had arrested 140 women for alleged prostitution in Shinjuku¡¯s Kabukicho entertainment district, nearly triple the figure from last year.
Some 43% of those arrested from the start of the year through Tuesday said they went into prostitution to pay for host services and so-called underground male idols. About 80% were in their 20s, while three were age 19 or younger.
¡°I have been going to (a host club) every day where a host I met on social media works,¡± said a woman in her 20s who was among those arrested, adding that she had loans that needed to be repaid.
The issue of young women going into prostitution as a result of receiving loans from hosts in order to finance host club visits has become a huge problem in recent months. Such pay-later schemes enable a male host to gradually increase the cost of his companionship ¡ª with this at times amounting to millions of yen. When the customer is unable to pay immediately, the host offers to take on the debt.
The Kabukicho district has become a symbol of hosts and host clubs who encourage female customers to spend excessive amounts, only to shoulder their resulting debt and then have them repay through money earned from prostitution.
In November, the National Police Agency issued a notice to prefectural police nationwide telling them to crack down on host clubs that allow customers to order drinks even though the establishment is aware they can¡¯t afford them.
Earlier this month, Tokyo police raided 202 host clubs and similar clubs in Kabukicho, of which 75% were found to be in violation of the law, including by failing to clearly state the prices of their services. Ten outlets did not have a proper list of employees, while 11 clubs had allegedly been operating without a proper license.
The entertainment business law obliges businesses to make their prices clear and easily noticeable to customers. In some of the host clubs, the price list was placed in hard-to-see locations or excluded prices for certain drinks and champagne towers.
On Tuesday evening, about 80 people from the Shinjuku Ward office, Shinjuku police, relevant businesses and support groups marched through the streets of Kabukicho to raise awareness of the issue.
Shinjuku Mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi called on people to refrain from going to host clubs where customers can rack up enormous bills, and urged those who have heavy debts to seek support from municipal authorities and support groups.
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