Tokyo police have arrested two members of a well-organized and lucrative underground group that “scouts” for sex workers, offers rewards for recruitment success and threatens violence for disobedience, investigative sources said.

The business, which generates billions of yen in illicit revenue a year, is not technically an organized crime syndicate, but it has ties to yakuza gangs and now coexists with mobster organizations on the same turf, the sources said.

The Metropolitan Police Department on Nov. 21 announced the arrests of Yuki Sato, 30, a leader of “Natural,” one of the largest scouting groups in Japan, and Yuya Sakuma, 28, a member of Natural.

They are accused of violating the Organized Crime Punishment Law by threatening another member of the group, which has operated mainly in Tokyo’s nightlife Kabukicho district.

Police did not disclose if the two men, who both live in Tokyo, have admitted to or denied the allegations.

Sakuma is suspected of confining the other Natural member in February.

According to police, Sakuma and Sato then called the Natural member on April 22 and warned him not to report the confinement to police. They also engaged in coercive activities that caused anxiety and embarrassment to the man, police said.

Sato is one of the top five leaders of Natural, police said.

The Employment Security Law bans the introduction of people to “harmful businesses,” such as “fuzoku” adult entertainment establishments.

Permission from authorities is required for introductions to “kyabakura” hostess clubs and other referrals.

Although Natural did not have such official permission, it apparently gained tacit approval from organized crime syndicates for its scouting activities and paid them with some of its illicit proceeds, investigators said.

RANKINGS, FINES AND SANCTIONS

Natural has about 1,500 “scouting” members, and its annual revenue is estimated at about 5 billion yen ($33.7 million), police sources said.

According to the sources, group leaders manage lower-level scouts through violence and force them to compete against each other for better treatment.

It is unclear when Natural was formed, but it was operating in Kabukicho in 2020.

The group has expanded to Roppongi in Tokyo, and other urban nightlife districts in Yokohama, Sendai, Osaka and Kumamoto.

Natural has a top-down pyramid structure. Scouts belong to five “teams,” including one that has about 700 members, the sources said.

The scouts’ job is to find women in public or through social networking sites and introduce them to sex establishments.

If a scouted woman ends up working at such a business, it pays Natural a regular referral fee based on how much money she brings in.

Natural’s leaders then distribute the accumulated fees to the scouts as their “salaries.” A successful scout can earn several million yen a month, the sources said.

Team members are ranked on a scale of around 10 levels based on their scouting performances.

Newbies are called “trainees” and “contract employees,” while those who produce excellent results are known as “diamond players” and “platinum players.”

The sources said the ranking system is designed to stir up a competitive spirit among members.

In addition to the five teams, Natural has operational departments, such as a “contract section,” which is responsible for tasks related to new contracts, and an “accounting section,” which prepares payroll and manages promotions.

“The roles are divided like a corporate organization,” a source familiar with the investigation said.

Natural members are forced to pledge to identify themselves as “freelance scouts” and say nothing about the organization if they are arrested by police for persistent solicitation or other acts.

To avoid leaving a trail of the funds involved, the group generally does not use bank accounts. Instead, leaders from around the country meet regularly and distribute the proceeds in cash, the sources said.

Members are forbidden from working for a different scouting group. Violators can be fined several million yen or face sanctions that include violence.

They are required to submit their IDs when they join Natural. If they break a rule and flee from the group, Natural can find their parents’ homes based on information in the IDs.

An investigative source said that for the most part, the structure of Natural allows for a smooth operation.

“The relationship between sex establishments, women and scouts seems like a win-win situation for everyone involved, making it difficult to detect illegal activities,” the source said.

The source said sex establishments are basically outsourcing the difficult “recruitment” work to Natural. If a problem arises between the businesses and the recruited women, Natural steps in to settle the dispute.

Having such an arbitrator around helps to lower the psychological hurdle among women who may fear working at such shady places, the source said.

‘SCOUT HUNT’ INCIDENT

But it has not always been so smooth for Natural.

In June 2020, a video capturing a violent scene in Kabukicho went viral on Twitter (now X).

In the video, a large group surrounded a man, and then punched and kicked him in what was called a “scout hunt.”

Tokyo police investigated the case as a “territorial” conflict between Natural and a gang related to Sumiyoshi-kai, a designated organized crime syndicate, over the recruitment of scouts.

In October that year, police arrested four members of the Sumiyoshi-kai-related gang and three members of Natural on suspicion of inflicting injuries and other allegations.

According to sources, the investigation revealed that Natural was on an equal footing with gangster groups in terms of organizational structure and willingness to commit violence.

The arrests of Natural’s Sato and Sakuma stemmed from that investigation, the sources said.

An investigative source said the attack in the 2020 scout hunt changed the relationship between Natural and gangster organizations.

They have adopted a policy of “coexistence and co-prosperity,” in which both sides tolerate the other’s presence.

According to another investigative source, the rise of Natural is partly due to police crackdowns that have weakened and depleted yakuza gangs.

“Non-gangster groups,” such as Natural, have filled the underground void and become more involved in illicit activities.

Natural “has maintained its relationship with gangster organizations and is expanding its power on its own without relying on yakuza groups,” the investigative source said.

The National Police Agency is on the lookout for such non-yakuza organizations, calling them “anonymous and fluid criminal groups.”