Photo/Illutration Police on Feb. 20 arrest Shintaro Obokata, a host working under the name Shin Otori, at a host club in the Kabukicho district in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward. (Arata Mitsui)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested a host at a club in the Kabukicho red-light district in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward on suspicion of violating Tokyo’s anti rip-off ordinance.

Police announced the arrest of Shintaro Obokata, 25, a host working under the name Shin Otori, who resides in Shinjuku Ward, on Feb. 22.

Police said he has chosen to remain silent.

Tokyo police also referred Million Co., a company based in Aomori Prefecture that operates the host club called “Since You α,” to the prosecutor’s office based on the ordinance’s dual-liability stipulation.

“If we build a case only against the individual host, it is just making a scapegoat,” an investigative source said. “We busted the host club to prevent the damage from spreading.”

Tokyo police said it is unprecedented for police to apply the ordinance to the “urikakekin” (selling on credit) system of a host club and to call out a host club operating corporation.

In this pay later scheme, a male host initially offers attention and companionship at a low price and then keeps providing additional and more expensive services to push up the tab.

When the customer cannot settle the bill immediately, the host offers to shoulder the debt.

According to police, between around 9:15 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 1, 2023, Obokata collected approximately 930,000 yen ($6,200) in urikakekin from a customer in her 20s in a car parked in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward, using abusive language and behavior such as warning that a debt collector “will be coming to you” and that she “is going to jail.”

Police believe that Obokata hit on the woman in October 2022, and after a series of dates, he told her that he is a host and made her visit his host club.

The urikakekin problem at Kabukicho host clubs has become a social issue recently, where young female customers are charged high prices for food and drink, which are paid later as urikakekin.

They are then forced to work at brothels and other sex-related businesses or prostitute themselves on the streets to pay off their debts.

Since urikakekin is a common commercial transaction, there is no law that regulates it.

So far, Tokyo police have been building cases against individual hosts on the grounds that they are guilty of extortion or abetting prostitution under the Anti-Prostitution Law if, in the process of collecting the money, the host threatens the woman or encourages her to become a prostitute.

However, both charges lack a dual liability provision that would punish the corporation for the illegal acts of its employees, and police have not been able to make a case against the host clubs.

The Tokyo ordinance applied in this case has provisions for dual liability, and Tokyo police referred the corporation to prosecution after determining that the host club had let Obokata engage in such collections as part of his duties.

Tokyo police will seek administrative action from the Tokyo Metropolitan Public Safety Commission for violation of the ordinance.

After hearing the host club operator’s side of the story, the commission will consider what administrative action to take, such as suspension of the business.

Related News