Photo/Illutration The account of Yuji Kitagawa’s agency on social media platform X (The Asahi Shimbun)

Tokyo police have arrested a business operator and three women on suspicion of public indecency for allegedly livestreaming uncensored sexual content on the overseas adult video platform Stripchat.

This marks the first time in Japan that a business owner organizing such streams has been arrested.

According to investigative sources with Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department, Yuki Kitagawa and three women in their 20s and 40s are suspected of displaying indecent acts for viewers on the website between March and August. 

Stripchat is said to be one of the world’s largest adult websites where individuals can livestream explicit content.

Article 174 of Japan’s Penal Code, which defines public indecency, stipulates, “A person who commits an indecent act in public is punished.” If someone performs an obscene act during a livestream or uploads such content online, it can constitute a public indecency. 

Kitagawa, 28, advertised his agency as specializing in Stripchat.

He allegedly recruited streamers on social media platforms such as X, formerly Twitter, with pitches including, “We give full support to help you earn with a streaming method tailored to each of you” and “Top monthly earnings for 2024: 1.6 million yen ($11,000).”

The suspect used a room and equipment set up as a studio to facilitate streams for applicants, and they would share revenue generated from viewers, the sources said. 

Stripchat reportedly hosts more than 100,000 streamers worldwide.

According to investigators and other sources, viewers purchase and use “coins” to watch uncensored adult content. Streamers receive payment based on the number of coins they collect.

Kitagawa took a percentage of these viewer payments as a commission through the website and passed the remainder on to the women.

“The women were earning money as if it were a part-time job because streaming would not directly harm their bodies,” an investigative source said.

In a separate case in July, the MPD took action on four individuals on suspicion of public indecency who had been livestreaming individually on Stripchat.

One of the suspects was believed to be secretly streaming to pay a mortgage, sources said.

An investigative source said a growing number of women are engaging in sexually explicit livestreaming and appearances in porn, enticed by pitches such as, “A high-paying part-time job with no in-person meetings, no physical contact and a low risk of being discovered.”

“This is becoming pervasive, much like illicit part-time jobs,” a senior investigator said, adding that viewers are also contributing to the criminal activity.

A senior MPD official said, “Streamers may think they are just performing in front of a screen, but viewers around the world are watching behind it. There is also a risk that their actions can remain online as a ‘digital tattoo’.”

(This article was written by Natsuno Otahara and Shun Yoshimura.)

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