Japan Diet enacts law against predatory practices at male host clubs
KYODO NEWS - 10 hours ago - 15:29 | All, Japan
The Japanese parliament enacted Tuesday a revised law targeting host clubs that coerce female customers who have developed feelings for male hosts into prostitution and other sex work to pay off debts accumulated at the establishments.
The amended law on amusement business control stipulates that it is illegal to say a customer will be denied contact with a host, or to say the host will face penalties such as demotion, as leverage to encourage the purchasing of drinks and food at the club.
If such a violation is found, a local public safety commission will instruct the club to correct it. Failure to comply may result in the revocation of its business license, forcing the operation to close.
The revised law, to come into force within six months from promulgation, also banned clubs from threatening to force indebted customers into prostitution either inside or outside Japan, to work at sex-related businesses or to appear in pornography.
Operators of sex-related establishments are prohibited from paying male hosts for introducing women to work in their businesses.
People found guilty of either crime are subject to imprisonment of up to six months or a maximum fine of 1 million yen ($6,900), or both.
The law also strengthens punitive actions against managers and others running illicit host clubs, raising the imprisonment clause to up to five years from two years and penalties from maximum 2 million yen to 10 million yen.
The operating company itself can receive a maximum penalty of 300 million yen.
In Japan, there were around 1,100 host clubs -- places where female and male staff socialize and entertain customers in a bar or lounge setting -- as of the end of 2024. Tokyo hosts some 33 percent of the establishments, according to the National Police Agency.
Police have launched criminal investigations into 207 people related to malicious practices at host clubs, including their sex workers and managers, in 2024, up from 121 from the year before, the agency said.
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