Asia After Hours

On the evening of October 29, a squad of officers from the Shinjuku Police Station raided a men’s club in Shinjuku 1-chome and arrested its operator, one employee, and three customers — who had been caught cavorting bare-ass naked or nearly naked — on charges of obscene behavior in public or abetting such behavior.

Shinjuku 1-chome borders on 2-chome, home to Tokyo’s largest hangout for gays.

Shukan Jitsuwa (Dec. 1) reports that at the time of the police raid, some 25 patrons were on the premises.

The club, named “Destruction,” had been in business since 1997 and was well known in the trade as a place where gay men went to seek companionship.

“The club’s on the second floor of an office building,” a local news reporter tells the magazine. “There are about 20 private cubicles closed off by curtains and one large room. There are peepholes for looking into the cubicles. Most of the customers prance around completely naked or nearly so, and if you brush up against another customer, that’s likely to lead to some action.”

The charge of admission is 500 yen for minors and 1,500 yen for age 20 and over. Depending on the night of the week, the club would organize special events catering to “baldies,” “guys with short hair,” “guys with beards” and so on.

As many as 90 males might attend in the course of one evening, according to a police source, and business was booming.

“The club was netting something like 4 million yen a month just from admission fees,” says the Shinjuku cop. “On top of that it peddled various goods for gays, magazines, legal drugs, and so on, so I suppose this brought in additional revenues.”

The club is situated in a quiet residential area, and nearby residents, apparently aggravated by the raucous animal-like screams being emitted — complained to police, which resulted in the raid and arrests. (K.S.)

Source: “Zekkyo mo genin datta gei kurabu tekihatsu,” Shukan Jitsuwa (Dec. 1, page 196)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

1. Akasaka Prince orgy organizers in need of new romping rooms
2. Carnivorous consumer of young hunks does her shopping in Shinjuku
3. Shinjuku gay district’s ‘war trophy’ fails to lead cops to murder suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi

Popularity: 5%

In November, Japanese prosecutors arrested Mototaka Ikawa, 47, the former chairman of Daio Paper, after he admitted to a breach of trust in connection to 10.6 billion yen borrowed largely for gambling purposes.

“In the beginning, he used to go to gambling joints in Japan,” a reporter for a national paper tells weekly tabloid Shukan Taishu (Dec. 12). “But he eventually went overseas, where he was able to bet higher. He then became addicted.”

The tabloid says that Ikawa started in the murky underworld of illegal Japanese casinos — establishments that big-name celebrities and sports stars also frequent.

(It should be noted that, aside from motorbike, horse, boat, and bicycle racing, gambling is prohibited in Japan. Pachinko is not classified as gambling.)

A former casino dealer, now retired, says that Baccarat is the most common game in these parlors, which are known to spring up in red-light districts. “With its simple rules, many will fall for it,” the source says.

The former casino employee is not surprised to see what has happened with Ikawa as many customers rack up large losses. The key for the casino, the former dealer says, is to create a cycle within the clientele whereby breaks are given to losing gamblers if they invite associates to play.

“A few years ago, there was a professional baseball player who was a regular,” the former dealer says, adding that the player in question was drafted in the ’80s and remains a big name today. “While he was not comparable to Ikawa, as far as level, everyone knew he was putting a lot on the line.”

But he racked up big losses. To offset the amount, the casino asked him to extend an invitation to a younger teammate, known as a solid contact hitter, to join.

“The scheme is well designed so that when a person faces a large loss they are forced to supply a referral for another person of equal income level,” the former dealer explains.

Ken Kitashiba, a crime analyst, explains that casino money is a source of funds for organized crime groups. “In the beginning, underground casinos were 10-yen poker games found in the backs of cafes,” the analyst says.

In the early ’90s, extravagantly designed establishments started to take hold in the Shinjuku and Roppongi entertainment areas of Tokyo.

This trend escalated, with bets of ten million yen not being unusual. “Rich and famous people are easy targets for these illegal casinos,” the former dealer says. “Casinos conduct background checks for their clients, including relationships with women, so that there is no escape.”

Perhaps such a scheme was behind the downfall of Ikawa?

“People like Ikawa hold a high status in society,” explains the former underground casino employee. “Just like baseball players, they are ideal targets.” (A.T.)

Source: “Puro yakyu senshu ga hamatta ura kajino joshu tobaku dakikomu teguchi,” Shukan Taishu (Dec. 12, pages 188-189)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

1. Porn diplomacy: Actress Mariko Kawana, Japanese AV popular in North Korea
2. Entertainment world to follow sumo in baseball betting clampdown
3. Illegal casinos in Tokyo under scrutiny after sumo betting scandal

Popularity: 5%

In November, Japanese prosecutors arrested Mototaka Ikawa, 47, the former chairman of Daio Paper, after he admitted to a breach of trust in connection to 10.6 billion yen borrowed largely for gambling purposes.

“In the beginning, he used to go to gambling joints in Japan,” a reporter for a national paper tells weekly tabloid Shukan Taishu (Dec. 12). “But he eventually went overseas, where he was able to bet higher. He then became addicted.”

The tabloid says that Ikawa started in the murky underworld of illegal Japanese casinos — establishments that big-name celebrities and sports stars also frequent.

(It should be noted that, aside from motorbike, horse, boat, and bicycle racing, gambling is prohibited in Japan. Pachinko is not classified as gambling.)

A former casino dealer, now retired, says that Baccarat is the most common game in these parlors, which are known to spring up in red-light districts. “With its simple rules, many will fall for it,” the source says.

The former casino employee is not surprised to see what has happened with Ikawa as many customers rack up large losses. The key for the casino, the former dealer says, is to create a cycle within the clientele whereby breaks are given to losing gamblers if they invite associates to play.

“A few years ago, there was a professional baseball player who was a regular,” the former dealer says, adding that the player in question was drafted in the ’80s and remains a big name today. “While he was not comparable to Ikawa, as far as level, everyone knew he was putting a lot on the line.”

But he racked up big losses. To offset the amount, the casino asked him to extend an invitation to a younger teammate, known as a solid contact hitter, to join.

“The scheme is well designed so that when a person faces a large loss they are forced to supply a referral for another person of equal income level,” the former dealer explains.

Ken Kitashiba, a crime analyst, explains that casino money is a source of funds for organized crime groups. “In the beginning, underground casinos were 10-yen poker games found in the backs of cafes,” the analyst says.

In the early ’90s, extravagantly designed establishments started to take hold in the Shinjuku and Roppongi entertainment areas of Tokyo.

This trend escalated, with bets of ten million yen not being unusual. “Rich and famous people are easy targets for these illegal casinos,” the former dealer says. “Casinos conduct background checks for their clients, including relationships with women, so that there is no escape.”

Perhaps such a scheme was behind the downfall of Ikawa?

“People like Ikawa hold a high status in society,” explains the former underground casino employee. “Just like baseball players, they are ideal targets.” (A.T.)

Source: “Puro yakyu senshu ga hamatta ura kajino joshu tobaku dakikomu teguchi,” Shukan Taishu (Dec. 12, pages 188-189)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

1. Porn diplomacy: Actress Mariko Kawana, Japanese AV popular in North Korea
2. Entertainment world to follow sumo in baseball betting clampdown
3. Illegal casinos in Tokyo under scrutiny after sumo betting scandal

Popularity: 5%

On a typical evening at 1 a.m., the lights in the Ginza club district start to dim, but standing out will be at least one brightly lit pet store, in which a number of dogs and cats can be viewed by passersby, typically bar hostesses and their customers. However, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Post (Nov. 18), these late-night shops will be the subject of new regulations to reduce abuse beginning next year.

On October 31, the Ministry of the Environment announced new guidelines that will ban the exhibition of pet commodities during late hours. Set to start next June, the legislation aims to prohibit the display of cats and dogs after 8 p.m.

In Tokyo, late-night shops are common in the entertainment areas of Ginza, Roppongi, and Shinjuku. Most of their visitors after midnight are hostesses in flashy make-up and outfits who wonder aloud how ownership can be attained.

“I visit here after I’ve dealt with particularly difficult customers or simply felt fatigued,” a 25-year-old hostess tells the tabloid as she locks her eyes on a Chihuahua, priced at 250,000 yen. “By looking at them, I can feel a soothing feeling. I will feel sad if I don’t get to see them.”

A 38-year-old hostess, accompanied by a customer, realizes that it is tough on the animals. “But it is nice to be able to see them as we deal with issues or situations that cannot be simply shared with others,” she says.

She then asks her companion to buy one for her.

“While they provide soothing moments, it’s temporary,” explains a 48-year-old bar mama-san. “For the sake of the animals, it should be regulated.”

Incidents of hostesses receiving poodles as gifts from their patrons and then returning them quickly for cash, a process known as “pet recycle,” are common in the entertainment areas of Tokyo and Osaka.

The article notes that these types of cases are the basis for the Ministry’s action, but adds that most shops that operate have not come up with a concrete strategy for navigating the new mandate.

The hostesses, too, are a concern, says Shukan Post: With the soothing smiles of dogs and cats set to fade from the night-life scene, where will the girls turn in search of relief? (A.T.)

Source: “Inu neko shoppu no ‘shinya tenji kinshi’ wo Ginza no hosutesu ni kiitemitara,” Shukan Post (Nov. 18, pages 141-142)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

1. Tokyo times: Guide for dealing with yakuza following enactment of new legislation
2. Tokyo trends: Ginza flower girls wilting
3. Tokyo story: Times get even harder for Ginza hostesses

The Minami entertainment district of Osaka has seen a serious growth in the sales of drugs designed to fall within a legal gray zone, but law enforcement might get the upper hand with a new law, reports Shukan Asahi Geino (Nov. 3).

“Legal herbs” have documented adverse effects, but there are no laws regulating their possession and utilization, which has putting law enforcement in a difficult position.

“America-mura is known to be an area for drugs,” says a news reporter covering the society beat. “There are 20 clubs situated there, an area smaller than Shibuya, and many often receive illicit drugs, like weed, from foreigners. Pedestrians are approached out of nowhere for possible transactions.”

Dating back approximately one year, shops with signs reading “specializing in legal herbs” began to emerge. Now about 10 can be spotted in one area. With prices in the range of 1,000 to 3,000 yen per gram, most users are teenagers and those in their 20s.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare defines “legal herbs” to be tea leaves that have had chemicals similar to speed or marijuana applied. The practice started to spread through Japan about a decade ago. When inhaled, the user will hallucinate or become physically excited.

A writer from a magazine that specializes in non-fiction stories tells the tabloid, “You can easily buy the drugs online or at shops. You can even spot them in Tokyo in areas like Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Ikebukuro. It also seems like sales are expanding to suburban areas.”

Some are brazenly inhaling the drugs in front of police boxes, the article reports. “You cam spot regulars smoking and sitting on benches just outside a shop,” says the same society reporter.

While the pharmaceutical law prohibits inhalation, most shops sell them as they would incense. This makes it difficult for police to issue citations.

That might change.

Sales volumes and prices went up during this past August and September. “Suppliers started to unload inventories before a revised pharmaceutical law was to go effect on October 20,” the writer from the same magazine is quoted.

The revised law added six chemicals, which will force most makers of legal herbs to change ingredients. Suppliers were subsequently forced to clean out inventories.

“They also started to supply drugs containing ingredients yet to be regulated,” continues the reporter. “What is scary is that suppliers themselves are not fully familiar with these ingredients. We hope this does not result in a rash of health-related incidents due to serious side effects.” (K.N.)

Source: “Ame-mura de ‘taima modoki’ doraggu ga dairyukochu keikan no mae de wakamono ga dodo to genkaku torippu shite,” Shukan Asahi Geino (Nov. 3, page 58)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

1. Saturated Sapporo sex market sends working women to extremes
2. Salons supplying sleaze shuttered across Japan
3. Fritter away your 12,000-yen freebie on frolic

Popularity: 11%

“Alibi-ya” is a uniquely Japanese service that skirts the boundaries of legality. Its typical function is to assist women in concealing their participation in the world’s oldest profession by providing them, for a set fee, with a respectable identity. The alternate identity is mainly used to conceal knowledge of the women’s employment from their families. The alibi-ya, upon request, will provide women with spurious tax payment certificates and other documentation needed to lease apartments or secure loans.

In recent years the service has also been alleged to create false identities for foreigners lacking legal status in Japan.

Nikkan Gendai (Sep. reports the first known incident of an alibi-ya being busted. According to the police, Tatsuhiro Sawada, the 64-year-old president of a construction company, and Shiori Suzuki, a 27-year-old woman with no visible means of support were arrested in Sapporo, Hokkaido on charges of fraud. Specifically, between January and April of 2010, Suzuki transferred a total of 56 million yen to Sawada’s account as settlement for the purchase of a local building.

“The two used a Tokyo-based alibi service,” says a source in the police. “They supplied Suzuki with falsified documents from a government office certifying her income was 8 million yen per year. With these, she was able to take out a loan.”

On September 6, the police undertook a search of the alibi-ya’s office in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, seeking evidence of further foul play — the Mainichi Shimbun (Sep. reports that authorities arrested two employees at the firm Aribai Dottukomu — and word has since spread that this case marks the first time an alibi-ya has been busted.

“A lot of girls who’ve graduated from university but couldn’t find any employment except in the sex industry will go to an alibi-ya and ask them to falsify a certificate of employment, which they can send to their parents back in the countryside,” says “pink” journalist Yukio Murakami. “They’ll also fix the girls up with phony business cards. Some use IT companies with catchy foreign-sounding names written in katakana, or the cards might be from subsidiaries that are part of major conglomerates.”

Even if parents telephone their daughter’s office, the alibi-ya will be ready to keep up the deception, as women, trained in proper business manners, are employed to answer the phone in graciously polite Japanese and take messages.

“Typically, as soon as the call is completed, the alibi-ya office will telephone to the woman’s mobile and tell her to call home. Even if she phones from her mobile, there’s a way to fix it so the caller ID will indicate she’s phoning from a land line at her ‘office,’” Murakami adds.

With so many college grads unable to land a job these days, Nikkan Gendai remarks that alibi-ya services may be something of a necessary evil. (K.S.)

Source: “‘Aribai-ya’ to fuzokujo no kittemo kirenai kankei,” Nikkan Gendai (Sep. 8, page 4)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

1. Dateline Tokyo: Lesbian love services in demand by guyless gals game to get it on
2. Hyogo cops catch daffy dowager on suspicion of stalking
3. Scouts’ dishonor: Dirty Tokyo dozen nabbed for pimping

Popularity: 3%

Following a nationwide push, gangsters in Tokyo are preparing for pending legislation that will crack down upon their traditional rackets — a development that may provide citizens with more than they bargained for, reports weekly tabloid Spa! (Jan. 25).

“Dealing with organized crime is this year’s top priority for police forces in Japan,” said Takaharu Ando, the commissioner general of the National Police Agency, at a press conference on January 6.

A special law to eliminate boryokudan groups, as yakuza criminal syndicates are referred, originated in the Kyushu region last year and quickly spread to 27 prefectures, including Hokkaido. It is expected that similar legislation will soon be enacted in all 47 prefectures of the country.

“Tokyo aims to enact such a law this spring after it has incorporated elements of legislation already in place in other parts of the country,” added Ando. “It will likely become the most comprehensive one of them all.”

Top boryokudan groups are now organizing study sessions for top members, which includes having attorneys give monthly lectures. They are learning, for example, that not disclosing one’s real occupation upon signing a lease contract can lead to an arrest warrant for fraud.

“This is seriously a big blow,” explains a senior-level member of a Tokyo-based boryokudan group.

The tabloid senses that boryokudan groups are indeed pushing themselves for survival, as evidenced by the extensiveness of the training materials used during the lectures. But along with these activities, local residents around the country are taking initiative. At the end of last year, a notable gangster office in Ikebukuro was removed follow action by local residents.

“The police support the residents,” says the same top-level gang member. “Even when the building is owned, not rented, by gangsters, police will pressure residents and property management associations to push for their elimination. Residents are of course hesitant because they are afraid of yakuza.”

Should boryokudan groups be left out of the picture, however, disarray of social order can result, the article believes. When yakuza groups, which will reconcile troubles, are no longer available, visible bullying starts.

A hostess working in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho entertainment district heard from her male colleague about one particular kyabakura club that didn’t pay a security fee to a yakuza gang on the third of each month, which in the business is known as mikajimeryo. “They were worried about the police, and a competitor drove them out of business,” she says.

The club, which originally opened last summer, shut this winter because foreign objects had been jammed into toilets to damage the plumbing. “When the building owner asked for compensation of around 5 million yen, the manager disappeared,” she continues. “Another club also went out of business because a dead dog was left outside its back door and girls stopped showing up to work because they were scared.”

Another example is a fire that occurred last September at a club in Nagoya, which resulted in a hostess and a male customer receiving severe burns. “The media reported that fire was due to the club not paying a security fee to the yakuza,” explains one street tout. “But rumors were circulating that the club’s competitors were behind it. That particular chain of clubs was known for not paying. Since the market is small in Nagoya, without yakuza, there can be no order.”

Club organizers are also worried. “Yakuza members are ready to take care of trouble. So if they are not around no one will follow the ‘no drugs and fights’ rule at any particular event,” explains a DJ. “If drugs are deliberately left in the bathroom area, knowing that the police will come in to check, the whole club will be busted. It is simply not feasible to run a club without yakuza protection.”

An investigator from a prefectural police agency responsible for yakuza activities feels short-changed. “I am frustrated by this initiative from top management,” the source says. “What is most risky is that the gangsters will become no longer visible. The relationships we’ve had with key members for exchanging information regarding organizational structures, schedules, and locations are to be no more.”

Elimination of boryokudan will actually take some matters into high risk areas, with the sale of drugs being an example.

“There is no order with regard to illicit drugs,” explains one pusher. “Without the yakuza, there will be a higher volume of low quality drugs circulating. We can only sell cheap blends to middle school kids and high school kids. But undesirable foreigners will sell to even elementary school kids.”

Secret banking and fraud, too, may get ugly without yakuza involvement. “Yakuza gangs make sure not to kill those in debt to loan sharks,” explains one underground loan broker. “But without them, it may get to a point where those involved will go after the borrowers to sell their organs or murder them for life insurance fraud. We will no longer be able to call it soft finance.”

Funding for surviving boryokudan groups will as well become more closed but not extinct. “Yakuza front company will have to be disclosed,” says one senior gang member. “But in the Kansai area yakuza money is spread wide, from bento companies to the construction industry. In Kanto, it’s from real estate to online shopping. This money is also invested in major construction companies, used by private investors, and provided to organizers of underground fighting games. They will only become more clever in terms of how they play the masquerade with their front companies.”

Organizations such as Kanto-rengo, which received media attention following last year’s drunken brawl of Ebizo Ichikawa, could take up some boryokdan activities since they are not registered as organized crime entities.

“With boryokudan groups gone,” says another investigator, “there is a concern that these entities could be the source of problems. They have some older guys who teach their younger members the tools of the trade. Vertical relationships in their hierarchy are much more loose in comparison to boryokudan groups. It could lead to chaos. Once the boryokudan groups are eliminated, they could do anything, including targeting ordinary citizens at random.”

Roppongi and Shinjuku still maintain a sense of order even with the influx of undesirable foreigners as yakuza gangs are still in control. “It is Ikebukuro that is becoming like a Chinatown,” says the same senior-level gang member first quoted in the article. “Okubo became Koreatown around it’s border. The locals are free to do whatever. With undesirable foreigners, there will be more drugs and stealing.

“Yakuza gangs have to find ways to survive,” the source continues, “so they may welcome undesirable foreigners onto their turf depending on the area.”

One may postulate that boryokudan groups are totally fading, but that is not so, the magazine concludes. “If they are being underestimated, they will use the lives of ordinary citizens to display their power. In the past, when a shooting resulted in injuries to ordinary citizens, this would be followed by arrests of yakuza members who had agreed to internally report to the police. Now that will be no longer the case.” (K.N.)

Source: “Boryokudan haijo de chian ga akka shita,” Spa! (January 25, pages 26-27)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

1. Fukuoka yakuza groups tackle police pressure in all-out war
2. Yamaguchi-gumi gangsters give gifts in the name of goodwill in Kobe
3. Subjugated salarymen opt for real sex over staged ‘sekuhara’

Popularity: unranked

Children’s books and criminal organizations go together like water and oil. However, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Shincho (Sep. 9), the pair is apparently coexisting under the same roof at the Tokyo headquarters of the well-known publisher Poplar Publishing, which prints Japanese language editions of the “Thomas the Tank Engine” series of books.

Established in 1947, Poplar began its shift in tenants last autumn. “In September, a company joined as a tenant on the 6th floor of the publisher’s headquarters in Shinjuku Ward’s Yotsuya district,” says an individual associated with the publisher who does not name the company in question. “This tenant joined under the direct referral of Hiroyoshi Usuda, the chairperson. The company is said to sell devices that eradicates pollutants from water.”

The website of the company — for which a Google search reveals to be NIBM — features actor Hiroki Matsukata, known for his macho roles in mafia and samurai films, extolling: “I was shocked when I used it!” The site also provides details on the product’s efficacy in purifying water. The tabloid also reports that this firm is recognized by law enforcement as a front for a Yamaguchi-gumi affiliate.

“The company’s managing director serves an intermediator for a geino production company under a boss from within the entertainment industry and the head of a group affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi,” an individual associated with investigations says. “This managing director has coordinated geinojin (entertainers) to attend private gatherings for this gang boss as well as reconciling any issues various geinojin have had. Post-retirement of that boss, the managing director maintained his solid relationship with the gang-affiliated organization.”

So, wonders Shukan Shincho, how does this fit into the publishing of children’s books?

“Usuda is known as an entrepreneur,” says a person with knowledge of the situation. “He has a solid record of working with companies. He is also the owner of Special Week, the horse that won the Japan Derby in 1998.”

In 2003, Usuda was involved in the founding of an affiliate company to Poplar — a move that helped him to establish himself as a chairperson. He is also the majority shareholder of the company in question.

When the managing director of the company in question was asked about Usuda’s involvement, he said, “I am not involved at all with Poplar or the yakuza.” He added, “While searching for a sponsor, we consulted with Matsukata-san, with whom I’ve had a 40-year relationship. He then referred us to Usuda-san. Usuda-san said, ‘Move into here,’ and thus we moved into the current location.”

The tabloid has also found that documents have recently been circulating with a sender’s name indicated to be “A Group of Employees Wishing for the Return of a Clean Poplar.”

The same individual associated with Poplar says that about a year ago another company whose business has no association with publishing as well moved into the building. “People appearing to be not exactly professional began to surface and employees started to feel uncomfortable,” the source adds.

What does Usuda say about all this?

“I was introduced to the managing director of the company in question by Matsukata-san, whom I know well,” Usuda told the tabloid. “I am bearing 104 million yen in monthly rent. There is no way whatsoever that the company in question is a fronting firm. If that’s true, Poplar will go down.”

Whatever the case, Shukan Shincho concludes, this is not exactly child’s play.

Note: Poplar offers a response to Shukan Shincho’s assertions here. As well, NIBM has modified its front page to respond to the allegations. (A.T.)

Source: “Kikansha Tomasu ‘Popura sha’ ni boryokudan furonto ga kisei shita,” Shukan Shincho (Sep. 9, pages 45-46)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

1. Shibuya AV company president arrested for rape
2. Yamaguchi-gumi gangsters give gifts in the name of goodwill in Kobe
3. Suspected ‘black widow’ Kanae Kijima with possible ties to nightclub host

Popularity: unranked

A young girl plying the trade known as enjokosai, or compensated dating, is hardly new. Yet, observes Shukan Jitsuwa (Aug. 19), the glut of school gals on summer break and the harsh economy are combining to make present conditions in Tokyo anything but a seller’s market.

The tabloid cites the entertainment areas of Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Shibuya as common hot spots. Many young females migrate from the countryside and must offer sharp discounts, or gekiyasu enko, as slashed bonuses for salaried workers have become the norm.

Seated on a street corner is a 19-year-old from Niigata Prefecture. “I came to Tokyo to earn money for one week,” says the brown-haired girl. “I have only have a few hundred yen. Tonight I can’t find anyone. If someone will pay 5,000 yen and the hotel fee that’s acceptable…”

In Shibuya, the writer finds a deeply tanned female in a miniskirt. She does not offer sex, only hand-jobs, and handles five customers a day. Referred to as tekoki enko, the service costs 3,000 yen a pull.

Oftentimes, however, the girls will abstain from independent contracting and utilize agents, who entice prospective talent with rates of 50,000-yen per day. On websites or through ads in evening sports newspapers, the pimps will collect clients interested in Lolita-like lasses and arrange a deri heru, or call-girl, setup at a love hotel.

“A high school girl and can get 50,000 yen a day,” explains a writer for a national daily. “For a middle school girl it’s around 70,000 yen. But recently elementary school girls have been able to fetch 120,000 yen for one shot.”

The money is just one thing, says the writer. The girls also find the arrangement safer than working solo as the chances for trouble from an uncooperative client are reduced.

“If the police crack down on one organized service,” continues the source, “there will always be another ready to serve. There are so many students out on summer vacation.”

Cafes described as deai-kei establishments oftentimes will specialize in matching hookers with Johns. Girls enter free and can enjoy surfing the Web or reading manga comics. Guys observe their activities through a one-way mirror and then choose a girl who meets their fancy. The couple will then move to another booth and talk for 10 minutes. If an agreement is brokered, the guy will pay a fee to the cafe and transportation costs to the girl before heading out on a date.

Once summer vacation starts, Shukan Jitsuwa notes, the cafes are at full capacity.

“Most deai cafes are just for prostitution purposes,” explains fuzoku writer Yukio Murakami. “Probably 70 to 80 percent of the girls will allow sex if the money is right.”

The magazine then moves on to a street filled with kyabakura clubs, which offer hostess services, to examine the swindling of university students.

Waseda, Rikkyo, Meiji and Gakushuin universities are usually well represented but nowadays Tsuda College and Aoyama Gakuin University, known as “princess” schools since girls from wealthy families often attend, are entering the picture.

The con takes place at the recruitment stage. Students will be offered a generic kyabakura role only to later find out that the establishment is a sekukyaba,, where the kissing and fondling of exposed breasts is offered, or ichakyaba, in which touching takes place through worn garments.

“Even when they find out that touching and kissing are allowed they won’t quit because they are getting paid,” says a kyabakura employee. “It’s easy to trick them because they don’t know how the night world works.”

Runaways, it seems, have it no better. Wayward females will post requests for lodging on online sites. “In the postings, they’ll use the word kami (god) to describe the potential suitor but really he is an okami (wolf),” explains an editor at a fuzoku rag. “Since no one will offer free lodging, they are going to want sex. And since they are runaways, they have no means of recourse if there is a problem. I know of one girl that wound up shooting up on dope and got raped.”

Speaking of drugs, the use of shabu is escalating at an alarming rate, reports the magazine. Inexperienced girls will try it for the first time at a club, perhaps in Shibuya. “The girls will be told by a seller that they can get high on MDMA for 5,000 yen,” says a person in the club industry. “MDMA is a drug that enhances sexual pleasure, and one hit could lead to repeated use.”

Law enforcement authorities tell the tabloid that summer can be the start of a dangerous descent. “They might think that they are doing enko ‘only for summer vacation,’” says a source related to the police. “But that is just the beginning. There could be stress so they might go to a host club. They might also start up with drugs, pile up debts, get mentally sick or suffer a physical ailment. Life can get bizarre. It’s dangerous earning money in the sex trade, and it’s best to be on guard.” (A.T.)

Source: “Nettaiya ni ugomeku aoise wo uru shojotachi michaku 24ji,” Shukan Jitsuwa (Aug. 19, pages 52-54)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

1. Maria Ozawa’s deri heru debut, popularity of ‘land mine’ gals top sex biz trends
2. Disconsolate Johns’ ‘fuzoku loss’ provides new fodder for head shrinkers
3. Dim-witted johns put premium on broads with brains

Popularity: unranked

Tokyo Metropolitan University, or TMU, was formed in 2005 by the merger of four public institutions of higher learning in the Tokyo area. The institution was in the headlines recently when two of its seniors majoring in system design were summarily expelled.

The two had come up with a project they named “Dobusu wo Mamoru Kai” (group to protect ugly women).

“They went around on the street accosting women, saying they were ‘researching an article,’” a source at TMU tells Shukan Shincho (July 8). “Later it was determined that the video, showing the faces of certain women, had been posted on YouTube without the subjects’ permission.”

The school’s investigation found that on three occasions the pair had gone to Shibuya, Shinjuku, Tachikawa and other places in Tokyo and filmed a total of six female subjects “on location.” At least two of the six had data posted in a manner that enabled them to be identified by name.

The one shot at Tachikawa, filmed on June 12, ran for about six minutes in length. Its opening included this introduction by the producers: “Presently in Japan, dobusu (ugly girls) are endangered with extinction a possibility. Through dissemination of information more women are finding it easy to improve their appearance through cosmetics, fashion and hair styling, and in addition thanks to advancements in cosmetic surgery they are able to boost their appearance to the minimum level.”

The producers of this goofy video were actually dumb enough to include their own names in the credits at the end.

“After they submitted the video a friend who saw it chewed them out, and they deleted it, but the next day it was resubmitted,” the aforementioned school source relates.

By June 17, copies of the video had been spreading like wildfire all over the Web, and the following day TMU’s home page posted an apology from the president.

Then on June 24, the school announced that the two would be expelled from the institution. A third student who had provided the background music for the video was suspended from attending classes for one month.

The reasons given for the expulsion were for having made persons’ images public without permission; causing psychological harm to said persons; and damaging the university’s public image.

Shukan Shincho reports that the families of the students involved have been subjected to abusive telephone calls. From his home in Tottori Prefecture, father of one of the two told the magazine, “I saw the offending video. It was done in the humorous style of a TV variety show, but was lacking in morality and was cruel to the persons involved.

“I first learned about it in late June,” the father continues. “A complete stranger called me up at work, telling me she was in the process of organizing a protest and saying, ‘Do you know what your son’s been up to?’ Why didn’t he drop out of the university of his own volition?’”

Both students were in the process of job seeking, but their future prospects with employers appear to be in doubt. (C.J.)

Source: “‘Dobusu wo mamoru kai’ de shutodaigaku wo taigaku ‘bakatare daigakusei’ oya ga naiteita!” Shukan Shincho (July 8, page 40)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

1. Co-ed college cronies couple in raunchy reunion
2. Tallying the bottom line for Tokyo women in the sex trade
3. Beware of ‘Ugly Betty’

Popularity: unranked