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April 02, 2025
 

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PROSTITUTION

Beniko, a former sex worker-turned professional photographer, browses though her new photo book in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, on Feb. 10. The 52-year-old has set out to visually document Japan's pleasure districts.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 30, 2025
Former sex worker records Tokyo's red-light history
"I can't make up for lost time, but I want to document the sex industry as part of history," says Beniko.
The illuminated advertising board of a host club in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district. The bill approved by the government on Friday aims to ban hosts from emotionally manipulating customers into making excessive purchases — a common tactic in the industry.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025
Japan looks to crack down on host club exploitation with tighter regulations
Police received 2,776 consultations nationwide related to host clubs last year, with many involving women coerced into sex work to cover unpaid bills.
Billboard advertisements for host clubs in the Kabukicho area of Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2025
Tokyo police step up crackdown on sex worker scout group
The group is believed to have earned about ¥7 billion over five years by dispatching women to the sexual service businesses that offered the best pay.
Koichiro Ito, a producer of the hit Japanese anime film "Your Name," has been convicted of "violating laws on child prostitution and pornography" as well as non-consensual sex and the filming of indecent images, a Wakayama District Court spokesperson said on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 3, 2025
'Your Name.' anime producer jailed over obscene acts against minors
Koichiro Ito was reportedly accused of paying a 15-year-old girl money in return for sex, and demanding that another teenager take and send him explicit photos of herself.
English-language signs and other materials seized from men’s aesthetic salon Sparaku by the Metropolitan Police Department on Tuesday in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2025
Tokyo police arrest brothel operator catering to foreign tourists
About 60% of the brothel's customers were non-Japanese, drawn in by promotions on its English website, introduction videos and street touts.
Police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department conduct a search at the premises of Natural, one of Japan's biggest sex worker scout groups, on Monday in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2025
Tokyo police arrest members of major sex worker scout group
The group had up to about 1,500 scouts nationwide, and its annual revenue is believed to have reached about ¥5 billion.
An advertisement in Tokyo's Kabukicho, Japan's largest red-light district. The country is home to a thriving adult entertainment industry and has recently seen a boom in sex tourism fueled by the weak yen and availability of red-light services.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024
From geisha to oshikatsu, toxic tropes fuel sex industry
It isn't only the foreign gaze that produces stereotypes of Japanese women as submissive and promiscuous. Local laws and cultural norms play just as important a role.
OnlyFans CEO Keily Blair gestures during the Axios BFD event in New York on Oct. 12, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 30, 2024
How OnlyFans turned into a global empire bent on redefining porn
For all its ambition and influence, the inner workings of OnlyFans remain opaque.
Then U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz runs up the East Capitol stairs as the deadline to avert a partial government shutdown approaches on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 30, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2024
Matt Gaetz found to have paid for sex and drugs, and obstructed U.S. Congress
Matt Gaetz was found to have paid $90,000 to 12 women, a substantial portion of which the panel found was likely for either sexual activity or drug use.
The streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district in 2020. Consultations over matters relating to host clubs have been increasing every year at police stations nationwide, according to the National Police Agency.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2024
National Police Agency panel calls for stricter rules against host clubs
The expert panel recommends targeting malicious practices, rather than specific establishments, to cover more ground.
A vendor sells a box of cigarettes across rolls of barbed wire, separating Thailand and Myanmar, in Mae Sot, Thailand, on Aug. 18, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2024
Myanmar’s war has forced doctors and nurses into prostitution
The rise in prostitution is another blow to the status of women in Myanmar.
A woman is arrested for soliciting prostitution near Okubo Park in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in October.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2024
88 arrested for soliciting prostitution near Tokyo park so far this year
The arrests reflect ongoing challenges in curbing illegal activities in Shinjuku's Okubo Park area, which has been dubbed a “prostitution haven” on social media.
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 21, 2024
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
Investigators suspect Ryotaro Masuda beat his girlfriend repeatedly and invested money she received from coerced involvement with other men.
The group executive is denying violating the employment security law, while the other four have admitted to it, according to sources.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 19, 2024
Japan police arrest executive of group referring women to sex trade
According to the sources, the group, called "Akusesu," had about 160 members who used aliases among themselves.
Daisuke Tanaka's profile photo on his Instagram account
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2024
Host arrested on suspicion of coercing client into prostitution
A host club employee in Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district was arrested for allegedly attempting to force a female client into prostitution.
Indian and Bangladeshi girls rescued from sexual exploitation stand near the window of a house provided by a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Kolkata on Sept. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 7, 2024
Trafficked: The girls sold for sex in India
A 2023 U.S. report on trafficking said that India is making "significant efforts" but still falls below minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
Investigators from the Osaka Prefectural Police conduct a search last month at the high-end Japanese restaurant Tenhime, operated by Tateki Okuda, in the city of Osaka.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024
Osaka brothel owner arrested for allegedly forcing 150 into prostitution
The suspect, who had already been arrested for facilitating prostitution, was newly arrested along with four others for offering venues for prostitution.
Suzumi Suzuki’s “Gifted,” translated by Allison Markin Powell, centers on a hostess working in Kabukicho. Rather than focusing on the protagonist’s occupation, the story plunges the reader into her strained relationship with her dying mother.  
CULTURE / Books
Nov 3, 2024
A nuanced glimpse into the cloistered world of Kabukicho
Drawing on her own experience working in adult entertainment, Suzumi Suzuki crafts a fresh, visceral work for her debut novel, "Gifted"
Abercrombie & Fitch chairman and CEO Mike Jeffries addresses stockholders during the company's annual meeting at the company's headquarters in New Albany, Ohio, on May 22, 2003.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 23, 2024
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries charged with sex trafficking
If convicted, Jeffries faces a possible life sentence and mandatory minimum 15-year prison terms for the sex trafficking charges.
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 6, 2024
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
A weak yen, robust inbound tourism and social media have shone a spotlight on a park in Tokyo where men gather in search of sex.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
Japan, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
The U.S. says Japan has a 700% tariff on American rice. Is that the case?
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds up a piece of paper with information about tariff rates at the White House on Tuesday.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
NFL comeback star Damar Hamlin shares life-saving message in Tokyo
Damar Hamlin poses with students at The American School in Japan in Chofu, western Tokyo, on Thursday.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

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