crime

Cabinet panel meets on human trafficking, forced prostitution

23 Comments

A special cabinet panel has met for the first time to develop strategies and concrete plans in order to eradicate illegal prostitution, human trafficking, and other similar criminal activities.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who chairs the panel, told reporters Friday: "In order to develop an appropriate response, we must first bring the issue out of the shadows and begin to speak about it openly. It is my hope that this group will do that."

It is not only Japanese women who are affected by human trafficking, but also foreign women and young girls as well. At the first meeting, officials reported that since last year, 25 victims of forced prostitution have been taken into protective custody and, of those, seven were under the age of 18, NTV reported.

In recent years, the Japanese government has been criticized by international organizations for not doing enough to prevent human trafficking.

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23 Comments
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Even after the crackdown on 'entertainers' a few years ago, the immigration laws in Japan are still a paradise for human traffickers. I don't know of any other developed country where a bar hostess can be recognized as an 'entertainer' and granted a working visa for up to a year. It's ridiculous. Other countries limit the entertainer visa category to short term performances by actors, musicians, athletes etc.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

"I don't know of any other developed country where a bar hostess can be recognized as an 'entertainer' and granted a working visa for up to a year."

I always thought that was shady too. But it's not rocket science. Look @ these hostess bars employing young Filipinas or Thai. & it just so happens "those" bars are in the same proximity as half dozen or so- Love Hotels. Go figure.
2 ( +3 / -1 )

Japan cannot do it without a help of FBI.

Also Japan needs to get serious to clean up Yakuza.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Can they something like we were liberated?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Ha ha! Have any of these old fellas been to a Filipino club in the last ten years? Half of the women there are either illegals or forced to work for peanuts so they don't get fired. I also know of quite a few who have been forced to give sexual favors to customers and management in order to keep their jobs.

This is just another lip service panel with no action at all!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

The government will do nothing if it causes friction against the Yakuza. Kickbacks and blind eyes turned.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Everywhere in Japan big or small city you can find forced and voluntary prostitution and most of them are foreigner on student or training visa.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Disillusioned. Yeah, ur right. And its sad.

Back in CA, Filipinas never stoop as low compared to the ones here "entertaining" japanese salary men. In fact, both Thai & Filipinas are very educated, successful and enjoy their lives without any duress or 1yr constraints / visa status.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@globalwatcherMAY. 09, 2015 - 05:02PM JST Japan cannot do it without a help of FBI

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

No. after Southern Japanese women found Gen Mac do not hate women, they went to GHQ to plea Japan to stop daughter selling practice by Northern Japanese farmers. As English were not taught during WW II, they recruited middle school girls who began learbing English. Using dictionary girls helped as they had classmates who were sold by their parents, Well, kind of hard by such combination but Gen understood and asked Japanese new govt to stop girls sales practice in Japan, FBI has nothing to do with hitokai in Japan. @gokai: please find some fact on FBI to blame FBI.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

There are 1,270 legal brothels (Soaplands) in Japan.

The Japanese law says that it is prohibited to sell or buy sex, but it does not penalize those acts. Instead, it penalizes prostitutes for soliciting or waiting for customers in public places, such as on the street and in parks. It also penalizes anyone who forces somebody to engage in prostitution, exploits a prostitute or gives financial support to a business engaged in prostitution...

Yet ...According to the National Police Agency, there were 908 fashion health massage parlors and 5,425 'outcall-style' fashion health parlors that were publicly registered in 2000 under the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses, etc. What protects the operation of the fashion health parlors is simple -- they only offer oral sex, anal sex and other sexual services that are not interpreted as sex in the prostitution law...

Research conducted by Bank of Yokohama on the state of the underground economy in Japan in fiscal 1998 estimated that unreported earnings from commercial and 'amateur' prostitution come to around 945 billion yen..."

Also, Japan doesn't comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. So the figures I just gave are what is registered here in Japan, not what is hidden with in the dark.

http://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000772#japan

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Wow!! That many harvey? It ain't so alarming tho. I mean- here is a so-called "modern" society which had just recently banned CHILD PORN. Pathetic-

0 ( +2 / -2 )

known infested areas:

Shinjuku, ikebukuro, Uguisudani , Ueno, Roppongi, Fussa, Ayase, Machida, Yokosuka Honcho, Yokohama Kanai

http://www.tokyoreporter.com/?s=prostitution

0 ( +0 / -0 )

100cpm: If you wrote Yoshiwara, I might believe you,

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

"100cpm: If you wrote Yoshiwara, I might believe you", and also Otsuka, and Okubo, and Shin Okubo too.

http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2011/02/03/recession-propelling-impecunious-punters-to-otsukas-pink-parlors/

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/world/asia/16iht-japan.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In recent years, the Japanese government has been criticized by international organizations for not doing enough to prevent human trafficking.

Ironically, in recent years, a panel of the U.N. suggested that prostitution should be legalized WORLDWIDE to stop human trafficking and the spread of STDs.

<sexandthestate.com/>un-human-rights-report-legalize-prostitution-to-end-trafficking/

1 ( +1 / -0 )

There is not a train station in Yoshiwara(now called Senzoku). The nearby station is Uguisudani. So 100CPM's expression is correct.

About ten thousand of Korean whores work in Japan. Korean 'managers' force them to work as whores.

http://www.excite.co.jp/News/society_g/20141208/Taishu_12550.html

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should banish them from Japan. Otherwise future Korean goverment will demand future PM to aplologize to and compensate them.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I get the impression from the comments here that most of those posting here were born and raised in convents in the United States or Britain and have never looked at advertisements for "escort services" or "Thai massage" in US or UK venues to say nothing of Crigslists and other semilar sources.

For the record, Uguisudani is NOT close to "the Yoshiwara" which actually does not exist as a place name. Uguisudani is near Ueno and home to a large number of love hotels and a few streetwalkers. That's about it.

The historical Yoshiwara corresponds roughly to Senzoku 4-chome in Taito-ku. The nearest station is Minowabashi on the Arakawa tram line. By subway Irie or Asakusa. It is rather bland, even anodyne. If you want something flashier, try Ogoto in the Kansai area.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@bullfighter

Agree with most of what you wrote but Minowa itself is the closest station, and it's Iriya before it, not Irie.

Don't ask me how I know.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Legalize prostitution?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Sunrise777MAY. 10, 2015 - 07:08AM JST There is not a train station in Yoshiwara(now called Senzoku). The nearby station is Uguisudani. So 100CPM's expression is correct.

Prostitution business in Japan are not just near railroad station. Majority of them are not near railroad stations.They [refer car owners than poor men who do not own cars.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Ahh, Yoshiwara. The old pleasure quarters of old Edo. I'll take a rain check on that. An "all-nighter" in roppongi yields the same. Minus paying "for it".

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Always interesting how the Japanese middlemen, and women are never prosecuted. And it is not just prostitution; many of the scrap metal works, loading docks, car parts/ electronic vendors, farms and restaurants rely on low price/ under the radar workers to keep their prices low and competitive...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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