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The National Police Agency (NPA) over the weekend took into protective custody 26 girls working for businesses providing various dating services to adult men for financial compensation, a bustling underground industry known as “JK business.”
“JK” stands for “joshi kosei,” or female high school students.
The roundup was part of the Japanese government’s April campaign to eradicate the hiring of minors for sexual services. The "JK" businesses provide teenage girls dressed in school uniforms to men for financial compensation, and their services include massages, spot dating and other similar activities.
Police said the campaign on Friday and Saturday focused on teens soliciting customers in four districts in Tokyo -- Akihabara, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro, Fuji TV reported. Twenty-six girls aged 15 to 18 were taken into custody after they were found working at so-called “JK Komyu” private stores, where various sexual activities are believed to have been performed.
According to the NPA, there were about 190 known “JK Komyu” stores in Tokyo as of the end of March this year.
Parents of the girls told police that they believed their underage daughters were “working at coffee shops,” Sankei Shimbun reported Monday.
An NPA spokesperson told reporters that though compensated dating and teenage dating services involving girls under the age of 18 had been on the decline over the past few years, there has been a resurgence recently.
An ordinance targeting the underage dating businesses -- the first of its kind -- was passed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly in March, and will become effective on July 1.
The law will require owners of dating businesses to obtain official permission from the government to operate a business. The law will also ban girls 17 or younger from working in the industry.
© Japan Today
26 Comments
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Wakarimasen
Go satsu!. nice to see some of these laws being enforced.
TakahiroDomingo
yep! right! imprison all teenage girls under 17 and no more problem.
Disillusioned
How about the pimps that are pulling all the money from this? Oh, that's right! The cops use this service too!
sensei258
Just call them what they are, teenage prostitutes
Alex Einz
oh LV and Prada will feel the hit...
Fred Wallace
Hands off parenting. SMH!!
Bartholomew Harte
That's too bad , those chicks needed the bread for keeping up that luxury life-
khulifi
Why not to close “JK Komyu” stores or arrest the operators...
Alfie Noakes
Because they pay off the police to stay open. Not directly of course, but that's how it works...
Mlodinow
Why no reports on the arrest of the managers/owners of these "shops"?
thepersoniamnow
Why isn't this illegal behavior being enforced much... Because it's the favorite leisure time activity of half the men here. From politicians to bums, everyone's idea of a good time here is getting your perv on. Perverted Lolita and underage sex is PROMOTED not discouraged. I do hope I never have a daughter.
shallots
Going after the kids and not the adults? That makes no sense.
goldorak
What do they mean by 'soliciting'? Did these girls solicit/approach potential customers on the streets? Don't make it sound like these 15-16yo perverted/corrupted some oyajis' pure souls. These young girls need to be talked to no question (by coppers and parents) but the ones who should get arrested are the pimps/bosses and clients for solicitation of prostitution.
proxy
Japan should legalize prostitution. By clamping down too hard, it just drives it further underground putting woman at risk. Moralizing against it is unrealistic. Police need to crack down on minors, forced prostitution and woman imported as sex slaves to work in the industry.
Kobe White Bar Owner
Just for show like the raids on construction companies the other day. Controlled media will put it out and the average Taro and Hitomi will go "oh the police are doing good job." then back to business as usual in JK Land.
DaDude
Yep, every start of April is the time for a few weeks to watch your step. After that, back to carelessness.
albaleo
Probably.
Sorry, goldorak, but what were you doing when you were 15 or 16? I don't imagine any amount of talking from my parents or the police would have made much difference to me at that age. In this case, the authority figures have to appear cooler than the pimps.
Alex Einz
goldorak - yes they solicit clients on the street.. and no they need to be arrested and punished, because for most of these girls the prostitution is just a way to afford luxury items
gogogo
I hope they arrest the bosses and not punish the girls
nedinjapan
Remember, they are paid a lot more than cafe waitresses. In a society where money (Yen, just the way they pronounce it) is everything, even young girls may learn how to make more money, and faster.
Alex Einz
if they dont punish the girls- girls will just go to other place or chat to do business, if you dont teach girls that this is wrong way to make money by punishing them.. what the point?
Tom Webb
Maybe the cop forgot, but touching is assaulting. Hope he is sent home without pay for one month.
Peter Usojanai
So did the police go all the way with the happy ending to have enough "evidence" for prosecution?
Dre Hund
Japanese teenagers are a very fast crowd. Just interview teens who want to talk about their lives and what they see their friends doing.