Japan’s host clubs are out of control. In response, the government has settled on a new law designed to rein them in. But will it be effective?
The shady business of host clubs
Host clubs are nightlife businesses where young men entertain female clients at their tables, talking and drinking with them. Customers enchanted by a host can spend tens of thousands of dollars on them in the form of expensive champagne.
Many clubs support a credit system (売掛金; urikakekin), leading hosts to use any tactic they can – including feigning romantic relationships – to get women deeper into debt. The same hosts then push their indebted customers into sex work (either illegal or illegal) or adult videos to pay off their balances. In some cases, the hosts also earn kickbacks from sex shops for introducing their customers as workers.
Cases of coerced prostitution connected to host clubs have spiked in recent years. According to NHK, police handled 2,776 such complaints nationally last year.
Police have started cracking down on such “malicious hosts.” For example, Tokyo police recently arrested a 35-year-old host for taking money that he knew a customer obtained illegally from fraud. In another case, police shut down a club and arrested a host for pushing a woman into prostitution after she racked up over 10 million yen (over 63,700 USD) of debt.
The proposed law
The cabinet of current Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has codified its proposed revision to Japan’s entertainment (fuzoku; 風俗) law, which aims to curb some of the worst abuses. According to Asahi Shimbun, it largely follows the shape of the proposed law from our earlier reporting on the subject, except with specific penalties attached.
If made law, the proposal would forbid hosts from using romantic entanglements to entice customers into spending money. For example, it would prevent hosts from creating a faux relationship with their customer (which can often include a real sexual relationship) and then telling them they can’t see them any longer unless they pay money.
It would also prevent them from pressuring customers or trying to lure them into sex work. This includes using threats and coercion, such as threatening to confront a customer’s parents if they don’t pay off their debts. The law would also cover attempts to entice women into overseas sex work, which some hosts do to avoid prostitution charges in Japan.
The penalties for hosts could include six months in jail and up to one million yen (USD $6,750) in fines. The clubs themselves would also face stiffer penalties for illegal operation, including up to five years in prison and 10 million yen ($67K) in fines for individuals. The businesses themselves could face fines of up to 300 million yen ($2M)— a stark raise from the current limit of two million yen ($13,500).
If enacted, most of the law would go into effect within one month. Then I’ll leave host clubs scrambling to educate their out of control Don Juans on how to mind their manners —and stay out of jail.
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