There are plenty of sex-related businesses in Japan that you can run legally. You have to run them in the right location and get the right licensing. A group in Toyama did neither. The group, which includes a university professor who’s apparently had previous run-ins with the law, is now facing charges.
A sex massage parlor where a sex massage parlor shouldn’t have been
The controversy centers around Komorebi, a “men’s esute” (メンズエステ; from “aesthetic”) or men’s beauty parlor, in Nunose, Toyama, Toyama Prefecture. In the past, such shops focused on actual men’s cosmetological services, such as hair removal. In recent years, however, the name has become slang for a shop where female “therapists” offer sexual massage services to men.
Mind you, this is a legal service regulated by Japan’s Entertainment Law, or fūzoku law. It requires setting up shop in an area zoned for fūzoku businesses – both sex service shops like massage parlors and soaplands, as well as non-sexual entertainment services like host clubs and cabaret clubs.
It also requires obtaining the appropriate licenses. As the case with SOD Land demonstrated recently, operating as a fūzoku business without a fūzoku license can lead to fines and even arrests.
Komorebi did none of that. Looking up the address listed on the business’s website, it looks like an ordinary residential neighborhood in Toyama. No flashy neon lights or grimy streets that are the usual hallmark of a fūzoku-zoned district, such as Tokyo’s Kabukichō or Gotanda neighborhoods.
Komorebi didn’t appear to be a small business, either. Its website shows dozens of female workers; one news source counted over 90 distinct women. Most of them, it said, are local to Toyama.
The website explicitly says customers are forbidden from requesting sexual services. Looking at the pictures posted, this feels like Komorebi was sending mixed signals. Indeed, female workers confirmed to police that the business offered sexual services to customers.
It’s unclear how Komorebi’s masterminds thought this would all go unnoticed by local police. And of course, it didn’t. Toyama police have arrested three local men and one woman for violating the Entertainment Law.
“Without my technique, the business couldn’t have run”
One of those three men is 49-year-old Takitani Hiroshi, an associate professor at Toyama University’s Information Technology Center.
Takitani was seemingly involved in research regarding the delta between the occurrence of an earthquake and the time it took for a tsunami to develop. Such research has potentially life-saving consequences in Japan, where tsunamis can be deadly.
On the side, however, Takitani acted as the “scout” for the massage parlor group. This means it was his job to find and recruit women to entertain male customers.
“Without my technique, the business couldn’t have run,” Takitani reportedly told police about his involvement. Takitani also reportedly created and ran the business’s website.
Not his first offense?
When asked why he did it, Takitani simply said he needed the money. He reportedly spent the money he earned on expenses and his own “entertainment.”
Takitani was arrested alongside 39-year-old Miyazaki Toshiyuki and 38-year-old Kawano Takizō. Cops also reportedly arrested a 19-year-old woman, whose name is being withheld since she is under 20 years of age.
I can’t find any information on the other suspects. However, social media rumblings indicate this isn’t Takitani’s first offense.
Takitani is listed on academic research site Kaken as having previously gone under the name Okumura Hiroshi. In 2016, Okumura was arrested for using a stolen credit card to fuel his car. Okumura also reportedly urged university students to sign up for a multi-level marketing program.
It’s not clear why Toyama University continued to employ Okumura/Takitani after these incidents, which would usually lead to a professor being fired. Given the severity of the latest offense, it’s a safe bet that Takitani, or whatever he’ll name himself after his latest prison sentence, won’t be quite as lucky this time.
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Sources
違法メンズエステ店 逮捕の富大准教授 ホームページ作成を担当か. KNB
「私のテクニックがなければ…」逮捕の富山大准教授、HP作成や従業員スカウトを担っていたか 違法メンズエステ経営で4人逮捕の事件 富山. Tulip TV
メンズエステ. Wikipedia JP
富山大学准教授、財布盗み逮捕. Livedoor Blog Archive of NTV story
