Tokyo police have arrested nine people tied to two soaplands in Yoshiwara, including the managers of both shops, on suspicion of breaking the Anti-Prostitution Law.
The shops are Aile D’ore, run by 54-year-old Yasukazu Miki, and Danshaku, run by 53-year-old Mitsuhiro Oguri. Both are in Taito Ward, in the old red-light district. Investigators say the two places pulled in nearly 5 billion yen over five years — about $31.6 million at roughly 158 yen to the dollar — by letting female staff have sex with male customers on the premises. Once police started tracing the books, the figure they are following is about 4.7 billion yen, or roughly $29.7 million.
Eight of the nine, including both managers, admitted the allegations. The one holdout told investigators he did not know it was against the law.
The case started with a tip in April. An informant said the businesses were using illegal street scouts to pull in customers. Police raided the shops on Monday and are now following the money to see whether any of that revenue was kicked back to the scout networks.
Soaplands sit in a gray zone on paper — bathhouse, private room, “full service” that is not supposed to include intercourse. Police are treating these two as straightforward prostitution cases, and the sales figures are what pushed it past a routine bust.
