New law seeks to address women being pressured into prostitution to pay off host club debt.

The foundation of Japan’s host club industry, in which women pay for handsome young men to drink with them, is a delicate dance of emotional manipulation. Or, to put it in less harsh terms, host clubs are in the business of selling not just companionship, but a feeling. Sure, a host won’t sit to flirt and flatter unless the customer is paying, but the aim is still to create an atmosphere where the customer can feel like all the sweet and suggestive things the host is whispering in her ear are coming from a place of genuine admiration and attraction.

So the goal, economically speaking, is for a host to cultivate a relationship where the customer thinks the host honestly has feelings for her, but they can only meet at the club. That opens up the door for all sorts of pressure tactics like telling the customer “If you don’t keep drinking, we won’t be able to see each other anymore,” or “If I don’t increase my sales, I’m going to get demoted, so I want you to buy a bottle of expensive champagne, for my sake.”

However, the Japanese government has just passed a new ordinance that makes it illegal for hosts to exploit customers’ romantic feelings, or to falsely make them believe that the host returns their affections, in order to coerce them to spend more money.

The revision to the Entertainment Business Law also apply to workers at hostess bars, where men pay for women to drink with them. However, the new legislation, which was passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday, appears to have been spurred by recent stories of women going into debt from overspending at host clubs. While the same thing happens to men at many hostess bars, there’s an aspect in which such systems of compensated companionship can be much worse for female customers. When it becomes apparent that the woman is not going to be able to repay her debt through her normal income, some hosts, or the clubs they work for, will then pressure her to make some quick cash by appearing in adult videos, working in the sexual entertainment industry, or prostitution.

Oftentimes the women owe money directly to the club which has let them run a tab while drinking, allowing them to exert extra pressure as the loan exists outside the legitimate financial system, and can even be presented as a debt that the customer must clear for the sake of the host she was drinking with, lest he be held accountable for it and face retribution from his employers. The idea of the woman going into pornography or prostitution isn’t always just a vague suggestion, either, as some hosts/clubs will arrange meetings with adult video producers or sexual service providers, and may even receive a paid bounty for referring women in debt, an arrangement known as the “scout back” system.

While men may also feel pressure to turn to questionable means, such as crime or fraud, to pay off hostess club debt, the economic realities of pornography and prostitution mean that those aren’t usually viable option for guys, especially since male customers at hostess clubs tend to skew older than female customers at host clubs.

Under the revised law, coercing a customer to spend more because of falsified reciprocated romantic feelings, or in order to save the host/hostess from workplace repercussions, will be grounds for business license revocation. Proving that the feelings are falsified is likely to be the sticking point, but one police source has said that evidence that a host/hostess has been expressing the same sentiment to other customers, or that there is a company policy encouraging them to do so, might satisfy the burden of proof. The revision also makes “scout back” arrangements illegal, and hosts/clubs caught receiving payments for referrals to pornographic or sexual service companies will face a penalty of a fine of up to 1 million yen (US$6,900) or up to six months in prison.

The revisions to the law are scheduled to go into effect in late June.

Source: NHK News Web (1, 2), Nitele News
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!