Diet enacts law against predatory practices at male host clubs

On Tuesday, the Diet passed an amended law that targets host clubs that force their female patrons who have grown fond of their male hosts into prostitution and other forms of sex work in order to settle debts they have accrued.

According to the amended law on amusement business control, it is unlawful to use threats of host denial or disciplinary action, including demotion, as leverage to persuade patrons to buy food and beverages at the club.

A local public safety commission will order the club to make the necessary corrections if such a violation is discovered. If it doesn’t comply, its business license could be revoked, which would force it to shut down.

The revised law, to come into force within six months from promulgation, also banned clubs from threatening to force indebted customers into prostitution either inside or outside Japan, to work at sex-related businesses or to appear in pornography.

Operators of sex-related establishments are prohibited from paying male hosts for introducing women to work in their businesses.

People found guilty of either crime are subject to imprisonment of up to six months or a maximum fine of 1 million yen, or both.

The law also strengthens punitive actions against managers and others running illicit host clubs, raising the imprisonment clause to up to five years from two years and penalties from maximum 2 million yen to 10 million yen.

The operating company itself can receive a maximum penalty of 300 million yen.

In Japan, there were around 1,100 host clubs — places where female and male staff socialize and entertain customers in a bar or lounge setting — as of the end of 2024. Tokyo hosts some 33 percent of the establishments, according to the National Police Agency.

Police have launched criminal investigations into 207 people related to malicious practices at host clubs, including their sex workers and managers, in 2024, up from 121 from the year before, the agency said.