Renting out a “limousine” to get freshmen girls drunk… The “too bad circle” at a very prestigious university that will not disappear.

The entrance ceremony season is over and GW has arrived. For new students, this is their first consecutive holiday as university students, and it is probably time to start focusing on circle activities in earnest.

Belonging to a circle that brings together students with common hobbies and interests beyond the boundaries of faculty and grade may mean more than just making friends. However, while most circles are fine, some, such as Kobe University’s “BADBOYS,” which became an issue last month, have been known to cause problems during their activities.

Many of the circles that cause such problems are banquet circles called “drinking circles.

Although they are considered a problem in many universities, it seems that drinking circles are still alive and well even in Reiwa, and their existence can be confirmed even in what are called “super prestigious” universities.

In fact, when we talked to male students at a prestigious private university in Tokyo, they told us that many drinking circles have scaled back their activities due to Corona, and although they are not as active as they were before Corona, some are still active today.

When we asked them to elaborate further on this situation, they gave us a shocking answer.

One circle at a prestigious private university seems to be doing some really terrible things. When it’s time for new members, they quietly solicit new members. I hear that they rent out limousines and hold parties where third-year students bring in only first-year girls and get them drunk.

Such circles are called Oran circles (all-round circles) and are often formed in name only, with no specific circle activities.

And since their activities are not set in stone, they often say in the results section that they have an event once a week, etc. Other non-university-recognized circles that play tennis, billiards, and badminton are often drinking clubs.

Another characteristic of drinking circles is that many students offer alcohol to underage freshmen at new clubs.

It seems that such clubs exist not only at private universities but also at national universities, and we were able to speak with a student at a prestigious national university in Tokyo who told us that these clubs are so drunk and rowdy that they are banned from all nearby pubs.

According to the student, these clubs get so drunk and rowdy that they are banned from all nearby izakaya (Japanese-style pubs). When asked about some of the most egregious clubs, they told us about one that engages in unthinkable activities.

One is a place to store luggage and leave people who have been crushed. The other is a banquet hall. They seem to drink and make a lot of noise until they get crushed. I was also shown a video of them running around in the mountains, naked. It doesn’t matter if it’s boys or girls, they just seem to keep drinking while playing loud music.”

After the circle left, he said, the facilities of the cottages were frequently vandalized. Of course, they seem to be charged for damages, but the circle seems to get away with the technique of signing up for cheap lines such as Rakuten Mobile at the club’s expense just to make reservations, and then canceling the contract after a short period of time.

No matter how much noise they make, they are never reported because they are surrounded by only their own people. As for the characteristics of drinking circles, they say to be careful about circles where the camp is the main event, even though the activities do not require a camp.

In addition to the circles mentioned so far, there are also circles created by certain religious groups or multi-cultural groups for the purpose of recruiting people. Such circles find new students in areas where there are few people and call out to them.

“I was tired of newcomers and went to a place where there were few people, and all of a sudden they appeared. ‘Hey, are you interested in this?’ He said, ‘Are you interested in this? So I was handed a religious or multi-personalized book. A multi-cultural group? I got scared and ran away immediately. I asked my friend about it, and he told me that sometimes new religions are sneaking onto the campus, and they are trying to increase their followers.

The university grounds are open to non-students. Since a variety of people can freely come and go, including dog walkers, people coming to take pictures, etc., it is not surprising that there are people making such solicitations. It is not uncommon in Tokyo for unauthorized circles to be created for the purpose of religious solicitation.

To avoid having your university life ruined by malicious clubs, perhaps you should take time to reevaluate whether the clubs you are currently in are really for you.