Increased Crackdown on Rapidly Growing “Japanese Prostitution”…! Overseas migrant girls” were urgently arrested in Southeast Asia!

As we have written before in this series, “overseas migration” is now becoming popular among Kabukicho’s “night job girls. Perhaps due to the recession caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the number of women going abroad to work as prostitutes is rapidly increasing.

The most popular destination so far has been the United States. However, his country has become much more vigilant, and young Japanese women entering the country alone are now subject to strict screening. Some girls have been forced to return to their home countries simply because they “have a picture of a swimsuit in their picture folder on their phone” and are considered to be prostitutes.

As a result, some women have recently gone to Dubai in the Middle East to do business with royalty, or to Southeast Asia to work. Although rarely reported in Japan, “Japanese dekasegi girls” are now a global topic.

As countries tighten their crackdowns, there have even been cases of women actually being detained. We interviewed Misaki (pseudonym, 22), a current college student who was arrested after going to an emerging Southeast Asian country to make a living.

She told us, “I was going to quit my job as a host in January this year. So before that, I wanted to give him a champagne tower for 10 million yen. …… To raise that money, I decided to go overseas to work.”

Many of the girls who go abroad for work contact local brothels and customer service coordinators through SNS and other means to determine the conditions of their trip. Misaki, who worked at a sex store in Tokyo while still a college student, chose a Southeast Asian country as her destination.

I had worked overseas before and earned over 200,000 yen in one day,” she said. So I thought if I wanted to make money again, I should go overseas. It’s hard to make 200,000 yen in Japan. The deal in that country was that for 60 minutes of play time, the client would be paid 50,000 yen, and the girl would receive 70% of the money. I thought to myself, “I have to go! ‘ So I entered the country in mid-December for two weeks.

The store where Misaki was to work had a system in which customers came to the hotel where the girls were staying. The entry itself went without a hitch, and at first work was going well. Every day, she contacted the host in charge in Kabukicho from there and looked forward to the day of the tower.

The host came to see me.

However, one week into the job, with half a day left, an incident occurred.

I took the client through to my hotel room as usual and received my fee for the play. Then, at that moment, I was handcuffed and arrested. I was quickly taken to the local police station and detained. Do you call it ‘stinky rice’?　I never thought I would be eating it. I was scared to death.

Misaki, who managed to answer questions in “everyday conversational English,” was detained for two days before being released. Apparently, the local police did not want to arrest Misaki herself, but wanted to expose the prostitution ring behind the scenes. A short time after his release, Misaki was summoned back to the police station, where he was questioned in detail about the system and the owner.

After the interview was over, they told me I could go home,” he said. But they confiscated my phone and passport, so I am not allowed to return to Japan. When I was first arrested, I had contacted the host in charge and explained the situation, so he bought me a phone and came over here to see me. So I managed to maintain a lifeline for now.”

Misaki is still living in the emerging Southeast Asian country three months after her arrest because she does not have a passport.

I heard that the owner of the prostitution ring was also caught, so I guess they want me to be a witness at his trial. I heard that the trial date has been set, but they haven’t informed me at all when I will be able to return home. Somehow, the police in this country are slow in everything they do (laughs).”

Misaki was actually scheduled to graduate from college this spring. She had already received a job offer, but had not yet explained anything to her employer, where she will work from April.

I’m thinking of waiting until the very last minute in April, and if it looks like I won’t be able to return to Japan, I’ll contact them. I haven’t given up hope yet (laughs).”

Now that she can no longer work or return to her home country, how is Misaki living in Southeast Asia?

She says, “I’m mostly a recluse. My host comes once a month and gives me living expenses and other necessary things. Other than that, there is nothing much to do. But I have made friends. I went to a local Japanese restaurant because I wanted to eat Japanese food so much, and a Japanese person started talking to me. From there, I began to make frequent appearances in the Japanese community. I can connect to the Internet, so I am just barely making a living.

Misaki says that she did not tell her parents that she was going to a host club or working in a brothel. She says that she has not told her parents that she was going to a host club or working in a brothel, but has been covering up the specifics, explaining that she got into trouble abroad and got caught.

She says, “But I was surprised that my host took such good care of me, and I am very happy about it. I am very happy. Even though I don’t make a lot of money, he supports me. I can’t wait to go back to Japan and marry him.

Misaki is a strong woman, but she has had enough of working overseas. The number of women crossing the seas for the high rewards is increasing, but the risks are immeasurable.

From the March 31 and April 7, 2023 issues of FRIDAY