Shinjuku Kabukicho’s Persistent Financial Troubles from Account Receivable to Advance

Due to financial troubles occurring in host clubs, where female customers are charged high fees and burdened with debt, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has announced that it will submit a revised Public Morals Law in the 2025 Diet session, which includes a ban on romantic sales. Romantic sales refer to a method where host clubs exploit customers’ romantic feelings by hinting at a broken relationship and using those emotions to extort large sums of money.

Regarding financial troubles, in April 2024, the host club industry association established self-regulatory rules, including the abolition of accounts payable (credit-based payments), a prohibition on debt collection by family members or third parties, and a ban on new customers under the age of 20. These measures were aimed at improving the industry’s integrity. However, in November of the same year, a 24-year-old host was arrested on suspicion of violating the Anti-Prostitution Law for attempting to have a customer engage in prostitution to collect on unpaid debts, demonstrating that harm from malicious hosts continues.

Accounts receivable has become advances

In the host clubs of Shinjuku’s Kabukicho, it was once common practice for customers to pay for their food and drinks on credit. Although this practice, known as accounts payable, was supposed to have been abolished through self-regulation, it seems that it still exists under a different name. A regular host club customer, A, shared that their host (the one they personally selected) told them, “Accounts payable has been abolished, but now it’s called advance payment.”

“With accounts payable, the customer borrowed money from the club, and the host was expected to ensure that the debt was collected. With advance payment, the host personally covers the customer’s debt. In other words, it’s a personal debt between the customer and the host. The fact that the customer is still burdened with debt hasn’t changed,” A explained.

Posts on online forums and social media by host club customers still frequently mention phrases like, “Can I get an advance payment here?” “○○ (host’s name) is pulling money through accounts payable and fraud,” and “They make women sell their bodies through romantic sales and then get them to spend money at the club.” These comments suggest that the problematic practices persist.