Lawmakers across party lines pledged Monday to revise a law they consider obsolete that imposes strict operational and licensing rules on dance clubs.
" 'Abenomics' encourages exporting Japan's traditional culture, but we should also capitalize on new 'J-culture' to lure foreigners and spur the economy," Upper House member Kenji Kosaka of the Liberal Democratic Party said at the group's inaugural meeting, referring to the economic policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "That's why we should rethink how to regulate where such new Japanese culture emerges."
The group, launched Monday with more than 60 lawmakers and Kosaka as the leader, is targeting the 1948 law known as "fueiho," or Entertainment Business Control and Improvement Law, whose control extends from businesses including dance clubs and dance schools to brothels and strip clubs.