A Japanese construction firm on Monday denied involvement in "systematic prostitute-buying" during an orgy that allegedly took place earlier this month at a luxury Chinese hotel where the company's employees stayed during a company trip.
"The media reports have quite a lot of errors and they seem to be making people think badly of Japan," said an official of the company, based in Osaka Prefecture. "We were not involved in systematic prostitute-buying."
Police in southern China's Guangdong Province are investigating the alleged orgy involving several hundred Japanese tourists and Chinese prostitutes at the International Conference Center Hotel in Zhuhai.
According to Chinese media reports, on the evening of Sept. 17, a Japanese tour group went "prostitute shopping" at the hotel and called about 500 hostesses over.
The official said 268 of the firm's employees took part in a company trip to Zhuhai and stayed two nights starting Sept. 16 at the International Conference Center Hotel.
On the first night, the employees invited 200 to 300 hostesses to a party at another hotel in Zhuhai, but there was no organized prostitution there, the official claimed.
After the party, all of the employees returned to the International Conference Center Hotel on a bus and then had free time after that.
"Perhaps some of the employees may have done something like that (in their free time) and that may have led to a misunderstanding," the official said.
According to the Beijing Youth Daily, 380 male tourists arranged to meet the prostitutes through a staff member in the International Conference Center Hotel's Japanese marketing department, paying 1,200 yuan (about $145) to each woman. Some 500 prostitutes later crowded the public areas of the hotel in full view of other guests, and an orgy-style party ensued that continued past midnight, the newspaper said.