National / Media | BIG IN JAPAN Dec 12, 2020
Rising suicide figures reflect many women’s despair in a pandemic
by Michael Hoffman
Almost as anguishing as having no future is having an unknown one.
History | THE LIVING PAST Nov 16, 2020
A charm offensive in the Yoshiwara pleasure district
by Michael Hoffman
Life in the pleasure district was fun, if you were capable of mustering up the right amount of charm.
National Oct 4, 2020
'Shocking discrimination': Japan's sex industry cries foul over exclusion from government aid
by Tomohiro Osaki
A lawsuit has ignited a debate over whether the sector should qualify for subsidies, laying bare a deep-seated distrust of an industry often associated with immorality.
National / Crime & Legal Sep 24, 2020
Japanese sex business operator sues state over virus handout snub
The lawyers said the woman suspended her business between mid-April and late May in accordance with business closure requests from the local authorities.
World Jun 9, 2020
Amsterdam to clean up sex-and-drugs tourism in post-virus reboot
As the coronavirus pandemic raged in March and April, the 500-year-old Amsterdam city-center became a ghost town: The scantily clad sex workers in brothel windows in small alleys like Stoofsteeg in the red-light district were gone, as were the hordes of tourists who come ...
National / Media | MEDIA MIX May 2, 2020
COVID-19 outbreak raises uncomfortable questions about Japan's adult entertainment industry
by Philip Brasor
If a certain class of people is excluded from initiatives to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, those people will cause the disease to spread to all classes, regardless of other measures in place.
National / Social Issues Apr 16, 2020
Stay-home request over virus hits girls in Japan with no place to go
The spread of the novel coronavirus and a government request that the public refrain from going outside has added to the predicament of many teenage girls in Japan who have left home due to abuse, poverty or other reasons. "We see fewer girls in town, ...
National / Social Issues Apr 3, 2020
Concern as Japan’s sex workers excluded from freelancer virus payouts
Advocates for bar hostesses and sex workers have urged the government to reconsider its exclusion of them from compensation for parents unable to work because of school closures, noting they are among the most vulnerable members of society. A support group for such workers submitted ...
World / Crime & Legal Mar 27, 2020
Nearly all Vietnamese minors at Dutch asylum centers were trafficked out, official says
Almost all the Vietnamese children who arrived in Dutch asylum centers in recent years disappeared and were probably trafficked, the Dutch government adviser on human trafficking has said. Eighty unaccompanied minors from Vietnam went missing from government asylum centers in the Netherlands between 2015 and ...
National / Crime & Legal Sep 19, 2019
Niigata principal and another man arrested for allegedly paying for sex with teenage boy
Two men including a 58-year-old principal of an elementary school have been arrested for allegedly paying for sex with a high school boy in March, police said Wednesday. Koichi Miyajima, the principal of an elementary school in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, and Katsuhiro Kohashi, a 37-year-old ...
National / Crime & Legal Sep 17, 2019
Japan eyes stronger law to protect women from sexual exploitation
The welfare ministry is considering crafting a new law to strengthen the protection of women, including schoolgirls, from sexual exploitation, according to sources. The law would provide the legal basis for prefectural consulting centers for women, a role currently played by a law that deals ...
Asia Pacific / Crime & Legal Aug 29, 2019
Top K-pop producer Yang Hyun-suk questioned by police over gambling and prostitution
The music producer behind some of South Korea's biggest K-pop stars was questioned by police on Thursday in connection with an investigation into illegal gambling and prostitution that has rocked the music industry. According to police investigators, a network of pop stars, businessmen and police ...