An expert panel set up by the National Police Agency to look into problems at Japan’s host clubs has submitted its report, urging the government to impose stricter restrictions on such establishments to prevent clients from incurring excessive debts that result in them being forced into prostitution.
Host clubs have been criticized for taking advantage of clients’ romantic feelings for hosts, who sweet-talk them into ordering expensive drinks and food, sometimes on credit. When the women are unable to settle the high debt, hosts are known to persuade them into engaging in prostitution as a form of settlement.
The practice “not only causes financial hardship to female clients but also serious mental and physical harm over a sustained period of time,” said the report, which was submitted to the NPA on Thursday. “There needs to be strict restrictions.”
