Teen prostitution in Japan: regulation of telephone clubs.

• Author: Morrison, Andrew D.

1. INTRODUCTION

   Originally, in telephone clubs, a man could pay a fee and then wait in a room for a call from a woman, frequently a young girl. Once the woman called, the two would have a conversation that often resulted in an arrangement to meet at another time for an enjo kosai (compensated date). Telephone clubs have diversified, however, making it even easier for men to arrange such contacts. The clubs now sell "two-shot dial" telephone cards that allow men to call from anywhere and be connected with women. Another recent development is the dengon dial, a message system that allows men to call a designated number and, for a certain fee, listen to messages left by women and then leave a message. Again, the ultimate goal is to meet later for a compensated date.

   Realizing their business hinges on a constant supply of women, telephone clubs allow women to participate in calls at no cost. In addition, the clubs solicit women by advertising in magazines, in newspapers, on subway trains, and by direct mail. They also distribute tissues with the club's telephone number at train stations and hang announcement signs on utility polls. Thus far, these tactics have been successful in recruiting women and teenage girls to call the clubs to meet men.

   In response to the significant impact telephone clubs have had on the number of teenage girls engaging in prostitution, juvenile welfare groups, parent-teacher associations, and legislatures throughout Japan have worked together to pass laws regulating the telephone clubs.

2. HISTORY AND REGULATION OF PROSTITUTION

   Virtuous men have said both in poetry and classic works that houses of debauch for women of pleasure and for streetwalkers are the worm-eaten spots of cities and towns. But these are necessary evils and, if they be forcibly abolished, men of unrighteous principles will become like ravelled thread.(1)

   1. Japan Before National Regulation of Prostitution

      In 1612, Shoji Jinyemon, a wealthy pimp, petitioned Japan's feudalistic government for the right to build a red-light district in Edo, the capital.(2) Five years later, the government granted its consent but mandated that the area be regulated.(3) The regulations required the licensed quarter, Yoshiwara,(4) to be walled, surrounded by a moat, and open only during the day. In addition, the brothels had to be of a predetermined size and devoid of decoration.(5) Prostitutes could not work outside the area and could only work at one brothel within the area.(6) The regulations further provided that all patrons had to register and could not stay in the area longer than twenty-four hours.(7)

      This system continued until 1657, when much of Edo burned to the ground.(8) After the fire, the government provided financial compensation, enabling the Yoshiwara to be rebuilt.(9) This time, despite placing the Yoshiwara farther from the downtown area, the government was more lenient in its regulations.(10) Most notably, the brothels were larger and the gates could stay open all night.(11)

      As a result of these changes, prostitution flourished and innovative brothel-like establishments emerged.(12) These new establishments often were disguised as machiya (meeting houses), or chaya (tea houses), but were in essence nothing more than brothels.(13)

      As the industry grew, so did the need for women.(14) To fill their needs, brothel owners sent agents to the country to buy young women from their families, using indentured service contracts.(15) The reality, however, was that the girls were being sold into slavish bondage to brothel owners.(16) This practice continued until the end of the feudal era.(17)

      In 1868, Japan, at the prompting of Western forces,(18) adopted a modern government based on Western ideals of human rights.(19) Four years later, in 1872, the new government demonstrated its dedication to these principles of freedom and human rights by freeing 231 Chinese coolies(20) from a Peruvian ship.(21)

      The Maria Luz, a Peruvian ship on its way back to Peru from China, stopped in Yokohama, Japan, for repairs.(22) While docked, one of the coolies jumped overboard and swam to an English ship docked nearby.(23) The ship's captain, not knowing what to do, sent the coolie to the local English consulate, who contacted the Japanese Foreign Ministry.(24) The Japanese government detained the Maria Luz and, after an investigation, sent all the coolies back to China.(25) The Peruvian government protested Japan's actions and demanded compensation for its loss.(26) Eventually, the imperial Russian court intervened as an arbitrator.(27) In support of its claim for compensation, Peru protested that Japan permitted traffic in persons, such as prostitutes, and therefore should not be able to prohibit other countries from the same act.(28) Notwithstanding the Peruvian contention, the Russian court upheld Japan's actions.(29)

      Japan was embarrassed by Peru's accusations, however, and immediately liberated all indentured prostitutes.(30) The women could leave the brothels and the courts would entertain no suits regarding the prostitutes' debts.(31) The order, however, did not ban prostitution; it merely voided the indentured service contracts.(32)

      Shortly thereafter, cities throughout Japan recognized the loophole in the law and by the end of 1872 adopted room-rental licensing schemes, making it clear that prostitution was still legal.(33) Under this system, the prostitute was a licensed "independent contractor" and the brothel was a "room rental service."(34) This trend continued, and by 1875 the national government had reinstated indentured contracts.(35) The law stated that the sale of human beings was illegal but also articulated that arrangements in which a debtor repaid a debt through a fixed-price labor contract were legal.(36)

   2. National Regulation of Prostitution

      Between the years 1899 and 1901, prostitutes throughout the country, at the urging of various religious groups, quit the industry.(37) Seizing on this opportunity, the religious groups and other social reformists attempted to persuade the government to abolish the red-light districts altogether.(38) Their efforts were unsuccessful, but the government responded by passing the Regulation for Control of Prostitutes.(39) The law attempted to limit prostitution to only those women officially registered with the government.(40) To register, prostitutes had to be eighteen years of age, undergo regular health inspections, and live and work within the confines of the red-light districts.(41)

      In 1908, realizing the Regulation for Control of Prostitutes was not eliminating unregistered prostitution, the government passed the Ministry of Home Affairs Ordinance No. 16.(42) The law stated that any person practicing unregulated prostitution or procuring or soliciting for unregulated prostitution would be punished by penal servitude.(43) In addition, police board regulations, purporting to eliminate unlicensed prostitution, practically encouraged business in the licensed areas.(44) This action was not welcomed by the ever-increasing number of groups of social reformists who seized every opportunity to outlaw prostitution.(45) Ultimately, however, history deflated the spirit and the power of these groups as World War Two began and the country began preparing for and engaging in war from 1931 until 1945.(46)

   3. The Path to Abolition of Licensed Prostitution and the Antiprostitution Law

      At the conclusion of World War Two, many Japanese women became prostitutes to support themselves and their families.(47) Tokyo alone contained 670 licensed houses of prostitution and 70,000 prostitutes who catered to the U.S. military.(48) Unlike former generations, these women were comparatively well-educated and more organized.(49) For instance, free-lance streetwalkers of the central Tokyo area formed the White Bird Society and streetwalkers in other parts of Tokyo called themselves the White Chrysanthemums.(50) As prostitution boomed, the Japanese government debated how to alleviate the problem.(51)

      Then, in January 1946, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP)(52) wrote a memorandum mandating that the Japanese government eliminate all laws and ordinances permitting licensed prostitution.(53) The memorandum instructed the Japanese government to nullify all contracts that bound, either directly or indirectly, women to act as prostitutes.(54) The memorandum further stated that maintenance of licensed prostitution contravenes the ideals of democracy and the development of individual freedom throughout the nation.(55)

      In receipt of the memorandum, the Japanese government finally acted, and one year later it promulgated Imperial Ordinance No. 9 concerning the punishment of persons who make women act as prostitutes.(56) A bill for the punishment of prostitution was presented to the Second Diet(57) in 1948.(58) The bill went further than the ordinance and outlawed prostitution.(59) This provision created tremendous tension as opponents of the bill argued that prostitutes were victims and therefore should not be punished.(60) The opponents bolstered their argument by citing judicial committee reports indicating that the bill, if passed into law, would be unenforceable and thus ineffective.(61) In the end, the opponents prevailed and the bill did not become law.(62)

      Despite this apparent failure, both the national and local governments continued to move toward regulation of the prostitution industry.(63) The national government passed the Child Welfare Law,(64) the Labor Standard Law,(65) the Employment Security Law,(66) the Venereal Disease Prevention Law,(67) and the Enterprises Affecting Public Morals Law,(68) all of which indirectly restricted the prostitution industry.(69) Many local governments passed their own ordinances regulating prostitution and some, most notably Tokyo, enacted ordinances outlawing prostitution.(70)

      Notwithstanding this trend, prostitution in Japan did not disappear.(71) As they...