Police raid high-school girl ‘reflexology’ parlors in Tokyo
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) on Jan. 27 raided 17 “reflexology” parlors — in which high school girls give a massage or other types of services to customers — in Tokyo over suspected violations of the Labor Standards Act.
The parlors called “JK (Joshi Kokosei, or high school girl) Rifure (reflexology),” which feature high school girls giving a foot massage and other types of services to customers, have become increasingly popular in Tokyo, especially in Akihabara. But the types of services provided by such shops have been regarded as morally dubious because they employ high school girls. It is the first time in Japan that police have launched investigations into “JK Rifure” parlors. After questioning managers of the shops, Tokyo police plan to build a case against those involved over suspected violations of the Labor Standards Act.
Police raided eight “JK Rifure” parlors in Akihabara, four in Ikebukuro, three in Shinjuku, and one each in Shibuya and Kichijoji. Police took into custody about 100 people from the parlors, about 70 percent of whom were under 18.
In a typical “JK Rifure” parlor, a high school girl holds a conversation with a customer in a private room, gives him a foot massage and the like, or lies by the side of the customer, wearing pajamas. The basic charge is about 3,000 yen per 30 minutes. According to the MPD, adult women dressed like high school girls previously offered such services at “JK Rifure” parlors in Akihabara. But last year police confirmed that real high school girls were working at “JK Rifure” parlors. The number of such shops has sharply increased over the span of a year, and there are currently 70 to 80 such shops in Tokyo.
Although “JK Rifure” parlors are not subject to the sex industry law because they do not ostensibly offer sexual services, the MPD decided to raid the parlors because they believed that the businesses in question involve “hazardous work” for those people under 18 years of age banned by the Labor Standards Act.
A senior police officer said, “In addition to the fact that the service that features touching high school girls itself is suspected to be in violation of the law, if the situation escalates, high school girls could become involved in crime.”
Mainichi Japan, January 28, 2013
See original article at:http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130128p2a00m0na013000c.html
