Police in Tokyo said they took 13 teenage girls into custody in Akihabara for "JK osanpo" (JK walking) this week. "JK osanpo" is a coined expression derived from “joshi-kosei” (high school girls) and "sanpo" (walking), and is the latest variation of "enjo kosai" (compensated dating).
Police said Akihabara has rapidly expanded as a hotbed for various types of sex crimes involving underage girls, TBS reported Wednesday. The 13 girls detained on Tuesday are aged 15 to 17; 11 of them attend school while the other two are runaways, police said. Some of them were wearing their school uniforms.
The girls solicit male passersby by offering to go for a walk with them or go to a cafe. The going rate is 5,000 yen for 30 minutes. Police said the girls told them that in some cases, they had been offered more money by men to go to love hotels, provide their underwear or let their "customers" take upskirt photos, TBS reported.
Police said their investigation has turned up 96 establishments in Akihabara acting as bases for "JK walkers."
A police spokesman said many of the girls taken into custody said they didn't think they were doing anything wrong and that their parents were unaware of what the girls were doing.
© Japan Today
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smartacus
I'm so glad I am not the parent of a teenage girl. What's happened to the morals of young people?
And what about their parents? I presume the girls use the money to buy brandname goods. Don't the parents ever ask them where they go the money from to buy them?
telecasterplayer
Is this better than cracking down on the dirty old men perverts who frequent these places?
GalapagosnoGairaishu
Akihabara long ago outlived its usefulness as an electronics wholesale district. The valuable land it sits on (6 min. from Tokyo Station) should be redeveloped. If you need a refrigerator or TV set, you can buy it at a BIC, LABI or Yodobashi store adjacent to practically every large station on the Yamanote Line.
NeoJamal
that's outrageous, no wonder foreign companies are pulling back their Japanese staff to HK
zootmoney
Well, I am the very glad parent of a teenage girl whose morals are just fine. It's quite ludicrous to assume that this story is representative of all teenage girls in Japan. Obviously, these kinds of girls are a tiny percentage of the teenage population. And, please... "what has happened to the 'morals' of young people"? That's what my father used to say about 50 years ago, and probably his father too about 50 years before that.
Disillusioned
I don't know which is worse, the fact that there are so many stupid and slutty young girls giving up their fruit for cash or the fact there are so many sicko perverts paying them to do it. I often watch the middle aged men ogling the young girls on the trains and know they are just twisted perverts. Japan, there is a perverted sickness within your society. Being a middle aged man with countless photos of under aged 'idol' girls on your phone is not normal. It is sick! Stop playing with your hotdog and get some therapy!
budgie
No surprise the hotbed is Akihabara - the home of the AKB fanbase and the underage girl fetishists.
Cricky
So the girls get arrested but not their employer or they're customers, that is the biggest crime. Someone neglected to give the police a cut this month is how it looks.
Mirai Hayashi
My thoughts exactly...its a breeding ground for underaged prostitution and pedophilia
sp4cerat
moral wise not a good development but its a crime without a victim, therefore police should not take them into custody
Mirai Hayashi
@sp4cerat
These are not adults. I couldn't care less if an adult woman did this...I personally think that prostitution should be decriminalized. These are CHILDREN. The victim to this crime are the underaged GIRLS, because they are too young to realized the consequences of their actions.
lucabrasi
@Cricky
They weren't formally arrested; they were taken into custody for their own protection. The girls' welfare should be the police's priority; get them off the streets. That's what I'd want if it were my daughter.
Thunderbird2
There may be no sex involved, but this is still exploitation of girls. The creepy pervs who use the 'services' offered by the girls should be the ones arrested.
Jean ValJean
This is just a recent variation of the world's oldest profession.
It's ridiculous to presume these girls are innocent; they are doing this voluntarily. But, I do think they could be engaging in more respectable trades.
Cricky
lucabrasi I do agree but that's not the point, arrest the "Johns" big difference from child to adult! Child porn is child porn. It's great they save some children but does not stop the child sex trade that is going on.
CrazyJoe
Taking these girls in custody (guidance) won't help solve the problem. Those (minors) that engage in prostitution should be charged accordingly including the male patrons. Early this year we had JK massage (reflexology) and now JK walking. It's a vicious circle.
DaveAllTogether
As the father of three teenaged girls I am not too worried about this phenomenon. Enjo kosai and now JK walking make for salacious and sensationalist news, which is popular to read, but the reality is that it is not quite as wide-spread as it is made out to be in some articles. No matter how much or little of a problem it is we are still talking about a problem. So many are quick to blame "bad parents". This might be so in some cases, but it is also true that some of those girls come from solidly middle-class households.
This cannot be solved just by arresting the johns, or taking the girls away. It takes a multi-pronged attack to reduce (not eliminate) the problem. Unfortunately the world's oldest profession is never going away, but steps can be taken to protect those that should not be there.
slumdog
I must be getting tired. When I clicked on the headline, I thought the police arrested underaged girls for J-walking.
lostrune2
More girls mean more competition to lower the prices! Free enterprise FTW!
tallpinedog
Girls were arrested for walking? And then they were marched to the police station?
tmarie
Why does Japan have to change the name to something like enjokosai or JK walking? Call it what it is - prostitution. Part of the issue here is that Japan won't face up to the growing materialism and young girls feeling they have to sell themselves to buy a brand name bag or have money to hang out with friends. These girls aren't innocent victims. Arrest them - and their parents - and the men who pay for such services.
shallots
What's happened to the morals of young people? Um, what about the morals of the male members of the older generation who are picking up these girls (if we are making assumptions)? I assume for every one of these girls there are numerous older men lurking.
iceshoecream
I agree with tmarie. This is prostitution. Not all of them. But the ones that accept money for going to love hotels are exactly that, prostitutes.
gaijinfo
I'm pretty sure that prostitution among young ladies has been round lot longer than the last couple of years.
And if there's 96 known headquarters, there's likely a bunch more, which means that picking up 13 girls is not even a drop in the bucket.
kaynide
It seems to me that there really just needs to either be (or if it exists, enforce) a law that prevents making contracts (verbal agreements, etc) and/or paying for services when one of the parties is an underaged child.
Hypothetical situation, to be the devil's advocate:
While walking Akihabara, a schoolgirl approaches me and says "Can I have an English lesson?" I respond "Sure, it'll be 5,000 yen for 30 minutes. We can walk or goto a Cafe" She agrees, we head to a starbucks/McDonalds and have a quick, 30 minute private lesson.
~~
This situation is fairly innocent and pretty common I'd wager between adults and JETS looking to grab a few bucks, but without parental consent should it be illegal? I'd think yes.
JoeBigs
"Police said their investigation has turned up 96 establishments in Akihabara acting as bases for “JK walkers.”
There is money to be made in crime, the only problem is that the true bad guys are never caught.
Selchuk Driss
Yes, but middle-class does not mean healthy and functioning family. I think that is what these girls are certainly missing.
toshiko
. These girls collect money. It is not taxable? Step 1 for prostitution, rape,, murder. Before they become step 1 victim or pimps approach them, demand them to register as self employment business with taxation --- Parents will be responsible for paying self employment taxes.
Michael Craig
Why are some of you bashing Akiba all of a sudden? Sure it's the home of Japan's "otaku culture", but it really also had a wonderful history of where you bought radios, TVs, light bulbs, electronic components and stuff.
That's why it's called the "Electric Town".
Look it up in Wikipedia!
serendipitous
Nice idea for these girls to try to be involved in a "more respectable trade" but the basic math involved must make it very tempting for some i.e. work at Yoshinoya for 850 yen an hour or walk with some bloke for 30 min. (and avoid accepting any further requests for extra services) and earn 10,000 yen an hour..... I would happily walk with any lady (from 20 to 120 years old) for the same amount!
yourock
This story reminds me of what a friend used to call 'English' oral prostitution, being paid to speak to a stranger for an hour for 6000yen, or some amount. And yeah, he would go for a long walk and talk 80% of the time. eikaiwa-sanpo...?
kiss1969
Just a note to some who have commented! These girls are not prostitutes nor are they sluts! Even if you had bothered to check your dictionaries, you would know that. Everytime an article appears like this it gathers the most comments. Comments of disgust and outrage... Are you for real? To the fathers, I also have a daughter. I don't want her to feel that she has to earn money like this. I hope that i can provide for her and teach her to be responsible. Just as you do! Society is sick. A service like this, kids feeling the need to have to earn a living like this, and those who feed off articles like this! It makes me vomit! Lots to say but I'm on the train and couldn't be bothered. Thanks JT for keeping us up to date on what our saddened, lonely, and depressed children are doing to make up for where we are failing!
Raven Bo
"96 establishments in Akihabara acting as bases for" What's wrong with the police? No arrest?
kiss1969
In continuance, 'morals of young people'???? Are you that docile? You must have been an amazing child! Never did anything wrong, eh? Morals of a child come from a variety of sources. Or perhaps you have forgotten that. Not only parents are to blame here. Yes, parents need to bring there kids up so they can meet the needs of society. I'm not blind. Bet i had it tougher than you! But to suggest they have no morals would be the same as suggesting your comments carry any weight! JT don't cut me off... I raise kids. I teach kids. I pray for kids everyday. I have hopes for ALL of them, but with attitudes like those displayed from comments generated by some of your readers i am very scared for their futures!
nath
What is the source of this article? I was watching a tv show the other night which is sounding strangely similar, though the police acted as potential clients. They contacted them via message boards and met up with the girls only to give them a stern talking to, had them surrounded by other police and then taken back to the station with their parents. The number detained was around the same. As were the types of 'service' examples provided. Could this be why there's not much info given? Or why there's no mention of pervs being taken into custody too? Pardon the comment if not. Just noticing something that sounds similar.
kaimycahl
Prostitution is the oldest profession on earth someone has to get laid and some one has to get paid. Even if you are married you are still paying LMAO! The only difference is a piece of paper makes it legal instead of a verbal agreement in other cases!!
globalwatcher
Best way to fight against crime like this is to expose these names of offenders found guilty as sex offenders against children in public newspapers.
Cutting a demand first by exposing these names seems to be working. No privacy issue here as they were legally found guilty and the information is a public record.
Fadamor
Ignoring the sexual aspects that some of the customers proposed (I know, it's hard to ignore it), what I'm seeing here is girls charging approximately $50 in order to walk with some poor loser for a half hour. If the idiot is desperate or dumb enough to pay just for walking, I don't see the crime (unless, maybe Japan's version of "Solicitation"?). I see this as not much different than the hostess clubs except these are minors instead of adults. The girl gets cash for pretending to like someone enough to walk with them for a half-hour. Where I see problems is when the customer wants more and the girls are backing away, or the girls are looking at going along with it for more money.
Scnadal.Lova
Digusting is all I have to say. How do you not know that your doing something wrong.
hikkifan17
Perverts I tell ya... I mean Japan is nation of awesome but sometimes it can be out of hand, like such article like this one.
Boy Next Door
Another form of ESCORT service?
valekt
The girls in these situations don't seem to have any idea of why it's wrong. I'm sure 99% of them realise that they are doing something generally accepted as bad, but they probably don't know why. I vaguely remember my teenage years, but viscerally remember thinking I knew everything.
LH10
I 100% agree with you Disillusioned. japan disappointing me more and more.
cleo
When my sil was getting married we went to Akihabara to buy a fridge as a wedding present and she's lived all her life in Tokyo, definitely not a tourist. (How many tourists buy fridges?)
These days the big discount stores in the suburbs are cheaper, though. Then there's online.
tmarie
Just a note to some who have commented! These girls are not prostitutes nor are they sluts! Even if you had bothered to check your dictionaries, you would know that. Everytime an article appears like this it gathers the most comments. Comments of disgust and outrage... Are you for real?
The ones selling sexually favours are. I'm for real. I guess you don't realise how long this has been an issue in Japan.
What does your hard life have to do with any of this? We're talking about girls who are selling themselves - be it their time or their body - to make a quick buck. It says a lot about the society we are living in and how little these girls value themselves.
Daemon Ryuou
Gosh, wouldn't it be easier to legitimately ask a person out on a date rather than dishing out ¥5,000 to spend the 30 minutes as an underage girl's pet? Have some dignity people...
Michael Leong
Respect varied opinions. Not an expert on Japan, but have hosted/ counseled varied international students who’ve stayed with our family and was active with Rotary Club International. Kiev Japanese students were informed of differences between USA and Japan. Not excusing the reported behavior of the girls in the article- but Japanese culture is a paradox of extreme group conformity vs (putting it diplomatically) aberration/fetishism/sexism. Yes, adolescent girls should be studying hard in school, helping parents, and preparing for college. Japanese working parents, materialism, immediate gratification, intense educational pressures at school, different cultural messages re: sexual roles, and the need for social safety valves- this is only a glimpse of this complicated society. It’s acceptable even for middle-aged/retired Rotary Club men who are married, with children, grandchildren, to go out via enjo kosai or pay a minimum of $1500 or more for a night with a quality geisha. Reportedly, perhaps younger generations don’t follow this- but who’re we to judge?