Details of the Arrest
On February 10, 2020, the Public Safety Division of Osaka Prefectural Police and Minami Police Station arrested Osamu Tanaka (47), who had been running an unlicensed delivery health (out-call) service in Chuo Ward, Osaka City, on suspicion of violating the Businesses Affecting Public Morals Regulation Act (fuei-ho) (operating a non-store-based sex business without the required notification).
According to the investigation, Tanaka had run the operation since around 2017, using an apartment in the Minami area as an office. He brokered workers through a members-only website and a telephone reception line, dispatching them to customers' homes and to lodging facilities.
Scale of Revenue
According to prefectural police, more than 30 women in total had been registered on the site. During busy periods, the operation handled more than 10 requests a day, and at times monthly revenue exceeded 3 million yen. Tanaka managed part of the profits in cryptocurrency, and there are signs he attempted to destroy evidence.
Provisions of the Act and the Nature of the Violation
To operate a "non-store-based sex business" such as a delivery health service, notification to the Public Safety Commission is required (Article 31-2 of the fuei-ho). Operating without such notification violates the act and is punishable by up to two years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 1 million yen.
According to Osaka Prefectural Police, the number of delivery-health-related crackdowns in the prefecture for 2019 was projected to rise 15 percent year-on-year, making the removal of unscrupulous unlicensed operators an urgent priority.
The Sex Business Landscape Around Minami
Minami (the area around Namba and Shinsaibashi) is one of Japan's largest entertainment districts, where a wide variety of sex services—both legal and illegal—are concentrated. In recent years, more operators have been drawing customers from outside the area through internet marketing, which has lowered the threshold for the kinds of activity authorities crack down on.
What Comes Next
Tanaka has partly denied the allegations, saying he "didn't know notification was required," but prefectural police believe the long-running nature of the operation and the scale of its revenue leave no question of intent. They are also interviewing the women who worked for the service and are investigating whether there was organized, group-level involvement.
This article was compiled based on publicly available information and interviews with investigators.