Overview of the Arrest
On September 14, 2021, the Metropolitan Police Department's Cybercrime Division arrested Yuichi Takahashi (33), who ran a membership-based prostitution-brokering site, "AdultMatch" (a pseudonym), on suspicion of violating the Anti-Prostitution Act (baishun boshi-ho)—specifically procuring and managing prostitution.
Through the subscription-based site, Takahashi matched women providing sexual services with male customers. The site's terms of use stated that it was for "romance and friendship," but in reality the buying and selling of sexual services was carried out openly.
The Scale and Reality of the Site
The site had about 3,000 registered users nationwide (roughly 1,000 women and 2,000 men). Takahashi collected fees from both the women and the men for each match, and monthly revenue exceeded three million yen. The server was located overseas in an attempt to destroy evidence.
Countermeasures Against Online Prostitution Brokering
In response to the buying and selling of sexual services, which is becoming increasingly digitized and anonymized, the National Police Agency has been promoting the establishment of dedicated "cyber sex-crime countermeasure teams" within each prefectural police force from 2021. However, technical barriers—such as the use of overseas servers, payment via crypto-assets, and the use of anonymization tools—remain high, and investigations continue to be difficult.
This article was compiled based on publicly available information.