The Line Between "Papa-Katsu" and the Anti-Prostitution Act
"Papa-katsu" is generally described as "companionship in which a younger person receives meal money or an allowance from an older man," but when it involves sexual acts, it falls within the scope of the Anti-Prostitution Act (baishun boshi-ho). The issue is distinguishing between "voluntary" companionship between the parties and the "procuring of prostitution" mediated by a third party.
Entering 2022, several operators running papa-katsu matching services received guilty verdicts for violations of the Anti-Prostitution Act (procuring and provision of premises). In each case, the courts judged that the operators "recognized and facilitated sexual acts between users, which constitutes procuring."
The Methods of the Operators Cracked Down On
In one example of an operator who received a guilty verdict, it was proven that the operator collected fees while being aware that, despite setting site terms of "meals and dates only," matching premised on sexual acts was actually taking place.
Response to the Demand Side
The current Anti-Prostitution Act has no provision directly punishing the act of "buying sex" itself (there are penalties for the side that "causes" prostitution and the side that "engages in" it, but the penalty for the side that "buys sex" is not clearly defined), and critics argue that its deterrent effect on the demand side is weak. As a matter of legislative debate, there are also voices calling for the introduction of the "Swedish model" (prohibition of buying sex).
This article is compiled based on publicly available information.