The Metropolitan Police Search
On June 14, 2023, the Public Safety Division of the Metropolitan Police Department searched a total of two locations—an office in Tokyo believed to have been used as the office of the illegal scouting group "Natural" and the home of a person connected to it—on suspicion of violating the Employment Security Act (unlicensed operation of fee-charging employment placement).
Overview of Natural
"Natural" is an illegal scouting group centered on its leader, Hiroaki Obata (later arrested), and began operating around 2009. Its members are said to have approached and scouted women in entertainment districts and around stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area, referring them to sex-industry venues in Tokyo and across the Kanto region.
How the Scout-Back System Worked
The group earned continuous revenue through a system in which it received about 20% of the monthly income of the women it referred as a "scout-back" from the sex-industry venues. Because this served as a long-term, stable source of income, it enabled the group's organization to expand and sustain itself.
This search became the starting point of a series of investigations that would lead to the indictment and first trial in 2026.
This article is compiled based on publicly available information and interviews with investigators.