18-06-2025
Will the new law force 'street scouts' for sex businesses off the sidewalks for good?
For the past several decades, it was common to see "scouts" -- nattily dressed and well groomed young hunks -- accosting young women on sidewalks near major rail stations in Tokyo. Their standard pickup line was typically something like, "Hi! Say, would you be interested in making lots of money?"
If the young woman showed interest, she might be introduced to a cabaret club, erotic bathhouse or some other type of "pink" business.
The remuneration for this work could be quite lucrative: scouts earned a finder's fee plus a fixed percentage (known in the trade as "scout back"), said to range from 10% to 15%, but in special cases as high as 20% of the woman's earnings for as long as she remained on the job.
Viewed as a public nuisance, the authorities eventually began cracking down. In January 2024, a scout group that went by the name "Access," was charged with violation of the Employment Security Law. The group, which oversaw the activities of some 1,500 scouts, was said to have raked in some 7 billion yen in revenues over the previous five years. Another outfit named "Natural," believed to be the nation's largest group, allegedly achieved annual sales of 5 billion yen. Its employees were also arrested in a police dragnet.
According to the "special report" in Spa (June 17), street scouts were earning 500,000 yen per month on average, with the "aces" at the top of their profession taking home anywhere between 1 to 2 million yen per month. The bosses who oversaw the scouts' operations also raked in generous rewards.
On May 20 of this year, however, revisions to the Act Regulating Adult Entertainment Business came into effect that effectively banned the "scout back" system. Those found in violation were subject to fines of up to 1 million yen and/or imprisonment of up to six months. At the same time, the fines for operating unlicensed sex shops were also substantially increased, up to a maximum of 10 million yen for individuals and 100 million yen for corporations.
"This came as a huge blow," the pseudonymous "Mr A," a self-described freelance scout, told the magazine. "About half of the soaplands and delivery health operators I've been scouting for have dropped me. Needless to say, my income has also fallen by around half, and I've had to be extra cautious or risk running afoul of the new law.
"About half the scouts I know have given up their jobs," he added.
Fearing they would also be targeted, many of the soaplands in Tokyo's Yoshiwara red-light district dismissed female workers having ties to the scouts, and as a result the bathhouses are presently confronting a worker shortage that's hurting their bottom lines.
"Last March, the job recruiting web site called 'Girls' Heaven' halted its recruitment for soaplands and also ceased postings on another site, called 'Vanilla,'" said Mr "B," who works as manager in a scout office in Shinjuku's Kabukicho.
"Most of the scouts who left the business were facing a severe earnings shortfall, leaving them with only 200,000 yen per month," B continues. "That left them with little choice but to quit and look for other work. The remainder are still working as scouts; after all, there's no chance of sex businesses disappearing. So with fewer competitors out on the streets, I think their work will pick up again."
One scout, infuriated at being dropped by a sex shop, was said to have sought revenge by purposely introducing a woman known to be carrying a sexually transmitted disease to a shop.
B also mentioned two examples of high-profit, low-risk businesses that might circumvent the new law because they've been disregarded by the authorities up to now: so-called men's aesthetic salons and kon-kafe ("concept cafes," such as maid cafés, butler cafes, and prince cafes, designed around a specific theme or worldview).
"No matter how strictly the laws are enforced, there are always loopholes," the aforementioned "A" tells the magazine. "That is to say, it makes sense for the sex shop to appear to have severed ties with scouts. Or, girls might change from a massage parlor to a cabaret club, but continue to be working for the same scout.
"Actually there's a certain soapland in Yoshiwara that hired a former scout to drive the shuttle bus that takes the girls to and from their work. Instead of "scout back" payments, he receives remuneration in the form of a regular salary," A added.
"Before the new revisions to the law went into effect, scouts had been cited by invoking other laws, such as causing damages according to the Employment Security Law," attorney Mikako Watanabe explains. "However these all had to be processed on a case-by-case basis.
"Will the new law actually make enforcement any easier?" Watanabe asks rhetorically. "Unfortunately, all laws seem to have limitations on what they can accomplish."
© Japan Today
