Sex TraffickingArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking in Tokyo (2005)

A sex trafficking case from 2005 in Tokyo, Japan.

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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

See above. In 2005, this was the first arrest under a new law which Japan introduced in June to combat human trafficking. The Metropolitan Police Department stated this case was only the tip of the iceburg and planned to use recent amendments to the Penal Code, which criminalized human trafficking, to tighten its crackdown on such brokers. At the time the MPD determined that at least 77 foreign women found in 2004 to have been forced into prostitution were victims of trafficking, 48 of whom were from Thailand. Police were only able to take action on 23 brokers who introduced girls to pimps.

Response and intervention

The teenage girl, 13 at the time she was sold in 2002, was arrested in 2004 on suspicion of illegally staying in Japan after her visa expired. She was deported in June. The girl says she was forced to provide sex to 200 men since entering Japan in 2002. Unknown, as she was deported to Thailand.

Nearby cases

All 7 in Japan →

Bonded Labor2006

Tokyo, Japan, 2006

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Takashi Mori, 58, Koji Akagawa, 48, and two accomplices from Osaka sent false documents to the Japanese consulate in Khabarovsk, in Russia's Far East, with a request that visas be issued to a group of specialists for a period of training at one of the city's professional schools. A group of young Russian women entered Japan shortly after April 7. Investigation established that this and other groups, totaling 40 women, rather than taking courses were employed as hostesses at local restaurants and nightclubs.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking2011

Tokyo, Japan, 2011

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“Ahn recruited heavily indebted women and, through a loan shark, all their debts were repaid. Afterwards, they were sent to Japan, believing that they were to work at ‘massage parlors.’ Instead, the victims were locked up and forced to sell their bodies. “Their passports were also taken away from them and were under 24-hour surveillance. Most of the money they made was taken away.” A warrant for the trafficker’s arrest was issued on suspicion on of brokering Korean women into prostitution in Japan.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Forced Labor2023

Tokyo, Japan, 2023

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Vietnamese workers in Technical Intern Training Program placed in seafood processing instead of promised training. Excessive hours garnished wages confiscated passports Accused: Japanese company and Vietnamese broker.

1 source