WAKAYAMA (TR) – Amid stricter crackdowns on grownup leisure scouting teams, collusion between them and the police has develop into a social problem.
In November, a police inspector from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Organized Crime Division was arrested for leaking investigative info to Natural, Japan’s largest industrial intercourse (fuzoku) scouting group.
That was not the one such case of a battle of curiosity inside Japan’s best. In truth, a case in Wakayama Prefecture resulted in probably the most notable scandals of 2025.
In that case, a superintendent — who has since stepped down from his publish — landed himself in sizzling water after repeatedly accepting free visits to a soapland bathhouse over a seven-year interval, as web site News Post Seven (Dec. 27) experiences.
Emperor
The bathhouse in query was Emperor, situated in Wakayama City. The former superintendent is Yasuhiro Horiuchi.
The former proprietor tells News Post Seven, “[The former superintendent] used his authority to make use of our soapland at no cost for about eight years. He threatened us time and time once more. He stated, ‘You know you could be arrested at any time, right?’”
For the uninitiated, a soapland is a sauna bath that provides full sex, which may — or, in most cases, may not — be a violation of the Anti-Prostitution Law.
In May, police arrested the owner for violating the aforementioned law. The allegations included providing a venue for female employees and male customers to engage in prostitution and knowing that they would do so.
The following month, Horiuchi, who had previously served as the chief of Wakayama-Kita Police Station, was reprimanded by Yasuyuki Nomoto, the chief of the Wakayama Prefectural Police, for having “private relationships with a regulated business.”
He later resigned voluntarily.
“Are you busy at the soapland?”
The matter emerged with a report in weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun (Sept. 25). On September 22, police chief Nomoto said, “It is truly regrettable that a senior official engaged in inappropriate relations with a regulated business.”
The owner tells News Post Seven that the relationship started seven years ago. “I took over Emperor from my predecessor and became the president of the management company in 2016,” he says. “My predecessor introduced me to someone in the police force who could give me advice. In early 2017, we met the former superintendent at a bar in downtown Wakayama.”
In attendance was the new soapland owner, his predecessor, the former superintendent and a former prefectural police officer who was retired. After eating and drinking, they went to a nearby club.
“When I sat next to [Horiuchi], he started talking about how he was always indebted to my predecessor,” the owner says.
According to the owner, Horiuchi came across as a humble person. He then got to the point.
“So, are you busy at the soapland? What kind of place is it?” the former superintendent asked. “I’d like to hang around with you someday. I’ll let you know immediately that I like brief women with massive eyes. Bad breath is an enormous no-no.”
That’s the way it began.
When he visited for the primary time, the proprietor confirmed him the worth listing within the ready room. “How long would it be?” the proprietor requested. He replied, “Sixty minutes is too short, maybe 80 [is fine],” he stated. “I’ll leave it to you.” He then went inside with out even taking out his pockets.
Thinking it could be impolite to attend, the proprietor returned to his workplace. When he got here again, the previous superintendent had already left. He requested a employees member about what occurred when he left. “I’m a friend of the CEO,” he stated. The employees member didn’t really feel just like the environment was proper to ask him for fee.
After that, he continued to make use of the bathhouse practically 100 instances at no cost, based on the proprietor.
“Shut us down”
For the primary two or three years, Horiuchi would name the proprietor to exit to dinner collectively earlier than he used the soapland. “I remember him using the spa for free over 50 times during that period,” the proprietor says.
After that, beginning round 2019, Horiuchi would choose a woman and are available to Emperor with out going to dinner. This grew to become an everyday incidence.
“[Horiuchi] never paid for anything,” the proprietor says. “He was usually very humble, but whenever he got drunk at a meal, he would emphasize, ‘This means we’re turning a blind eye to your establishment.’ I couldn’t refuse. I was terrified that if I didn’t entertain him, the authorities would shut us down.”
In September 2022, Horiuchi wrote to the proprietor through Line, “This is sudden, but are there any suitable [ladies] available to start tonight at 7:00 p.m.? Oh, if there aren’t any, I’ll give up.”
The following 12 months, he wrote, “Today, I had went out [eating and drinking emoji] with an alumnus I really hate. So I’m really stressed. So…are there any slender women under 155 centimeters tall with busts under 85 centimeters?”
The proprietor goes on to inform News Post Seven that generally he got here to the soapland with out notifying him. He’d use “his face as a pass.” In every case, the proprietor paid the ladies along with his personal cash, he says.
“Not at all”
As acknowledged beforehand, Horiuchi resigned with out dealing with allegations of violating the Public Servants Act, which can be relevant if it had been deemed he had acquired leisure on the home.
Indeed, the final assertion by the proprietor about him paying the women would appear to qualify as such a violation.
In response to an interview with broadcaster Kansai TV (Sep. 29), a consultant of the Wakayama Prefectural Police acknowledged, “The former superintendent said that it wasn’t free, and that he paid for it.”
The reporting crew then interviewed the previous superintendent immediately. The reporter requested, “Were there free sexual favors [provided by the soapland]?” Horiuchi didn’t reply.
The reporter probed additional, “Was there any threatening use of police power?” Again, Horiuchi didn’t muster a response.
For affirmation, the proprietor informed the community about Horiuchi paying, “No, not at all. It’s not right to ruin someone’s life!”
“Tantamount to embezzlement of public funds”
Satoshi Fujii, a professor on the Kyoto University Graduate School, says there are numerous unanswered questions.
“This is absolutely unacceptable. If this case is true, it would be an enormous injustice,” Fujii says. “In a democratic country, the people grant the police tremendous powers, such as the ability to arrest and investigate. The reason these powers are granted is to maintain national and social order.”
Fujii says that it’s completely unacceptable for somebody to make use of these powers for their very own enjoyment.
“If this is true, it is tantamount to embezzlement of public funds,” Fujii says. “If someone used the powers granted to them by all citizens for their own benefit, it would be absolutely unacceptable.”
On high of that, there’s a declare that this did the truth is occur.
“Either the person giving the testimony is lying, or the police are lying,” Fujii says.