Osaka cops fire back at mayor Toru Hashimoto’s comments and cosplay fetish

On May 23, Osaka Prefectural Police arrested Daishi Yamamoto, the 38-year-old manager of “fashion health” club Stewardess Story for providing sex services in violation of the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses.

If weekly tabloid Shukan Jitsuwa (June 13) is to be believed, the bust of the establishment is a response by law enforcement to the controversial comments of Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto.

Hashimoto made headlines earlier in the month by saying that the Japanese military’s systematic use of “comfort women” during World War II was “necessary.” The mayor also indicated that members of the U.S. military stationed on Okinawa may wish to utilize Japan’s sex industry in lieu of sexually assaulting the local female population.

In referring to the recommendation made to the military, the magazine quotes a sex industry writer who says that in most cases politicians express a need to shut down undesirable establishments. “But in this case, he is advocating protection of the industry,” says the writer. “This was a complete loss of face for the Osaka Prefectural Police.”

Stewardess Story, which is located in a business district in the Katamachi area of Miyakojima Ward, not far from Osaka’s government offices, provides oral sex services as administered by hostesses attired in airline uniforms. The shop is partitioned into private rooms that offer different periods of service. Customers entering the cabin before 3 p.m. are entitled to an “Economy Class” rate of 4,000 yen for the first 20 minutes, with a “First Class” option, which extends for 40 minutes, available for 9,000 yen.

Since the establishment is one of many salons in the area offering sexual services, one may wonder why it was singled out.

A local news reporter says that Hashimoto holds a fetish for women in uniforms. Last year, Shukan Bunshun reported on an affair between the mayor and a hostess at a cosplay pub that specialized in women dressed as cabin attendants.

The crackdown on Stewardess Story then was the cops’ answer. “You know they were grinning from ear to ear following that bust,” says the reporter. (A.T.)

Source: “Fushokuin mo nigawarai tekihatsu Osaka-fucho chokin kosupure fuzoku no honkaku saabisu,” Shukan Jitsuwa (June 13, page 45)