Tokyo: A former school principal who allegedly paid for sex with 12,000 women while in the Philippines has been arrested in Japan, over claims at least one of them was as young as 13.

Yuhei Takashima had reportedly meticulously catalogued nearly 150,000 photographs of his exploits over a 27-year period in around 400 separate albums because he wanted "to keep the memories", Jiji Press and other media reported.

Japanese man Yuhei Takashima, 64, allegedly paid for sex with as many as 12,000 women, one of whom was as young as 13, according to reports. File photo. Credit:Reuters

Takashima, aged 64, told police he started paying for sex when he was dispatched to a Japanese school in Manila in 1988, Jiji reported.

Thereafter, the former middle-school principal had been on three sex tours a year to the country, for a total of 65 visits, reports said.