Japan Enacts Bill to Tighten Penalties on Host Bars

   Tokyo, May 20 (Jiji Press)--Japan's House of Representatives on Tuesday enacted a bill to revise the entertainment and amusement business regulation law to tighten penalties on malicious host bars.
   The revised law will prohibit such bars from taking advantage of customers' romantic feelings toward drinking companions at the establishments, called hosts, to make them spend money or requesting customers to engage in prostitution to pay their bills.
   It will strengthen regulations on bar operators, such as by imposing a fine of up to 300 million yen on violators.
   The revised law, except for some provisions, will take effect one month after its promulgation, possibly as early as the end of June.
   The National Police Agency plans to release guidelines showing what specific acts and what degrees of viciousness will be subject to crackdowns.

(2025/05/20-19:50)

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