Crime Jake Adelstein on Japan's new Host Club Law

Hosts, Japan's grey zone version of aggressive gigolos, are about to find themselves in serious trouble. The predatory practices of these good looking guys with too much hair gel are now punishable. As of next month, thanks to a newly revised law under the catchy title (Fueiho) 風営法 (The Entertainment Business Act), Tokyo's cracking down on the kind of hosts who make used car salesmen look like Buddhist monks. This isn't just a case of bureaucratic tedium—it's a rare instance where the law actually addresses something happening in the real world. Namely: women getting drugged, manipulated, and fleeced by slick-haired twenty-somethings with snake oil smiles and Champagne Tower quotas.

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