Regulations tightened on solicitation of prostitutes; Ministry of Justice review committee draft report; upper limit on fines increased

On the 17th, the Ministry of Justice's Expert Committee on the Regulation of Prostitution (chaired by Waseda University Professor Kayoko Kitagawa) approved the draft report. The bill includes the establishment of restrictions on the solicitation of "buyers," who are not subject to punishment under the current anti-prostitution law, and an increase in the maximum penalty for fines. Based on the report, the Ministry of Justice will proceed with concrete studies toward legal revision.

The current law stipulates that acts such as soliciting sales or waiting for customers in public places are punishable by imprisonment for up to six months or a fine of up to 20,000 yen.

According to the report, there was no objection to establishing regulations regarding the solicitation activities of ``buyers,'' including the opinion that ``the imbalance under current laws needs to be corrected.'' Punishments included wandering the streets in search of prostitutes and using social media to attract prostitutes.