When confronted with a scandal, most Japanese politicians rely on a stock phrase: "I don't recall that." And so it it was refreshing to see that Hiroyuki Miyazawa, the 49-year-old House of Representatives lawmaker, came clean and stated plainly: "I remember that." A member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Miyazawa recently resigned his seat when Weekly Bunshun reported on his penchant for papakatsu sugar daddy compensated dating and regular use of sex workers. He is also supposed to have been practically living with a woman in her twenties during the pandemic, despite being ...

Papakatsu is the new "sugar daddy" genre of compensated dating. For some, it's an easy way for guys who are middle aged or older with some money to have sex with younger women. For others, it's a way to fall victim to crime. In May, a man was almost murdered by woman who looked in reality very different from the cute lady in the pictures she put online. Now comes a fresh cautionary tale. A 25-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of fraud. According to media reports, the host-addicted Mai Watanabe is accused of swindling three men out of ¥156 million through a romance scam. She ...

Be careful. That cutie you are messaging on that app or website may not be who she says she is. Meeting in person is still the safest way to guarantee someone looks like their picture -- but even this is a risky proposition, as their personality might be homicidal. A cautionary tale about papakatsu has generated headlines in Japan recently. Rino Ito was arrested near Hiratsuka Station on May 4 for attempted murder after stabbing a middle-aged man in the belly with a knife. The 28-year-old called Kanagawa police herself and confessed to the crime, before waiting for officers to arrive and ...

Papakatsu, the buzzword that refers to compensated dating for sugar daddies, is in the news again. Takeru Yoshikawa, a politician with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has been accused of drinking with an 18-year-old girl. House of Representatives member Yoshikawa, who is 40 but frankly looks a but older (perhaps it's the jowls), has a wife and two daughters. He was photographed arriving with the girl at a high-end hotel in the Odaiba bay district of Tokyo in late May. According to the scoop in News Post Seven (that includes 46 pictures!), he and the girl arrived, checked in, and then ...

Is compensated dating with sugar daddies increasing among Japanese women due to remote working? Bunshun Online had an intriguing article suggesting something to that effect. It interviews a 24-year-old female office worker who has started doing "papakatsu," a newly coined kind of compensated dating where younger women go on dates with older men. She started her new sideline in January and over the course of the past few months, has met over 60 men this way. The woman says that shifting to working remotely has changed her whole daily schedule, making it more flexible, whole semi-lockdowns ...

In December 2019, it was reported that 61-year-old Japanese politician Yasuhiro Ozata (小里泰弘) was asked to pay a "break-up fee" (solatium) by a much-younger woman with whom he was having an affair. The Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives and former Cabinet minister allegedly paid Yuno Morita (森田由乃) ¥100,000 per night during their relationship. They became acquainted through a members-only club where she worked in Roppongi three years ago. They would subsequently meet as often as three times a month at a hotel -- high-end, naturally, not some grubby ...

It's an open secret that "compensated dating" (援助交際, enjo kosai) is common in the Japanese idol world, even among mainstream entertainers and celebrities. Just as the casting couch exists, so too does the dating table. Idols don't earn that much money and their careers are fickle, so they boost their income with dates. There doesn't always sex involved, it should be added, but it's surely not impossible. It's like a hostess "dohan" date (where the hostess accompanies you for dining before going to the club together) or services offered by "dating clubs" (交際クラブ, kosai ...