An arrest warrant was issued on 12 Nov 2025 for a 29-year-old Thai woman who allegedly trafficked her 12-year-old daughter to Japan for sex work at a Tokyo massage parlour.
The girl was rescued by Japanese police after being forced to serve approximately 60 clients within 33 days at a private-room massage establishment in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward.
The girl, who attended a state secondary school in Thailand, was born in northern Thailand and lived with her younger sister and grandparents before the trafficking incident. Her mother had been working abroad providing sexual services during this time.
Mother Abandons Daughter in Japan, Girl Forced to Provide Sexual Services
On 27 Jun 2025, the mother and daughter travelled from Thailand to Japan on a 15-day tourist visa. This was the girl’s first visit to Japan.
Upon arrival, the mother took her daughter directly to a massage parlour operated by Masayuki Hosono, 51, in the Yushima district near the busy Ueno area.
The mother taught her daughter how to provide sexual services to male customers. “It ends when you make the customer ejaculate,” she allegedly instructed the girl.
The pair slept together in the building housing the shop on the first night. The mother disappeared the following morning.
The girl, who does not speak Japanese, was left alone in a foreign country with no choice but to continue working at the establishment. She slept near the shop’s kitchen and received only a small food allowance.
Between June and July, the girl serviced around 60 customers and earned over 627,000 yen (~SGD 5,345). The proceeds were transferred to a bank account linked to a family acquaintance of the mother.
The mother visited her daughter only once during the three-month period. The girl begged to be brought home to Thailand via social media.
Rescue and Arrests: International Investigation Underway
The case came to light in September 2025 when the girl went alone to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau in Minato Ward seeking help. She told officials she wanted to return to Thailand, reunite with her sister and grandparents, and attend school.
Police raided the massage parlour and arrested Hosono on suspicion of employing the underage girl in violation of the Labour Standards Act and coercing her into providing sexual services.
The girl has since been taken into protective custody as a trafficking victim. She is reportedly the youngest foreign victim of human trafficking ever handled by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
The mother was arrested in Taoyuan, Taiwan during a prostitution raid and is currently detained in New Taipei City. According to Taiwan’s immigration authorities, she arrived in September and overstayed her permit.
Local police detained her in a separate case and handed her over to the immigration department.
She has been linked to an international prostitution ring. Japanese authorities have requested her transfer to Japan for questioning before she is deported to Thailand for prosecution.
Police from both Japan and Thailand are expected to conduct a joint investigation into the suspected trafficking network. Investigators are examining communications between the massage parlour and the mother, suspecting that an organisation connected them.
The massage parlour employed numerous other Thai women and provided sexual services to customers for an extra fee. Japanese police are investigating whether brokers or organised groups played a role in bringing the girl to Japan.
A senior investigator described the case as “egregious”.
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