Former Tokyo massage parlor operator given five years for employing Thai girl

The former owner of a massage parlor in Tokyo was sentenced to five years in prison and fined ¥1 million ($6,458) on Tuesday for employing a 12-year-old Thai girl, in a case that shocked the nation.

Prosecutors had sought a six-year prison sentence and a ¥2 million fine for Masayuki Hosono, 52, who ran the parlor in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.

Hosono was found guilty of having the Thai girl work at the parlor despite her being a minor, and of having her perform sexual services for him and his clients.

The Thai girl and her mother came to Japan in June 2025 under a short-term visa. The mother subsequently brought her daughter, who had been physically abused by the mother, to the massage parlor via a Thai broker and forced her to work there to repay the mother’s debt, according to the ruling.

The mother told the girl to describe herself as the mother’s “20-year-old younger sister,” the ruling read. During her time at the massage parlor, the girl was reportedly abused by around 60 customers, and the more than ¥600,000 she made was transferred to a bank account connected to her mother, who had left Japan.

The girl eventually escaped and ran to a Tokyo immigration services center for help in September 2025.

The mother, meanwhile, was detained in October in Taiwan by immigration authorities and deported back to Thailand, where she was arrested. She was sentenced to 7½ years in prison by a Bangkok court in June.

Hosono had pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying he was unaware the girl was underage and blaming her mother, an argument that was partially accepted by the court.

“Regarding (the girl), the mother deserves the severest condemnation for psychologically dominating the girl, bringing her from Thailand to Japan to economically exploit her and forcing her to engage in illicit sexual acts. The defendant was also deceived, to some extent, by the girl’s mother,” said Judge Hiroshi Ikegami before the Tokyo District Court.

“The psychological damage she suffered is beyond imagination,” Ikegami added.

Hosono was also found guilty of employing a Thai woman who did not have the proper work visa for the job. Additionally, he was running the sex massage parlor where he was not authorized to do so.

The girl was put into protective custody as a victim of human trafficking in Japan before returning to Thailand in December, where she was placed under the care of a local support organization.