News

Hotel Carib in Yokohama's Asahi Ward, two managers of which were arrested for operating a love hotel in a prohibited area. (Mainichi)

Police are cracking down on illegal love hotels, with two men arrested in Kanagawa Prefecture and documents sent to prosecutors on another 12 in Kanagawa and Tokyo.

Managers of Hotel Carib in Yokohama's Asahi Ward, Katsunori Nonaka and Naoya Hashimoto, both 38, were arrested under the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses for running a love hotel in a prohibited area. The fixtures at the hotel, which is run under a business hotel license, led police to deem the building a love hotel.

Documents on 12 staff from nine love hotels disguised as ordinary hotels have also been sent to prosecutors on the same charge. Police say that the nine hotels were not reported to local public safety commissions as required by law.

There are at least 3,593 love hotels disguised as ordinary hotels across the country, according to a 2008 investigation by the National Policy Agency, including in areas around elementary schools, prompting protests from those living nearby.