Sun, Sep 05, 1999 page2

• Parents fear Japan bait and switch

  OVERSEAS WORKERS A group of young women have agreed to go to Japan as dancers, but their parents are worried that something more nefarious may be afoot

  • By Yu Sen-lun / STAFF REPORTER
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  Japan conjures up different images for people in Taiwan: an enticing tourist destination, karaoke bars and hot springs, pop music, an industrial giant, a thriving sex industry.

  For the parents of a group of young women who plan to work in Japan, worries abound. Are their contracts valid? Will their passports be taken away once they arrive in Japan? Will there be any part-time prostitution involved?

  During a press conference in Taipei yesterday, the parents of the women accused a variety show agent of fraud.

  

  A woman, known only by her family name name Chou, will leave for Japan today to join a variety show group. Fearing the trip might be a trap for young girls, her father, center, held a press conference yesterday to bring the matter to the attention of the public.

  PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

  Here's the story:

  A group of women signed contracts with the Hua-en Variety Group (華恩綜藝團) a month ago to work in Japan for six months as dancers at a small hot springs resort, and they are heading for Japan today.

  However, while the parents of some of the women have expressed concerns about the real nature of the "entertainment" their daughters will be providing -- to be polite, let's call it prostitution -- the group has denied the accusations.

  Its leader and other dance teachers claim the dance group was "completely clean," and the owner of the hot springs hotel in Japan also defended the dance group, saying the dance entertainment is just a way to boost business and added that he had been running the same show for 25 years.

  Case closed? Not yet.

  During the press conference held by Taipei City councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元) and the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation yesterday, the father of one of the women who is flying to Japan today said he had serious questions about the exact nature of the dance group. He said that while the women are supposed to give dance performances at the hotel as part of a variety show, they are also expected to work as waitresses. He said this makes him suspect that they might be forced to work as prostitutes as well, since Japan is notorious for tricking foreign women into working as "waitresses" in hostess bars and pubs.

  The mother of another women going to Japan also expressed her reservations, noting that the legal registration for the agency as a variety show group had expired long ago and that the group had refused to return the women's passports to individual members.

  Echoing the sentiments of the two concerned parents, Huang Shu-ling, (黃淑玲) a professor at the National Defense Medical School, said the job offer could very well be a trap for prostitution. She said that based on her research, Japanese agents have been hiring foreign women to work as dancers for more than 20 years, especially women from the Philippines, Thailand and sometimes Taiwan.

  "Only 20 percent of the dancing groups were actually clean," she said, adding that she is concerned some Taiwanese women might end up working as prostitutes in Japan after being tricked into working as waitresses.

  "Every woman has her dream, but she and her parents should be careful what's behind the dream," said Ho Bi-jane, (何碧珍) secretary general of the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation.

  The foundation and parents are urging the police to investigate the dance group.

  However, the dance group and the Japanese hotel have a different story to tell, saying the brouhaha is much ado about nothing.

  "I am really innocent," said Kao Hsiao-hua (高筱華), leader of the dance group. "I admit I have been negligent on the terms about the contract and legal registration, but that doesn't mean that I'm involved in prostitution," she said. She said she has been running performances by Taiwanese women at Japanese hot springs hotels for over 20 years and that the performances are traditional Chinese dances. The women are paid NT$20,000 per month and receive bonuses.

  Karushi Nodake, owner of the Terao Hotel in rural Toyama Prefecture, said there was no reason to be suspicious of his operation and that no part-time prostitution has ever been involved.

  He said the reason he hires Taiwanese women as dancers and waitresses is because Taiwanese dances are "different." He added that his hotel also features dance shows from other countries as well.

  The women have their own dreams, and are determined to pursue them. According to sources, they were all recruited through dance schools or aerobics training centers. Vocational high school graduates, the women range in age from 18 to 22.

  "I just want to learn Japanese," one women who is going to Japan with the group told the Taipei Times.

  Under pressure from the parents, the group has promised to rewrite the contract, to specify the job description and work conditions and the names of the employer and the hotel.

  But one major problem remains, one that has some parents and social critics on edge: the dance group and the hotel still refuse to let the women keep their passports once they are in Japan.

  While some critics of this practice consider it evidence of possible gangster involvement in the largely unregulated sex industry in Japan, Kao and Nodake remain adamant, asking: "What if some of the women try to run away from work and go to the big cities?"

  This is the kind of question that makes parents worry even more. Confiscating a person's passport is illegal in any country, Japan included.
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