Teenagers Working in Bars Late at Night and Japanese Law

In Japan, restaurants and bars where people sit next to customers and serve them are regulated by special laws. These include hostess clubs, cabarets, and host clubs. The business hours of these establishments are determined to be until midnight. In recent years, however, the number of businesses offering intimate services has increased, and the number of “girls bars” that employ teenagers even late at night has been growing throughout Japan. The surge in the number of girl bars can be attributed to the 1999 amendment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law, which allowed women to work late at night. In addition, the age of majority in Japan will be lowered to 18 in 2022, and parental consent will no longer be required for part-time work. Incidentally, the age at which drinking alcohol is allowed in Japan is 20. In addition, “concept cafes,” including maid cafes, are registered as general cafes, and many of them employ high school students. Both “girl bars” and “concept cafes” are new forces that have emerged under the radar of the law, serving as gateways for young women to enter the night business. In this presentation, we would like to clarify that these social problems exist due to the abuse of the law.