bad! Dozens of Men Charged with Filming Women Bathing in Onsen

Jakarta –

Public hot springs or onsen in Japan are the target of crime. Japanese police have arrested 17 men who allegedly photographed and filmed more than 10,000 women bathing in onsens.

Quoted from Insider, Friday (17/2/2023), which quoted the Yomiuri Shimbun, the 17 names were obtained from the leader of the crime group at the onsen, Karin Saito, 50 years old. He was arrested in December 2021. Saito was arrested in Hyogo Prefecture, west of Kyoto.

He was charged with violating the law on prohibited photography and child pornography laws.

Between December 2021 and February 2023, another 16 men were arrested. The men came from all walks of life, including a doctor from Tokyo, senior company executives and local government officials.

The people were detained by police in 11 different prefectures.

Saito told the police that the syndicate he leads carried out peeping and photographing women in at least 100 onsens from 46 different prefectures. This action was carried out since he was 20 years old. That is, he committed the crime for 30 years.

After being arrested, Saito told police about at least a dozen other people in his group. Saito and his crew used expensive camera equipment and long telephoto.

Police say they took these photos while hiding in a mountainous area a few hundred meters from a spring. The group will also receive ‘special training’ from Saito, for example on the best way to photograph women. They also had a meeting to see the recording together.

Yutaka Seki, executive director of the Japan Hot Springs Association, said onsen had banned photography and filming in hot spring baths, but recent camera technology, with smaller camera sizes and better telephoto lenses, made it difficult to completely prevent such cases.

“I’m very much in favor of open-air onsen bathing, but incidents like this reflect badly (for onsens) and make people worry,” said Seki.

“And people’s wish to bathe in an onsen, as it used to be done in the past, has become more difficult,” he added.

In 2018, people convicted of taking photos without permission were given a year in prison and a fine of one million yen or Rp 113 million.

Hot springs or onsen are popular throughout the country among locals and tourists alike. Known for their mineral-rich hot springs, onsen are believed to have a relaxing effect on the body and mind. Those who bathe in the onsen are asked to be naked.

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