Japan police rescue Thai girl, 12, trafficked by her mother to massage parlour in Tokyo

Japanese police have rescued a Thai girl, 12, who was trafficked to a Tokyo massage parlour and forced to work there for a month.

Thaiger reported that police arrested the parlour's owner, Masayuki Hosono, on Nov. 4.

Hosono, 51, is suspected of violating the Labour Standards Act for employing the underage girl between Jun. 27 and Jul. 29.

Police did not disclose whether he admitted to his charges.

Exploited

This comes after the girl served about 60 customers while working at the parlour for 33 days.

According to NHK World Japan, the girl was allegedly forced to provide sexual services to clients.

She earned around 627,000 yen (S$5,345), all of which went to Hosono and her mother.

Tricked

According to Thaiger, the pair are allegedly responsible for orchestrating the girl's ordeal.

The girl attended a state secondary school in Thailand while living with her grandparents and sister.

Her mother worked abroad providing sexual services.

Thairath reported that in late June, the girl and her mother entered Japan on a 15-day short term stay visa which is also known as a tourist visa.

The girl was unable to communicate in Japanese as it was her first time in Japan.

Abandoned

The Asahi Shimbun reported that the girl told police and other authorities she went straight to the building housing the massage parlor after she arrived at the airport in Japan.

Sources said her mother told her to work there and taught her daughter how to provide sexual services to male customers.

The girl slept in a room in the building with her mother that night.

Her mother then returned to Thailand on Jul. 11 without her.

The girl was allegedly forced to work in the massage parlour where she was said to have only received a small food allowance and slept in the kitchen.

After leaving the massage parlour in August, the girl continued working at another venue outside Tokyo which her mother arranged.

She said: "I thought my family wouldn’t be able to make a living if I didn’t work."

Her case was brought to light after she went to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in mid-Sep. 2025 to ask for help.

Protective custody

The girl has since been taken into protective custody as a trafficking victim.

She is said to be the youngest foreign victim of human trafficking ever handled by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

Following her ordeal, the girl is being provided with psychological support while authorities are coordinating her return home.

Top photos via Canva