Red faces as Japanese workers are accused of 800-strong orgy in China
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Sunday December 14, 2003
The Observer
Abandon your shame in the country you've left behind - Tabi no haji kakisute - is an old Japanese saying regarded as giving carte blanche to lotharios playing away from home.
But it will bring scant comfort to the 288 male construction company workers whose alleged appetite for uncomplicated, anonymous sex a long way from home has returned to haunt them and their government.
Twelve Chinese 'mamis' - female pimps - are facing up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of organising prostitution. The women, whose trial opened on Friday, are accused of running a two-day mass orgy involving the men and 500 prostitutes at a five-star hotel in Zhuhai in Guangdong province in September.
To underline the sensitive nature of the case, the trial was held behind closed doors amid tight security, as police attempted to head off the type of anti-Japanese protests that broke out when news of the two-day romp became public.
Despite speculation that the women would be sentenced yesterday, their trial, already delayed three times, ended without a decision according to court officials in Zhuhai. Chinese courts can take weeks to issue a ruling.
Most of the Japanese were employees of Kooki, an Osaka construction company. After checking into the hotel on 16 September, they reportedly paid the equivalent of between £90 and £130 a night - far more than they paid for their rooms - in return for the women's services.
Although none of the Japanese tourists has been indicted, there are reports that Chinese authorities are now preparing a case against them. The construction firm admitted some of its employees had hired female 'companions' during their trip, but denied they had paid for sex.
On most other days of the year, the travellers, mutual vows of discretion made, would probably have returned home unburdened by their alleged bout of bad behaviour. This time, however, Japan's and China's shared history quickly caught up with them.
The day time was called on the alleged orgy, 18 September, is known in China as 'the day of shame' as it marks the anniversary of the 1931 Mukden Incident, the beginning of the Japanese army's bloody occupation of Manchuria, during which it conducted biological warfare experiments on civilians and forced women to work as sex slaves.
The local response to emerging reports of the incident was overwhelming. Online notice boards were inundated with anti-Japanese messages, with one site reporting more than 30,000 postings. The China Daily newspaper suggested the tourists had deliberately chosen 'this sensitive time to humiliate the Chinese and tout their wartime behaviour.' Phoenix TV, a regional broadcaster, said the incident recalled the 'atrocities of Japanese militarism' across Asia. In Japan, meanwhile, the media sniffed that the Chinese had lost their sense of humour.
But life in Zhuhai may never be the same. The orgy scandal was followed by a police crackdown on bars and prostitution. Taiwanese and Japanese tourists are staying away. Karaoke bars must close at 11.30pm, two and a half hours earlier than usual, and dancing till dawn is off the tourist itinerary. Massage parlours are allowed to continue operating, on condition they close all of their VIP rooms.
As those who make their living in the city's once thriving entertainment industry try to repair the damage done by an orgy of astounding proportions, this probably isn't the best time to point out that, poor timing aside, in this case size really did matter.
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