Tokyo police arrested a 50-year-old idol group operator on Nov. 11 on suspicion of nonconsensual intercourse with a teenage high school girl who came to an Akihabara concept cafe for a part-time job interview, Shueisha Online reported.
The suspect, Shoichi Hiraki, has denied the allegation, saying he does not believe any such thing happened. Police had received similar sexual assault complaints involving multiple other staff at the shop, according to the report.
Hiraki was the operator of the idol group 9 Jikan 1500 Yen, which grew out of MINT, a concept cafe and bar in Akihabara. A concept cafe is a themed venue where staff perform a character or persona for customers.
What police allege
The incident took place around 8 p.m. on July 22, 2026, in a room in a building near JR Akihabara Station. The girl had come to interview for a job at the concept cafe.
She first met a man who identified himself as the hiring manager, according to a reporter covering the case. Hiraki then appeared, identified himself as the owner and led her to another building, saying he would show her the staff break room.
Inside the room, Hiraki asked the girl about her ambitions for idol work and is suspected of committing a sexual act while she was unable to refuse.
Contact services drew criticism
The group began full-scale live performances around spring 2023. It built its following on "rich contact cheki" photo sessions, in which members posed pressed close against fans for instant photos.
Videos spread online of finger kisses, in which a member holds a fan's finger between her lips, along with back hugs and princess carries. Social media users asked whether the group had gone too far.
In April 2024 the group held a "Kleiner mouth-to-mouth cheki event," passing a small bottle of alcohol from mouth to mouth. On Nov. 2 this year, management banned a fan for slipping a slip of paper with a LINE ID inside a member's swimsuit during a swimwear sale. Questions were raised about the operator's safety management, not only the fan's conduct.
A veteran fan who denied his own resume
An acquaintance who has known Hiraki for more than 20 years said he was not surprised by the arrest. Hiraki was famous as an idol fan from the late 1990s, devoted to a national girl group that dominated the era.
He became a regular at a restaurant run by the family of one of the group's central members and grew close to the family, the acquaintance said. He later moved on to AKB48 and became a well-known figure among its fans.
Hiraki also traded tickets and merchandise, the acquaintance said. He repeatedly resold AKB48 tickets during the group's peak, despite a ban on resale, and made considerable money, the acquaintance said.
Hiraki told people around him that he had been a former executive of AKB48's management company. A former member of 9 Jikan 1500 Yen said she had heard the same story from him.
AKB48's management side denied it. Asked by the outlet in multiple interviews, the operator said flatly that Hiraki was never an executive. The acquaintance said Hiraki never worked there formally.
A cafe that paid the bills
Producing an idol group costs a great deal of money, and there is no income until the group sells, the acquaintance said. Having members work at the concept cafe meant income kept coming even if the group did not take off.
A former member said the group began with the Akihabara cafe, whose staff and other women were recruited with the question of whether they wanted to be idols. There is no doubt Hiraki was at the top, she said.
The group's contact services caused friction with other acts on the same bill. Another acquaintance said some performers refused to appear alongside 9 Jikan 1500 Yen, and that Hiraki changed the group's name to get it on stage.
Hiraki sometimes watched his own group's shows from the front row. A fan said he seemed to want to see his group up close, and that the habit carried over from his years following idols.
Former members say the group's internal environment was abusive. They describe harsh verbal abuse of members and violence toward a female manager.
Internal LINE messages obtained by Shueisha Online contain repeated threats, including "I'll kill you" and "I'm going to kill you tomorrow." Hiraki also invited female members to his home, asking whether he could go to their houses, according to the report.