Tokyo police arrested five people at two Kabukicho bars before dawn on November 11, deploying about 160 officers including riot squads to a nightlife district where complaints of foreign visitors being overcharged have been mounting.
Riot police carrying protective shields appeared in the Shinjuku entertainment district shortly after 1:30 a.m. They lined up in front of a commercial building housing restaurants and bars and secured its entrances. Officers were also posted in front of another building about 100 meters away, and some passersby stopped to watch.
Investigators from the Metropolitan Police Department's security division, which handles enforcement in entertainment districts, had entered a bar in the building shortly before the riot squads arrived. The target was a business suspected of operating illegally, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
Police arrested a 62-year-old Nigerian man, the on-site manager of the late-night liquor-serving restaurant Luxor, and one other person on suspicion of violating the Entertainment Business Act through unlicensed adult entertainment. They also arrested a 35-year-old Japanese man, the on-site manager of the social restaurant Princess, and two others on suspicion of obstructing entry under the same law.
The Nigerian man has declined to speak, while the other four have admitted to the allegations, according to the security division. Police had received complaints from foreign customers who said they were guided to the two bars by touts and then overcharged.
Alongside the security division, the operation involved the special investigation unit for community safety, Shinjuku police station and riot squads. The riot police were posted to respond if sudden trouble broke out.