Japanese Man Arrested for Recruiting 'Tea-Drinking Companions' for Elderly Sex

A Japanese man pretending to look for tea-drinking companions was actually looking for sexual partners among the elderly.

On the outside, it may appear to onlookers that the elderly members of the Japanese 'Three Loves' club is just drinking afternoon tea when they gather. What actually happens behind the guise of ceremonial tea-drinking is the possibility of sexual encounters among the elderly.

Tokyo police arrested a 70-year-old man and charged him with prostitution. The elderly man was reportedly arranging sexual encounters among the elderly, some of which are already more than 80 years old. The suspect had allegedly arranged sex for 350 women and 1,000 men in exchange for a "commission."

Japanese authorities said that Kiyohide Kuroda and his "Three Loves" club were in violation of Japan's prostitution laws. Mr Kuroda was accused of arranging sex among senior citizens by advertising in newspapers. He reportedly posts ads which suggest to elderly readers that they might like to meet "tea-drinking companions" at his "San Ai" the Three Loves club.

Mr Kuroda's oldest male customer was 88, while the oldest woman was 82. Majority of the select club's tea-drinking companions are already in their mid-sixties.

Membership to the Three Loves club was restricted to people over 40 years of age. Authorities said the tea-drinking club's sexual encounters have been going on for 10 years, with Mr Kuroda earning 30 million yen or $310,000 in commission.

A spokesman for the Tokyo police said Mr Kuroda was finally arrested for prostitution after he arranged for two women to meet two men for sex in September. When the police arrested Mr Kuroda, he told investigators that he recruited tea-drinking companions for "Three Loves" since he didn't want to give the impression that he was running a sex business.

He also said he thought customers of prostitution already knew what his ads meant.

According to Japan's Anti-Prostitution Law, no person is allowed to practice prostitution or become a customer of prostitutes.