KUALA LUMPUR - The Tokyo Metropolitan Police dispatched officers to Thailand and Laos on February 2 to hold discussions on illicit financial transactions and child sexual exploitation, amid growing concern over cross-border human trafficking cases involving Japan.

The move follows a case revealed last year in which a 12 year old Thai girl was forced to provide sexual services at a massage parlor in Japan, prompting authorities to conclude that stronger cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies was necessary.

According to investigators, the girl entered Japan in June last year with her mother on a 15 days temporary stay visa. 

After being left behind at the establishment, she was reportedly forced to serve around 70 customers over 40 days.

In September, the girl went to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau, where she was taken into protective custody. She returned to Thailand in December.

In a separate case, a 61 year old Japanese man was arrested in late January for allegedly attempting to launch a blog suggesting child sexual exploitation in Laos.

Police allege that in 2022, the man used a false phone number to contract a Japan based rental server service to create the blog.

These cases are part of a broader pattern of cross-border human trafficking and child sexual exploitation that has come to light in recent years. 

Such issues have also been flagged in the U.S. Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which has criticized Japan for insufficient countermeasures.

The incidents highlight structural concerns over Japan’s role as both a destination and transit country for human trafficking.

Japanese authorities have indicated that they plan to strengthen cooperation with local governments in Southeast Asia to address these transnational crimes.