Starting last summer, Tokyo police have cracked down on the dangerous custom of bars allowing patrons to dance. Citing an obscure law from 1948, the police have put on notice all the dance clubs in Nichome, and presumably smaller straight dance clubs. The original ordinance insists that dancing leads to prostitution. Whereas Japan has no shortage of real prostitutes and media simulations, allowing people to dance would be far too dangerous, disreputable, and contaminating. Oh, Japan, wake up. We’re in the 21st century!
