Teen prostitute dies in Okinawa brothel blaze

The Mainichi Shimbun
October 16, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071016p2a00m0na008000c.html

NAHA -- A 17-year-old girl died after a fire razed a "soapland" brothel here, police said.

Another eight people in the brothel Idol at the time of the blaze were carried to the hospital, with 49-year-old owner Hidehiko Shimoji and a 21-year-old sex worker unconscious in a serious condition.

The remaining six people, including two male customers, escaped the blaze with only minor injuries.

Police may lay charges on the brothel owner for breaking the Child Welfare and adult entertainment regulation laws as the girl who died was only 17 and underage.

Police and fire department officials inspected the ruins of the brothel. The soapland had six private rooms, two waiting rooms for staff and another waiting room for customers.

Shimoji and the girl who died in the fire had been in one of the staff waiting rooms when the fire broke out on Sunday night, while the other woman in a serious condition had been found collapsed in one of the brothel's private rooms.

Authorities believe the fire broke out in the staff waiting room and spread throughout the brothel occupying the third floor of a four-story ferro-concrete building.

（Mainichi Japan） October 16, 2007