Tokyo arrests four over Stripchat broadcasts as EU examines the adult platform

Tokyo studio operation faces public indecency allegations

Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department has arrested four people on suspicion of public indecency over explicit livestreams on Stripchat, an adult website based in Cyprus. Investigators say the broadcasts ran from March to August 2025, featured two naked performers and reached a large audience of unknown viewers.

The suspects include Yuki Kitagawa, 28, president of the Tokyo company TOPPA; a woman, 24, who worked as a manager at the firm; and two women, aged 40 and 34, who appeared as performers. The streams were mainly produced in studios in Tokyo.

Police suspect the operation collected more than 100 million yen in viewer fees and rewards from February 2024 onward. More than 100 people reportedly registered with TOPPA, which recruited women on X, formerly Twitter, by advertising revenue shares of up to 85 percent and possible hourly earnings above 30,000 yen.

The case has been described as Japan's first arrest of a business operator for organizing this type of livestream. It follows a separate Tokyo case in July involving four people who broadcast on Stripchat without an agency.

Stripchat is also under scrutiny in Europe. The European Commission opened formal proceedings in May 2025 to examine possible breaches of the Digital Services Act, known as the DSA. The Japanese investigation concerns acts organized and performed in Japan, while the European proceedings examine the platform's obligations.

For performers and organizers, the central issue in Tokyo is whether broadcasting from a private room becomes a public act when an unspecified number of people can watch online. Investigators say the audience for these shows meets that standard.

How TOPPA recruited and supported performers

TOPPA presented itself as an agency specializing in Stripchat. According to investigators, it supplied a room and equipment arranged as a studio, explained how to broadcast and divided the money paid by viewers.

The recruitment campaign targeted people seeking flexible work and quick income. Posts on X stressed large revenue shares and high potential earnings. More than 100 people reportedly registered at the company's office, giving the operation a pool of applicants beyond the two performers named in the arrests.

Kitagawa, TOPPA's president, promoted assistance for recruits and advertised a monthly earnings figure for 2024. His posts included these statements:

We give full support to help you earn with a streaming method tailored to each of you" and "Top monthly earnings for 2024: 1.6 million yen.

An investigative source described the convenience and perceived safety used to attract new performers, summarizing a typical recruitment pitch:

A high paying part time job with no in person meetings, no physical contact and a low risk of being discovered.

Those promises help explain the appeal of the work to people under financial pressure. Someone can perform in a room without meeting customers face to face, while an agency provides equipment and guidance. The legal concern arises from what is shown to the online audience, even when the performer remains physically separate from viewers.

Where the money came from

Stripchat supports Japanese language content and reportedly hosts more than 100,000 streamers worldwide. Viewers buy platform coins and spend them to watch performances or send tips. Streamers receive payments based on the coins they collect, after the platform deducts its commission.

TOPPA's operation added an agency to that payment process. Investigators say the company arranged broadcasts and split viewer payments, with money distributed to performers after platform commissions. Recruitment advertisements said performers could retain up to 85 percent of revenue.

Police suspect more than 100 million yen flowed through the operation in fees and rewards from February 2024. That figure describes money collected through the activity; the payment process also involved deductions by the platform and distributions to performers.

The advertised earnings gave recruits several ways to imagine the potential income: more than 30,000 yen an hour, a share of up to 85 percent, and a highest monthly figure of 1.6 million yen for 2024. These were recruitment claims, while investigators are examining the money connected to the broadcasts.

Why a private room can become a public setting

Article 174 of Japan's Penal Code covers public indecency. It provides for imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to 500,000 yen, or a minor fine. The Tokyo arrests concern suspected violations of that provision.

Investigators argue that sexual acts shown through a livestream to an unspecified number of viewers are effectively public. A physical crowd does not have to stand in front of the performer. The audience can be watching through screens from many different places.

Japanese courts have long treated exhibitions to an undefined audience as public, including when the location is private or online. A payment requirement can still leave a broadcast open to the public if anyone who pays can gain access, or if the audience cannot be identified in advance.

In the TOPPA case, police say many unknown users could see the broadcasts. Prosecutors will need to assess whether the acts were presented in a public setting under the law and whether each suspect's involvement meets the requirements of the offense. The organizer, manager and performers had different roles in producing the shows.

Livestreaming also removes the opportunity to edit a recording before an audience sees it. That immediacy, combined with access across national borders, is part of why police treat these events as public exhibitions rather than private recordings.

Investigative accounts describe the broadcasts as uncensored. Japan also regulates the distribution of obscene material, and domestic adult video producers traditionally use pixelation over genital areas to comply with the law. Uncensored broadcasts can create additional legal exposure for people making or organizing content in Japan, although public indecency is the allegation behind these arrests.

The dates behind the investigations

The suspected money flows cover a longer period than the March to August broadcasts identified in the Tokyo case. The European proceedings also have their own timetable, beginning with Stripchat's designation under the DSA in 2023.

• December 2023: The European Commission designated Stripchat a Very Large Online Platform under the Digital Services Act.
• February 2024 onward: Police suspect TOPPA's operation collected more than 100 million yen in fees and rewards.
• 2024: Kitagawa's recruitment posts advertised top monthly earnings of 1.6 million yen.
• March to August 2025: Investigators say the broadcasts involved in the Tokyo case took place.
• May 2025: The European Commission opened formal proceedings into possible DSA violations by Stripchat.
• July 2025: Tokyo investigators acted in a separate case involving four people broadcasting on Stripchat without an agency.

As of September 7, 2025, the four suspects in the TOPPA case were expected to be referred to prosecutors for a decision on charges. No date was given for that decision or for an outcome in the European proceedings.

A large Japanese audience and a separate EU inquiry

Similarweb figures put Stripchat's average traffic at about 667 million visits a month from May to July. Japan accounted for roughly 20 percent of that traffic, second to the United States at 21 percent. The two countries together represented about 41 percent of visits.

The platform's Japanese language support helps it reach users in Japan. Its audience figures also show the scale of the service on which TOPPA arranged broadcasts: a studio operating locally could reach viewers through a platform with hundreds of millions of monthly visits.

The European Commission's December 2023 designation placed Stripchat in the DSA category for Very Large Online Platforms. That status brings extra duties, including assessing and reducing widespread risks from illegal content, providing strong reporting and moderation systems, and publishing detailed transparency reports.

Platforms in that category are also subject to audits. Serious failures to meet DSA obligations can bring fines of up to 6 percent of a company's global annual turnover, meaning its annual revenue worldwide.

The Commission's formal proceedings, opened in May 2025, examine possible failures by Stripchat to meet the law's requirements. The platform has been under examination over its handling of harmful content and user safety. The Tokyo investigation, by contrast, focuses on the conduct of people organizing and performing broadcasts within Japan.

Police attention extends beyond agencies

Tokyo investigators had already acted in July against four individuals who broadcast on Stripchat without an agency. One suspect was believed to have been streaming to help pay a mortgage.

Investigators describe a steady increase in people turning to explicit livestreaming because it is easy to enter and promises quick income. An agency can provide a studio and technical guidance, but the July case shows that police attention also reaches people arranging broadcasts independently.

A senior investigator compared the growth with illicit part time jobs and said viewers contribute to the activity through their payments. Viewer fees and tips provide the income that keeps broadcasts running, making the audience part of the financial structure police are examining.

Officials also warn about a lasting digital footprint, sometimes described as a digital tattoo. A broadcast may feel temporary while it is happening, yet recordings and screenshots can continue circulating after the stream ends.

For performers, that creates risks beyond the immediate investigation. Images can remain online and affect privacy, employment and relationships for years. The absence of an in person meeting does not give a performer control over what viewers record or share.

How authorities pursue activity across borders

Stripchat is based in Cyprus, and its servers and payment systems may be spread across several countries. Japanese police are targeting conduct within Japan, including arranging, filming and performing acts that may violate Japanese law. Authorities have given no indication that they are investigating the platform itself.

Digital activity can leave records in several places. Recruitment posts on X, leases for studios, payment flows and messages between organizers and performers can help investigators reconstruct how an operation worked.

Payments handled through third parties can also produce records that authorities seek to connect earnings with particular users and times. For an operation involving an overseas platform and a domestic studio, those records can help trace the movement of money between viewers, the service, an agency and performers.

Other Asian authorities have pursued different parts of online pornography operations. In Kuala Lumpur in 2024, police arrested several people accused of managing adult websites from luxury apartments and seized laptops, phones and internet equipment.

The Kuala Lumpur case concerned website administrators rather than local production. Alongside the Tokyo investigations, it illustrates police attention extending from conventional filming to the people and equipment supporting digital operations.

What the case means for performers and viewers

Performers considering explicit livestreaming in Japan face a central legal risk when acts are exposed to an undefined audience. An agency's promise of equipment, support, high earnings or a large revenue share cannot remove that risk.

A closed room can make streaming feel private and less threatening. A cam show can nevertheless reach thousands of viewers within minutes. Tips and requests may encourage more explicit acts, reducing the control a performer expects to have over the broadcast.

Uncensored material can also bring risks under laws regulating obscene distribution. For the four people arrested in the TOPPA case, prosecutors must assess the public indecency allegations and each person's role.

Viewers are unlikely to face the same charges as the people organizing and performing the broadcasts. Police nevertheless point to audience spending as the income supporting these shows. Studios, agencies and performers operating in Japan remain the main focus of the investigations described here.

Investigators could examine whether other people who helped operate the studio or recruit performers should be held accountable. The case will test how courts apply public indecency standards to broadcasts delivered through a global platform, while the European Commission separately examines Stripchat's responsibilities under the DSA.

Key Points

• Tokyo police arrested TOPPA president Yuki Kitagawa, a company manager and two performers on suspicion of public indecency.
• Investigators say the broadcasts ran from March to August 2025, mainly from Tokyo studios, and featured two naked performers.
• More than 100 people reportedly registered with TOPPA, which advertised revenue shares of up to 85 percent and hourly earnings above 30,000 yen.
• Police suspect the operation collected more than 100 million yen in fees and rewards from February 2024 onward.
• Article 174 provides for imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to 500,000 yen, or a minor fine.
• Stripchat averaged about 667 million monthly visits from May to July, with Japan contributing roughly 20 percent and the United States 21 percent.
• The European Commission opened separate proceedings in May 2025 into possible Digital Services Act violations by Stripchat.
• Officials warn that recordings and screenshots can continue circulating long after a livestream ends.