Watanabe Mai- The Life Story of Japan’s Most Famous "Love Magic" Scammer

[@Asianalysis]

◆Our Digital Book◆ THE SECRETS OF THE JAPANESE MIND- Demystifying the Japanese psyche towards life, gender, love, sex and more. payhip.com/b/eBk45 Based on my decade-plus years of experience living in Japan, our book will mainly be of fruit for reaching two goals: 1.Maximizing utility that is to be had in a Japanese setting, or a setting composed of Japanese people, by being able to understand why they do what they do (rather than take the path of just complaining of how they think and do things so differently) 2.Avoid the years of trial-and-error and pain in which I had to personally face when bonding and interacting with people from the island nation, composed of individuals whose psychological framework was by far the most idiosyncratic to that of people from any other country where I’ve lived in (South Korea, UK, Australia, China, Malaysia, etc) ◆About us◆ AL KIM I graduated from Waseda University 早稲田大学 (the alma mater of the current Japanese Prime Minister, Chairman of Samsung Group, CEO of Sony, president and CEO of Honda, etc) with a degree in Global Political Economy 国際政治経済学科 at the Department of Political Science and Economics 政治経済学部, and have lived, studied and worked in Japan for over a decade. I am in charge with most of the research and presentation on our KZbin Channel. HELEN JUNG My wife Helen majored in Japanese Language for her bachelor's degree, and has broad experiences working in Japan as a Japanese translator. Helen is in charge of most of the beautiful editing and thumbnail designs that you see on our KZbin Channel.

[@ish58]

Mai Watanabe got nine years for fraud. Yuka Takaoka got three years for attempted murder. The Japanese legal system is insane.

[@natm5005]

It's not just the Japanese legal system. In Australia, the man that killed my uncle got a maximum sentence of 7 years, yet shortly after, another person got arrested and charged with fraud with a minimum of 10 years in jail plus millions in fines. I'll never ever understand that.

[@umi2751]

Capitalism simply values property more than lives

[@ish58]

@natm5005 gahdamn bro that's terrible, sorry to hear that

[@RozettaVyper]

Japanese legal system is copying the American legal system to a T.

[@Insideranon]

Compare it to most others and you will pretty well find a similar sentiment in some way in every legal system

[@minsugamaxsalt]

She was definitely wrong. But It is strange that she is punished way harsher than child s*x offenders

[@Kerokerokeroppipipi]

Hate to say it, but the corrupt Ojisan in power can probably sympathise with the men who take advantage sexually, but cannot allow a woman to take advantage of men like them so they punish them more harshly. "Men do bad things, women don't so she must be very bad"

[@maki1404]

seems sexist 💀💀💀

[@ALLKASDLLS-mg4lu]

@@Kerokerokeroppipipi What are you talking about? In Japan, women generally tend to get lighter sentences. For example, the woman who stabbed her boyfriend, who was a host, was released after only one year. And this year, the woman who stabbed four people on a train didn't even go to jail, just a suspended sentence. Not even her face has been made public. On the other hand, in a 2021 incident in which a man injured about 10 people with a kitchen knife on a train, the man was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

[@OwnyOne]

That's Japan for ya

[@Hystericall]

She never asked for the money directly. It was given to her. I don't see how legally it can be fraud. She never promised the guy anything and she never directly asked for the money.

[@tman229]

Not to defend this girl because she should, of course, receive consequences for her actions. However, there are predators in Japan that have done daycare/teacher jobs, SA'ed children, got arrested, and served so much less of time that they were able to rinse and repeat up to 7 times without much publicity. So, for this girl to get 9 years for fraud, sound crazy to me.

[@Maletearsasoil]

These are facts:(

[@michaelransom5841]

Let's be honest.. her real crime here was not giving the government their cut! :P 100 million yen, and you didn't pay any taxes on it!!! 9 years in prison for you!! all about priorities!..

[@tman229]

@michaelransom5841 Took a couple of pages from the U.S huh?

[@tigeruntamed6036]

@@tman229😂

[@tigeruntamed6036]

@@michaelransom5841😂

[@Japanalysis]

Thanks for the shoutout! I don't generally make "follow-up" videos, and the story has continued to be interesting, so I am glad someone covered it!

[@Asianalysis]

Thanks for the acknowledgement, and you're most welcome!

[@Rinabow]

I see a lot of people who are very skeptical about her background, but as someone who has endured bullying, abuse, homelessness, and sexual exploitation, it absolutely makes sense to me how she turned out this way. A lot of the writings I've seen from her feel weirdly relatable to me, and I've definitely wondered at times in my life if I could have ended up where she is now if I'd have responded just a little differently to my experiences. She sounds like someone who was desperate for affection but never learned how to form real bonds with people, so she strung along men who gave her attention whilst chasing a fantasy of love with a man who was exploiting her in the same way. She is a symptom of a society that is growing increasingly more isolated, and then profits off the issue rather than resolving it.

[@DR3ADER1]

Doesn't matter, fuck this fraudster. She's only sorry she got CAUGHT and not because she defrauded people. I see the same old moronic and brain-dead comments when it comes to these twats. "Oh, she was bullied", "but her life was miserable" and "she just needed love and respect". She could have achieved all of the above by actively taking the time, work, and effort to NOT defraud people. Simple as simple gets.

[@LittleSparklingStars]

What she did was obviously wrong, but she too has been a victim since she was literally having sex with older men as a child. It's wild to me that she gets so much prison time when child rapists get less.

[@michaelransom5841]

Honestly, it's not the plausibility, or believability of the story of her background that causes people to be skeptical, it is the fact that she has lost credibility, and it's hard to know if this isn't just a fabrication to gain sympathy, regardless of if the past described could have happened. The issue is the fact that she has a history of lying and fabricated stories to manipulate others for her personal gain. She knows exactly how to make people feel so sorry for her that they will give her millions of yen to try and help her out. This means that she is 100% aware of the effect stories of abuse and neglect would have on public opinion. She is a talented story teller, and she knows it. So it is completely within character for her to simply take what she has read online from people with stories such as yours, and adapt them into her own narrative, even if completely fabricated. It is honestly very hard to know though... Yes, a past such as yours can push you down a path like this, but it is also just as likely that it was a product of sociopathic tendencies and host club culture. It's just hard to trust that what she claims is actually true since she has already demonstrated a lack of the normal internal sense of moral objection to manipulating others through deceit.

[@Rinabow]

@@michaelransom5841 I can absolutely understand the point that you're making, but I'm not judging her based on her diary entries but rather from her recorded actions. All of her scam victims were men aged over 50, which shows a pattern of her being preyed on by older men, and also indicates that she likely struggled to make connections of her own age. This is also apparent by how much of her stolen money she poured into a fantasy relationship with a host. All of these are signals of someone with a stunted social development who can't make normal friendships and is desperate to feel loved. I can absolutely understand that her diary entries may or may not be exaggerated for sympathy, but the point is that I already felt sympathy for her before I read any of that, because I understand just how lonely and damaged you'd have to be to dedicate so much of your life to someone who is literally being paid to care about you. The main reason I give any credibility to her diaries is because I know from experience that an abusive upbringing usually produces people that are desperate to feel affection in any wat they can, even if it's fake, and they know it.

[@Rinabow]

@@michaelransom5841 I can absolutely understand why her actions would affect the credibility of her autobiographical accounts, but I think that her recorded actions on their own reveal just how damaged she is as a person. It's not that I believe her words at face value, but moreso that it correlates pretty heavily with the way she behaved. She very clearly has a severely stunted social development, and this is evident by the fact that she didn't seem to have any real interests or hobbies aside from a man she was paying to care about her, and all her victims were men in their 50s who almost definitely had nothing in common with her. This indicates to me that she likely struggled to make mutual connections with people around her own age, and her dedication to a fantasy man shows that she was desperate to feel loved. I don't need to read her diaries to conclude that she's likely quite damaged, and I know from experience that behavior like this is quite common in people who never felt love as a child. The lack of a stable connection makes us desperate to find it elsewhere, and it can lead to us being very vulnerable to abuse, manipulation, and parasociality, because we don't have the mental fortitude to confront the idea that someone we might care about doesn't care about us. Everything about her actions from the scamming to the simping makes it clear that she was desperate to feel wanted and loved, and would do anything for it.

[@thewadeeffect]

So if she opened a business and paid taxes, she wouldn’t be in jail.

[@michaelransom5841]

Exactly... that was her real crime here.. not giving the Mafia, er... i mean government... their cut!

[@transationalien]

Correct. There are thousands of cabaret clubs, strip clubs, soaplands, etc... where women do exactly what Mai did, but "legally"

[@ASAPlotnik]

They gave her their money on their own volition 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@transationalien]

@@ASAPlotnik yes, and she gave her money to her host bf freely too. That much is true of every scam ever.

[@ASAPlotnik]

@@transationalien yeah that’s where she fucked up. I would never waste my hard-scammed money on a man, much lest a host

[@JustMe-hg5bq]

Am I the only one who noticed that her victims were "in love" 50 year olds who were trying to pay her to come and live with them, and she was barely early twenties by then? Tbh it sounds like extra steps prostitution and thats why none of them went to the police to take the money back tbh, bc they knew it was some sort of shady deal. IMO

[@captainmee3469]

i think it legal in japan

[@BrutusAlbion]

ah ... scamming 50 year old horny men is more legitimate than scamming 20 year old horny men because men who get scammed and are past their prime deserve to get scammed. Very good vibes from that logic. Such deep morality.

[@kelvinr.4221]

soapland IS prostitution in japan but covert so if you’re wondering if she "sold herself" to these old man it’s already in your face that she was doing to anyone willing to pay

[@freemanol]

It's probably legal, but then they have no legal right to sue her for not moving in. It would also be frowned on.

[@captainmee3469]

@@freemanol right... how sick that country are LOL ... that is real groomy LOL

[@dracocaelestis6370]

it almost feels like she got arrested because she didn’t pay taxes on embezzlement rather than for scamming, prostitution and that scam manual. also i don’t know if her childhood sob story is true but i do believe you need to go through some f-ed up stuff to develop that level of sociopathic behavior.

[@kurosan0079]

It's also possible that's she's just born sociopathic.

[@Deneteus]

The government wants their tax money but the Japanese government is also complicit with human trafficking at this stage and why not a single channel mentions this is crazy.

[@DR3ADER1]

It's actually for both. Especially if you've watched Japanalysis's video on this tool.

[@AndreasMüller-s5c]

@@kurosan0079 It's also the hosts "her boyfriend" that made her do it ! What about him ?! He should get prison too !

[@Cameron_David_]

Scam victims will not come forward, particularly when their intentions are not exactly moral. Its just that banks / tax departments have controls in place that alert them to large transfers of money that are not coming from a valid source of employment.

[@robotoboy30]

There's something to be said about how Japan treats women, and expects them to work in these kinds of jobs... and how women in Japan often feel obligated to do these things. Mai is a sympathetic villain. She definitely internalized her struggles, and turned towards a sociopathic way of thinking. She embraced a very scorched earth and selfish mindset to survive... but I also think that the environment that she lived in has always been hostile to women. I think it's important to lend her empathy even if she didn't lend her victims that same kind of empathy, because her life was most assuredly difficult. Host clubs, and hosts are often thugs and exploit women, while hostesses are exploited. I know some people try equate the two jobs as similar, but they aren't. The sexist and patriarchal gender dynamics still ultimately rule how these two jobs differ. She simply embraced the same kind of mentality the men had embraced around her. Honestly. I'm not saying her victims were bad people... but they were men. She was no doubt exploited as woman, and she decided to do the same to men. I can't really blame her, but on the other hand I still think what she did was wrong. My native (nationalistic) Japanese teacher would often tell me "Japan is the safest place on earth!" but as I've done research and read feminist scholars from Japan... it sure is... if you're a man.

[@donutsama285]

Nice simping. What's next ? " i can save her " ?

[@pattystar9793]

I dont understand why most of you keep saying she's lying about her background. Either its a lie or not, the men should have seen it coming. The men are in their 50s, do these men do think a 20s old girl would love them without an exchange? She's like their sugarbaby.

[@DR3ADER1]

Men in their 50s and 60s are the demographic that usually gets scammed the MOST. Look at the Vatican City's history of falling for real estate scams time and time again. The Vatican has the highest average age in the world.

[@Rinabow]

@@pattystar9793 honestly, I don't even care if her background is a lie, her actions alone show that she's deeply damaged.

[@tek87]

There is no exchange. She just takes their money. That's the scam.

[@takeyourtime3328]

"the men should have seen it coming" Nice blaming the victim and getting upvoted. I guess we should blame women in their 40s who fall in love with online scamers pretending beeing a 30s year old reach man.

[@rwparker1968]

Precisely. Lonely men offer their money for the illusion of a relationship. The illusion is the product that serves as food for their narcissistic egos. I have watched many videos about cases like this, and I have a lot of trouble feeling sorry for the "victims" of these "scams," because they ultimately are getting what they desire. They are overpaying, true, but people get ripped off by predatory merchants every day, and this is no different.

[@megacat]

While she stole like 100M, hosts regularly bring in more than 500M+ JPY annually. The average annual repeat customer value at Kabikicho host clubs is around 50M per repeat customer. How is that not any worse than what she is doing now? The fact is that the top 10% of hosts makes more money (20M+ USD annually) than many fortune 500 CEOs is telling. Except for the bottom 10% of hosts, who are usually new hosts, even below average hosts makes more than 10M JPY monthly. Most new hosts get past 10M+ monthly salary after a few months. Japan media have effectively made it a norm for women to spends 10s of millions of yen every year on hosts.

[@chithiennguyen1371]

1. Why do you only mention hosts but not hostesses? 2. It's legal and not a scam. Women willing to pay for the service and come back for more willingly.

[@Saironi]

It certainly seems like the problem isn't that she got paid to give men in their 50s attention. I think the spirit of what she did is basically no less morally reprehensible than an OF account. The only caveats are that 1) She's making up and lying about "emergencies" to get more money, but at the same time she doesn't lie about a family member being chronically ill or something. Man H for example could have easily said "oh tough luck you can't text for a few months" but he didn't because he wanted her attention. He's buying her attention still but she's lying. 2) The men might be less aware that she is doing this with multiple men because she doesn't have an OF account. Prostitution, Escorting, and Hosting is legal in Japan. For whatever reason she is basically doing the same thing in a more roundabout way. Probably because no pimp is making her do certain jobs and she doesn't need to be in physical contact with the men at all. Maybe because people in her family disaprove. On a moral level I agree, I don't really see how she's worse than a Host , Twitch streamer, OF "creator", or trophy wife. The spirit of rinsing people of cash by fostering a fake (sexual/romantic/ even just friendship) relationship with them is basically the same, no ? I guess the crux of the issue is that these men didn't consent to "seeing a hostess" . They just thought they were talking to a nice girl, not a sex work professional. But come on, a 22 year old is intrested in a man in their 50s that they never met? Any adult should know that the relationship that's being fostered is a fantasy and not a real thing.

[@irrelevantFJS]

​@@seregruin Only P in V sex is illegal. Literally everything else is legal to do for money. It's very messed up. Soap Lands are legal prostitution because you can pay for them to do anything else EXCEPT P in V sex. We'd still call that prostitution in the US, that's for sure

[@Saironi]

@@seregruin the famous "standing girl" phenomena and the documentary "The Great Happiness Space" . The famous prostitution districts. In the Netherlands prostitution used to be illegal but "getogen" : that means that everybody basically turns a blind eye. I think it's legal now. Maybe it's technically illegal but there's certainly several loop holes and blind eyes.

[@chithiennguyen1371]

@@megacat how about thousands of hostesses should get the same sentence then? Hostesses make double hosts since lonely men and rich men visit more and pay more when they visit the hostess club compared to when women visit the host club. Hostesses get millions worth of valuable gifts from lonely and rich men, too. If it is a fair system, then don't you think the same about hostesses, too? They don't scam money. They buy service and alcohols in those club legally.

[@jmdesp]

I don't understand how she got 9 years in prison, while there's a whole industry dedicated to doing the same thing that doesn't get arrested. Actually if this were a fair system, thousand of male hosts should immediately get the same sentence, but instead how many of them openly expose the luxury cars they bought with money extorted from lonely women using exactly similar technics ? Is the issue not that she extorted money but that the publication of a manual made it too visible for everyone what kind of things are done in the Japanese mizushobai world ?

[@ARKSAAXX-ys9gz]

Tons of hosts have also been arrested, but they're not newsworthy.

[@chithiennguyen1371]

1. Why do you only mention hosts but not hostesses? 2. It's legal and not a scam. Women willing to pay for the service and come back for more willingly.

[@chithiennguyen1371]

You mean hostesses?

[@abbadonne8342]

Exactly

[@chithiennguyen1371]

@@seregruin no, because my comments keep getting deleted, so I copied everything.

[@problemperson4221]

imo the reason why she got such a harsh sentencing is that mai specifically targetted older men who the judges probably are too, which made them sympathise with the victims more than lets say, a 50 year old man who SAed children.

[@mitch8697]

She is a great writer and is very introspective...I hope she can find a new life after time is served and be happy. To me, this sentence is very harsh. Thanks for this video! I would have never known about Mai.

[@RT-qd8yl]

I wasn't previously aware of the abuse she endured as a little girl. Regardless what she did to others, that alone is very sad. Also very cool of you to give Japanalysis a shout out. It's nice to see channels support each other rather than just compete. :)

[@sminchan3732]

I honestly feel quite sorry for her. Lots of Japanese men mistreat young women in this country. When she uses that imbalance to survive as she had a really bad start in life - is she really completely to blame?

[@E6Grimmjow]

Yes

[@reader-i9p]

yes she should be blamed because she's scammer

[@sulffffffur]

Absolutely not, she did what she could to survive after spending her whole life being exploited by men. The least she could do is extract some kinda benefit from the shit they put her through.

[@sulffffffur]

The fact that she even felt the need to do so betrays a severe societal issue. Like why should women’s value be defined by their sexual availability to men?

[@Saironi]

I also don't get -- this isn't "income", it's "gifts" . I don't know how Japan operates but in the US this would be taxed as gifts not income. Since these gifts are not even paid in cash , many of them are electronic, the Japanese government should have been aware of these gifts and taxed them accordingly.

[@Goochigoop]

Wow that male host is a huge accomplice - he should also be in jail. I’m guessing the male host paid taxes on the money he received from his clients….

[@minishinkansen]

You earned my subscription with this video. Incredible work. Thank you.

[@PeterTheodore91]

Still a lot of people don't and refuse to understand host club is dangerous. Especially people from western countries usually say "it's doable" or "they didn't hurt anyone" (yeah right🤦🏻)

[@just_lin_8]

She was not selfish, she was just a victim 😥

[@thomas5585]

The host was the only person she thought loved her.

[@AndreasMüller-s5c]

Thats the trick ! Playing "boyfriend" but at the end they are just their pimps !

[@annagrin6750]

Thank you very much for this video. Its priceless。This video, especially the "host reaction on money" in the end is actually horrifying

[@lolitaku7229]

I know it was addressed as to why comparisons dont work legally in Japan, however it's worrisome. Its like crimes against women and children mean a lot less compared to crimes against men. I get that white collar versus criminal crimes are very different. Objectively speaking, why can't they have equal consequences for the damages to the victums?

[@chrisphil6853]

How are people getting scammed like this like it’s So insane.

[@paulszki]

It's trully mind boggling. The delusion and the loneliness. And... it's people with well paying jobs. She didn't scam people with a mental disability or tricked some elderly people. It's ... regular people with good incomes, which especially in japan you need to have gotten a decent education for... But what is then even wilder: she scams HERSELF by blowing it all up with her "facourite host". And this is apparently happening to so many young woman in japan as well. They earn thousands if not hundreds of bucks via sex-work only to give it all to some male host. It's truly wild, how vulnerable AND guillable humans can still be in this day and age. And while Japan is, for sure sometimes a bit of a strange nation, the "japanese" are still just homo sapiens there like in the rest of the world. Like, if the societal conditions are there... vulnerable people ANYWHERE in the world will believe anything and be convinced to actively act against their own interest becausese they're just so lonely and desperate. It's scary to think about. When I lived in Japan for a year (over 10 years ago) I went to stay with a friends family for a couple days and eventually realized that the mother wouldn't talk to her husband anymore because he spend all their savings on some religious video tapes. And it was just heartbreaking.

[@vxvicky]

It's exactly how hostess/hosts work.

[@LakeGael]

Old fart perverts, probably

[@AndreasMüller-s5c]

@@vxvicky Yup !

[@AndreasMüller-s5c]

@@vxvicky And every morning another fool is born !

[@vxvicky]

Nobody should trust NOTHING about the background of a scammer. Nothing.

[@vxvicky]

Those 9 years in prison are very well deserved. Even it seems little time. BUT hosts should be prosecuted as well. All that world is pure trash.

[@undrscoreex]

This is kinda how she did her scam too. Lying to get people to feel bad for her is how she got her money, why would she stop now?

[@czarkusa2018]

"Ohhhh but she writes so well and her words are so entertaining tho"

[@savagebeastking8703]

Exactly. Why would anyone believe she isn’t still lying. She’d be better off just becoming a fiction writer. But she needs people to believe her story’s are true so she can keep emotionally manipulating them. Oldest trick in the book of scams.

[@sminchan3732]

I think you mean 'anything'

[@dougmiller5849]

Curious to know why the Japan Tax agency requires taxes on illegally gained income. If the judgement is awarded to the victim for full repayment, is the taxes deducted from judgement or rather, is the taxes added onto the full refund judgement? Very confusing law.

[@HoboGirl09]

I wonder if it's a crime they added in case nothing stuck like what happened with Al Capone he ended up going to jail for tax fraud and not the other crimes.

[@主の中信は常]

I guess everyone's a victim afterall. You can sympathize with Mai, but saying that she's THE victim in the story, really tells how narrow-sighted most people are. All men who used her are also victims in their own stories.

[@suzzzy]

amazing video as always

[@uyennguyenmaiphuong9310]

Lonely people are most vulnerable and an easy target 😢

[@AndreasMüller-s5c]

That's why the buisness never stops !

[@Rikipedia2023]

Why do you think it's a common trope in anime?

[@TrollsExposed351]

Welcome to America men all ages in America are lonely I feel like men have it easy in a lot of foreign places that are from America because it’s not like they’re perverted or anything like that It’s just a lot of women in America are stuck up so men that are young have better overseas since they’re still young they have better chances and I heard even in some poor places older men have better chances then they would in their designated country that they are Origin from

[@edgargabriel6640]

Interesting. One should file a law suit against the judges which ignore the host concept for supporting organized crime. Probably profiting personally. Greetings from Gemany 👋🏻

[@jjptech]

WTF just did I saw?? Went to prison for doing EXACTLY the same as male hosts??? The only problem at the end was basically taxes For the money scammed

[@Alicenailsart]

It is unfair.Those men were atupid to give money willingly...so she should get not that hursh punishment...

[@byeguyssry]

This sounds like an actual creative non-fiction book in and of itself

[@mr.2minutes161]

if the diary was a façade then she was manipulative genius

[@DR3ADER1]

Not really, because she got caught and one of her acolytes got caught for not following her published method properly, which led to Mai herself getting arrested. And of course, it happened in Aichi Prefecture, a hotbed of scandal and incompetence.

[@WilliEverStop]

07:18 See, the problem with this is how are we expected to believe any of this considering the source?

[@vxvicky]

That's the point. A scammer, a compulsive liar, should not be trusted. Given that who's to say that all of this is nothing but a lie to make you feel sorry for her?

[@Cameron_David_]

Exactly, she likely told the same story to the guys she scammed. They thought they were saving her in some messed up and delusional way.

[@dandan3045]

Mentally ill still simping over her whilst she's serving her sentence by sending her gifts.

[@AndreasMüller-s5c]

Well ! There always will be fools and a fools money ! You will never change that !

[@mecrushed1]

She's a really good writer. Her writing and personality is even more interesting than the video, maybe she'll become an famius author. Her diaries remind me of something from a Sayaka Murata book. She articulates pain and suffering in a really engaging way and she had a really weird life so far which can be used as a foundation for amazing body of work. Hopefully her book will be translated into English

[@sylviank1479]

All I hope for her now is to find her "new path" in life and forget about the past and move forward. I too, hope that her book will turn out well and will open this hidden talent in her. Gambare !!!

[@donutsama285]

No wonder she made so much money with so many stupid gullible simps like you in the world. "Gambare !!! " he says...

[@Lindormber]

9 years is way too much. She should go free but still pay the millions.

[@r25012501]

other crimes aside, it was the value of the crime that attracted the higher sentence rather than the moral severity. you steal $500 its theft but if you steal 80,000,000 it still theft but the sentence is going to be way way harsher. The tax man at a minimum is gonna want his cut.

[@andthesunsets]

she was scammed by host clubs so she went on to scam other victims using similar methods.

[@sumnikoa]

Prison is ridiculous lmao. Like such a joke compared to host clubs and other services that use people’s bodies/ time.

[@Blisscent]

I hope she can pay her fines by turning her prison diary into a book deal or writing an autobiography. It honestly just seems like she was trying to survive a life she didn’t want to be living. I hope things work out for her after she serves her time.

[@philosophyinthelight]

What a fascinating legal concept...I am a nuclear physicist who wrote a PHD thesis on how to make a "dirty" radiological bomb and now I am a mass-murdering terrorist because someone "says" they read it and bombed Tokyo with one? Let's look at the obverse...I translated the Bible into Swahili and now I am the Patron Saint of Tanzania....Wow!

[@yukithesnowman314]

Assuming she aint bullshiting about her past, her parents and bullies turned her into a ruthless villian.

[@djisacu4320]

sad

[@stacin821]

Dang she got well over $500k & had nothing to show for it. Also, I can't believe anyone believes anything she says. She is a pathological liar. I don't buy her childhood story or her prison diary sob sessions.

[@cheenouthao9458]

Same here story feels like bullshit lol 😂😂😂 lol like seriously she scammed so many people. She knew she was gonna get her ass arrested and wrote her sob stories to get a million views while going to prison lol

[@megacat]

She gives all her money to hosts, which is very typical for teens and 20 year olds in Japan at the moment. Many hosts have annual salaries of well over 500M+ JPY (~3M USD) per year. Top hosts makes more than most fortune 500 CEOs. Large host club groups, if allowed to be publically listed would pretty much be Fortune 5000 companies with billions of USD in net income each year.

[@DR3ADER1]

@@seregruin No, because messed up people don't publish books on fraud and feign ignorance when caught on the Internet scamming people and the Tax Office. Mai is a fucking retard. And always has been from the start, do not give her any inches of sympathy.

[@MrL702]

She's literally just trying to absolve herself completely from any accountability and idiots in the comments are eating it up lol

[@DR3ADER1]

@@MrL702 It's the "I can fix her" crowd. They're not the most intelligent group in the town.

[@projectseedworldtree6319]

9 years later. doing the same crime.

[@adityachakrabarty9360]

35:00 why are host clubs not banned yet

[@donutsama285]

Because money

[@lunia8889]

can someone explain to me the whole tax thing and why money transferred to you counts as income? does this mean if anyone even family members gift me money through a bank I have to pay tax for?

[@harrietxo2310]

Look up your local tax regulations, for some it’s when you’ve received/been sent over a certain amount of money

[@maxnum1sgameclub263]

Japanese work culture is really harsh, this girl is a victim of circumstance and bad luck. Met the wrong person at the wrong time and never saw a chance to escape. Only the way thats sadly used to much. The fact that she is very happy that the police took her away and that was her escape route says enough. I hope her section of jail has a rehabilitation program so she can return to society much much stronger!

[@Melcor2304]

Where can i find the sources to read her diary entries.

[@Impactframess]

Severe atopic dermatitis is the fucking worst as a kid. I hated my life but it cleared up around 8th grade.

[@adafool6809]

Here's my problem with Japanese society. First of all countries have their cons. But Japan's sacrifices the ability to speak up for yourself for harmony. It's honestly terrifying. You see people walking on the streets walking smiling but are they really happy. People need to be able to speak up for themselves regardless of harmony/honor. Japan is a safe country yes that just because they don't acknowledge crime...

[@metalextras]

Mai's childhood life is quite similar with Harley Quinn... A victim become the villain...

[@DR3ADER1]

Mai is not a victim, but a compulsive and pathological liar and a chronic sociopath. Do NOT display empathy to sociopaths.

[@harrietxo2310]

@@DR3ADER1but that in itself is sociopathic

[@DR3ADER1]

@@RT-qd8yl Don't give me this unscientific nonsense. There are PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS that have detailed this to an exact science that people who are Cluster-B lack the capacity for self-awareness to acknowledge their personality flaws and faults. This has been done for over 45 YEARS! Any exception you conjure from your arse is completely WORTHLESS and holds ZERO WATER and basis in reality. How about you keep this in mind before you write anything this braindead. I am no longer tolerating this excuse and exception-ridden claptrap. Especially when the reality of the matter counters your fake, inaccurate nonsense.

[@donutsama285]

Are you her childhood friend ? No ? So how do you know about her childhood ? Stop being naïve.

[@_Love_And_Peace]

She is guilty, but the court's culpability assessment is questionable. btw, imo, I wonder about the exploited guys, how could they have been so easily deceived. Probably Mai is really a magic girl.

[@yuo3670]

Didn't that mangaka that got caught with literal CP get like 4 years or something? Idk i feel like assault is worse than scamming. In my country if someone scams they dont get prison time usually they get sued and are made to pay it off or community service or some shit. Its kinda insane to me how lax japan is handling serious crimes versus crimes regarding money. Either financial crime is just generally more serious than like SA? Idk.

[@RheannaLake-dm2tl]

SHE has to do Lots and lots of time, because Men SHOULD be given more time for the same crimes? Pretty twisted and obscuring logic. But how dare this girl use the same methods as males in host clubs on Men ! Even for the host clubs men. Good grief Besides all that, sure wish us humans could be better to each other. So sad . 😘

[@maxnum1sgameclub263]

Yeah the same reason when women go falsely to court and could get men 10 years. If it turns out she is lying she should get 15!

[@donutsama285]

There is also women host. Why do you mention only men as if they're the Bad guys ? Are you a misandrist ?

[@georgeabraham7256]

Congratulations..🎉

[@kawaiinekochick2]

LOL the prosecutors being like "look, hosts lie too, but the government is getting their cut!" Made me burst out laughing

[@michaelransom5841]

something tells me the "host clubs" get off easy cause they pay their taxes.. I'm pretty sure at the end of the day, this is really why she was prosecuted.. not paying taxes.. :P

[@transationalien]

Host clubs are *NOT* a male-dominated industry with majority female victims. There are equally many, if not more, clubs where women prey on men with the same basic methods.

[@xAznSkyxx]

even the Joker pays his taxes

[@Arcticiann]

i think there was an anime based on this story where she stay on someones house and she knows what the cost of that

[@feliciagonzalez9810]

If she had claimed the money as income and paid taxes, would it have affected the length of the sentence ? hm...

[@finleyy]

honestly, I don't even know if she would have gotten caught

[@angelofdeath275]

a depressing case of host club addiction. all that money never brought her true happiness. she was never ever shown true kindness and caring as a child, then her “bf” aka the host guy played her like a fiddle. I cant believe he gave her all that friggin money oh my god. then she repeats the behavior to creepy old guys. whats striking to me, is how sad and dead she is behind the eyes.

[@Stagirite0]

Loneliness and the desire for validation supersede regular critical decision making, especially bypassing the existence of consequences.

[@Hollocus16]

First, never visit an entertainment district in any country with a naive mindset. That's where the line between legal and illegal activities is blurred, especially a host club! That's a dead trap scam that mostly will happen to you.

[@TheCivilRobo]

Honesty the saddest part of this whole story to me is she spent all her profits on hosts... I wish I could speak Japanese so I could tell her to convert all her yen to dollars and buy an ETF tracking the S&P 500

[@custardgannet4836]

Big ups to Mai

[@TephaRuiz-mt4vs]

The popularity is a pressure in all country and the misuse of the same, you influence of bad or good way, the references can provoque dangerous situations

[@rhanggaputra2741]

27:09 - regardless its income for mai, infact its a gift , same situation, lets say, I lend/borrow my friend money through bank transfer. how its taxable? its it mean , i need to pay taxes too if I borrow money too?

[@harrietxo2310]

over a certain amount of time

[@harrietxo2310]

*and money

[@omegamyee5592]

It depends on your country's tax laws but most of the time money doesnt have to be taxed if its a small amount of money over a long period of time (for example, sending your friend 300 every 3 months to help them out wouldnt be taxed in the usa)

[@Lakefront_Khan]

Im gonna take a guess.... . . . . . Money

[@chadlyles5444]

She got 9 years that I ffff up. Now if she killed the older dude an stole his money she would got 2 years. That is messed up she was hooked on drugs an they guy that thought he loved her. She needed help not prison for 9 years.

[@chadlyles5444]

Japan yall need to reduce her sentence she needs help. Doctor help. This is bull . She was asking for help. No one helped. This is sad

[@drcggj]

I for one do not find her sentence to be excessively harsh. The older men were not going to a hostess club and appeared to be acting in good faith with respect to what the criminal was saying to them. Maybe they should have been less trusting. I wonder if some of their money might be returned if the host still has some.

[@ocelot8321]

She’s my queen

[@jasonborne5359]

4:53 im still confused about what she did

[@dragondevil69]

scam or no scam money transfer is basically like a donation so how the fuck there's tax on that?

[@sumnikoa]

The lawyers should get 9+ years too

[@MaxEmillion-ul8sm]

Ha……this is nothing compared to the life my ex fiancé lived and what she’s still getting away with.

[@uyennguyenmaiphuong9310]

Idk really. I watched the video twice and Idk whom to believe anymore. Everyone involved in this story is horrible human beings. I can’t sympathize with her nor feel pity for her cuz I myself has been scammed. Well not a lot of money but enough to make me develop trust issues. I can’t give scammers/ liars the benefit of the doubt. You have no idea how scammers have ruined so many lives. I just feel like she wrote all those letters to gain attention and pity from netizens, all for fame and clouts that will bring her even more money, like Anna Delvy. I can’t believe her for what she stated, they need to investigate further and verify her claims. The creepy old men who want her to come live with them, the host, the lawyer, all are horrible. This story is just so sad, tells so much about the society we live in. Moral values are less than trash. Liars, scammers, predators, abusers get to live a rich material life while the good are struggling to survive.

[@DR3ADER1]

No, the only sociopaths here are the Host Clubs and Mai herself. Simple as.

[@t2bm]

The japan tax is crazy.. Thos is scam not business or work

[@xAznSkyxx]

the ceo of daddy issues

[@magallanthepenguin9132]

whatever it is in the manual, i bet it is legal in the west...i live in canada. dang, now i actually feel bad for her.

[@DR3ADER1]

Incorrect, that's still fraud.

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

Yoshiwara??

[@Thorgrax]

Is this Rushias sister?

[@RheannaLake-dm2tl]

Life is hard for a government that is a Pimp?

[@psychedlicsouljam1995]

they were not excited" to spend time and live together" they wanted one thing . so, you see an old man looking for sx from a young woman living with her parents V(TO HIS KNOWLEDGE EVEN IF IT WAS A LIE) I think, oh well.. karma sucks. do stupid things you get stupid results

[@donutsama285]

Exactly. She's horrible. They're horrible. At the end of the day, only horrible people were hurt. Quite a beautiful story.

[@MrSporkster]

Lock her up!

[@Jamesee_shine]

It’s terrible what she did but we can’t blame her for wanting money. Everybody needs money and if you have to get it you gotta do what it takes to get it. That explains all the girls on OF and how crazy our culture is nowadays 😅

[@kurosan0079]

I think she deserves most of the blame, actually. Sje's a goddamn adult. She knew full well that what she was doing is wrong. No sympathy for scammers.

[@mikaelandersson1288]

1,7 million views is not 17 million views.

[@thelionking1279]

That’s 17 million views in Japanese. Bro has the audacity to correct when he does not even know Japanese numerics and the word 万 lol

[@mikaelandersson1288]

@@thelionking1279 Bullshit!

[@thelionking1279]

@@mikaelandersson1288hahahah ignorance is bliss my guy

[@thelionking1279]

For anyone who’s not challenged, 万= 10,000 in Japanese.

[@mikaelandersson1288]

@@thelionking1279 Japan is insignificant and so are their doodles.

[@big4headedGangster]

She's still pretty but she is talking to another guy ao

[@Mystic_Edge]

👍❤️

[@rhanggaputra2741]

man H was so rich dmnt! but how rich person can be so dumb

[@strawberrypinky6160]

Her mom or government should educate her how to save herself in life from living with old men over 50 years old and live decent life with disability pension from government than asking strange men for money always scamming them financially. Lot of sugar daddies are wicked they want money returned to them even when sugar baby did receive the money or not. She could tell government her family history and her life to get disability pension and pay taxes and be honest worker and let her find a good man who respects her and not take advantage of her physically and mentally

[@Fuxy22]

So basically she couldn't change herself... if she hated her circumstances she should have done something about it. Then again like all women she is deflecting and blaming it on everything but herself... We all have horrible family circumstances some worse than others... it's how we deal with it that determines who we are. I understand running to men old or otherwise to seek safety but then she didn't search for one good one but instead started taking advantage of the men that gave her an escape. She is just like her parents if not worse... hurting the people that help her. I can't say anything about the sentence though... she scammed a lot of money out of these men.

[@sumnikoa]

Prison is ridiculous lmao. Like such a joke compared to host clubs and other services that use people’s bodies/ time. Not to mention the lawyers literally trying to use her for money as if that’s not a scam too.

[@DR3ADER1]

You are simping for a compulsive and pathological liar. Do not support her, let her rot.