Criminology Streamer Explains Why a Cabaret Hostess’s Bail Was Set at 2.5 Million Yen

INDEPENDENT — Towano Kanae, who streams as a virtual criminologist, spent a 75-minute talk stream on Wednesday explaining why a popular Roppongi cabaret hostess was released on 2.5 million yen in bail, an amount that had drawn comment online given her reported earnings.

Kanae recapped the case as reported. She was arrested in September on suspicion of possessing ketamine and rearrested on Oct. 7 on suspicion of using it. The Tokyo District Court approved her bail request on the morning of Oct. 20, and she left a Tokyo police detention facility around midday after the money was paid.

“It’s basically set at an amount that would hurt.” — Towano Kanae, early in the stream

Most of the stream was a lesson in how bail works. Kanae said bail is available only after indictment, that a court must approve it and set the amount, and that the amount is meant to be large enough to make sure a defendant shows up for trial, weighing the offense, the evidence and the defendant’s assets. It is not a fixed share of someone’s wealth, Kanae said, and it is returned unless a condition is broken. Kanae put the usual range at 1 million to 2 million yen, calling 2.5 million on the high side, and contrasted it with the roughly 1 billion yen Carlos Ghosn was said to have posted. Kanae also described the conditions that can come with bail, including restrictions on residence and on contact with people tied to the case, and noted that skipping a court summons has been a criminal offense since late 2023.

Kanae then turned to taxes, offering personal opinion rather than anything about an investigation. Kanae cited a tax-office ranking of occupations by average unreported income per case among sole proprietors, in which cabaret clubs came first at about 41.64 million yen per case, with about 14.74 million yen in additional tax. Kanae said tax authorities could not be ruled out from taking an interest, and went through how high-earning hostesses often organize their income through companies, as well as the expense questions streamers and VTubers face.

Kanae closed by saying the case was unlikely to come up again and urged viewers to be careful about drugs, citing dangerous synthetic substances in circulation overseas. There will be no midday stream on Thursday because of work, Kanae said.