Hidenori Sakanaka says the government has long ignored the problem.

The real problem behind Japan's dismal anti-human trafficking record are ``weak-kneed'' immigration officials who bend to the whims of politicians and businesses that hire foreign women for illicit purposes, the chief of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau said.

The government will tighten requirements this month for entertainment visas, which are often issued to women who end up forced to work in the sex industry. But Hidenori Sakanaka indicated in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun that the problem does not rest solely with visa procedures.

``The problem is that there are businesses that make profits by exploiting women and they are connected to lawmakers,'' Sakanaka said, referring to the surge in such illegal workers since the mid-1990s.

``I cannot deny that immigration officials gradually lost their zeal to investigate and in their dealings have become weak-kneed,'' Sakanaka said. ``I have myself been harassed since 1995, with one politician telling me: `You are not popular among (entertainment) business operators. You may not be able to remain in Tokyo.'''

He said lawmakers would call him after immigration officials raided bars suspected of hiring foreign women for jobs other than as professional entertainers-the only work entertainment visas permit.

It is rare for a top immigration administrator to specify problems in his own bureau-especially so candidly. But Sakanaka said he felt responsibility as a person in charge and wanted the public to know the truth.

``Entering the country on entertainment visas has virtually become a means to bring foreign bar hostesses into the country,'' he said. ``Sometimes, it has been a means to force them to work in inferior conditions and even as prostitutes.

``The government has for many years neglected this,'' he said.

Sakanaka joined the Justice Ministry in 1970 and headed the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau before assuming his current post. He will retire this month.

Japan has long been criticized by the international community for its lax efforts on preventing human trafficking, especially on controls of entertainment visas.

``The entertainment visa was intended for people performing in bands at hotels, but things changed from the 1980s,'' Sakanaka explained.

``Young women from the Philippines came to constitute most of those using entertainment visas,'' he said. ``And they have been made to work in establishments such as bars without engaging in `entertainment' activities.''

During his career, Sakanaka has had his share or raiding bars to investigate foreign workers.

Recalling one such time, he said: ``There were photos of women at the entrance of establishments that patrons would choose from. The women's work records showed words such as `dohan' (coming to the bar with a client) and `tengai' (dating patrons outside the bar).

``I was ashamed to see that Japanese words such as these were taking root,'' Sakanaka said.

While admitting that all cases are not tragic, the immigration chief said: ``We come across many women asking for help, saying, `When can you come rescue us?' There have been serious cases such as women being forced to dance nude and ordered to go to a hotel with a client.''

Sakanaka said he felt compelled to fight the problem when he headed the Immigration Bureau's Entry and Status Division in 1995. He said he found about 90 percent of the 440 establishments surveyed had people engaged in activities not covered in their visas.

``People entering the country with entertainment visas fell from about 90,000 in 1994 to about 59,000 in 1995 when we thoroughly checked (their visa status),'' he said. ``But when I transferred to Sendai in 1997, the number rose again, and by the time I returned to Tokyo in 2002, it had reached about 120,000.''

Sakanaka said in reality, women on entertainment visas seldom put on shows. ``If the public says the country should allow foreign women in who will pour drinks for customers and sing karaoke with them, we should debate the issue upfront,'' he said.(IHT/Asahi: March 1,2005)