A heartbreaking case in Tokyo has put a spotlight on a reality we confront every day – despite efforts to keep exposing trafficking crime, human trafficking continues to evolve, finding new pathways to exploit the vulnerable.

According to The Japan Times, a 12-year-old girl from Thailand was forced to provide sexual services in a private-room massage parlor in Tokyo before she escaped on her own and ran into the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau to seek help.

Her courage sparked an investigation, the arrest of the parlor owner, and the arrest of the girl’s own mother who allegedly trafficked her into Japan.

For many in Japan, this was a shocking wake-up call. But for those of us working inside the country’s anti-trafficking movement, this case reveals something deeper:

The systems of exploitation connecting Thailand, Japan, and the broader Mekong region are shifting and intensifying.

Mariko Yamaoka, Not For Sale Japan’s Director, told The Japan Times:

“It made us think of how many victims there might be who want to [alert the authorities like the girl] but can’t.”

The Real Scale of Trafficking in Japan: Why This Case Matters

Government figures recorded 66 victims of human trafficking in Japan last year, but as Yamaoka notes, this is “merely the tip of the iceberg.”

Here’s why:

• Traffickers now use tourist, student, and marriage visasto move victims across borders.
• Domestic trafficking of Japanese nationals, especially minors, is rising.
• Recruitment increasingly happens online, expanding the pool of potential victims.
• Labor exploitation through systems like the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) remains widespread, affecting tens of thousands of migrant workers.
• Japan’s shrinking economy and rising poverty open more pathways for internal exploitation.

And at the regional level, the same criminal ecosystems driving trafficking across Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand, especially in the “Gray Zones”, are beginning to intersect more frequently with Japan’s demand markets.

This case is not an anomaly. It is a warning.

How Not For Sale Is Responding in Japan, Thailand, and Across the Mekong Region

Not For Sale’s work has always been grounded in pragmatic idealism – big vision, ruthless execution, and solutions that out-create exploitation.

In Japan
Our Japan team, led by Mariko Yamaoka, focuses on:

• Safe reporting channels for migrant and minor victims
• Training frontline responders to identify cases earlier
• Policy advocacy to close the loopholes that traffickers abuse

The young Thai survivor’s case underscores the urgent need for more safe pathways for victims to self-report, especially minors who do not speak the local language.

In Thailand
Nearly twenty years ago, Not For Sale Thailand began in Northern Thailand with Kru Nam, who rescued 27 children and built what we now affectionately call “Baan Kru Nam” (Kru Nam’s Home), one of the region’s most trusted child protection programs.

Today our work in Thailand includes:

• Housing nearly 100 children annually
• Specialized outreach and rescue response units
• Wrap-around psychosocial and legal care
• Cross-border child protection networks
• Advocacy and safe migration training
• A new girls’ dormitory project designed to protect minors most vulnerable to trafficking toward Japan and the Mekong region “Gray Zones”

When exploitation pushes Thai girls outward, we build safety and opportunity inward.

The Cross-Border Connection
Human trafficking is not confined to one country, it is a system.
NFS operates across the full chain:

• Laos → Cyber-crime compounds, “Gray zones” operate with impunity
• Myanmar → Illegal rare earth mining, “Gray zones” operate with impunity
• Japan → demand markets and labor systems

By working simultaneously in source, transit, and destination countries, Not For Sale closes the loops traffickers rely on.

How You Can Help In Exposing Trafficking Crime

If you want to support Not For Sale’s work in Japan, Thailand, and across the Mekong region:

• Donate to the Girls’ Dorm project project in Thailand.
• Share this article to raise awareness
• Subscribe to our global updates.
• team@wearenotforsale.org 

Every step you take helps create a future where exploitation has no place to thrive.

Your support helps create futures of freedom, dignity, and opportunity.