A Tokyo, Japan, District Court has ruled that if money exchanged hands during sex between married people, then the couple are free from the guilt of adultery and cannot be judged to have committed any crime.
The court was responding to a lawsuit filed by a woman against a prostitute whom she accused of having a long term relationship with her husband.
But the court rejected her claims for compensation, ruling that having sex in exchange for cash is not considered adultery but genuine trade.
The judge ruled that the man's wife was not eligible for compensation from the prostitute because she had a business relationship and not an adulterous relationship.
Before the landmark judgement, angry wives could actually get compensation from prostitutes after being caught having sex with married men in a measure to support marriage.
In this particular lawsuit, the wife had demanded 4 million yen ($32,320) from the prostitute for emotional distress, claiming that the prostitute had initiated a sexual relationship with her husband, which went on for more than seven years.