Asia After Hours

Children’s books and criminal organizations go together like water and oil. However, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Shincho (Sep. 9), the pair is apparently coexisting under the same roof at the Tokyo headquarters of the well-known publisher Poplar Publishing, which prints Japanese language editions of the “Thomas the Tank Engine” series of books.

Established in 1947, Poplar began its shift in tenants last autumn. “In September, a company joined as a tenant on the 6th floor of the publisher’s headquarters in Shinjuku Ward’s Yotsuya district,” says an individual associated with the publisher who does not name the company in question. “This tenant joined under the direct referral of Hiroyoshi Usuda, the chairperson. The company is said to sell devices that eradicates pollutants from water.”

The website of the company — for which a Google search reveals to be NIBM — features actor Hiroki Matsukata, known for his macho roles in mafia and samurai films, extolling: “I was shocked when I used it!” The site also provides details on the product’s efficacy in purifying water. The tabloid also reports that this firm is recognized by law enforcement as a front for a Yamaguchi-gumi affiliate.

“The company’s managing director serves an intermediator for a geino production company under a boss from within the entertainment industry and the head of a group affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi,” an individual associated with investigations says. “This managing director has coordinated geinojin (entertainers) to attend private gatherings for this gang boss as well as reconciling any issues various geinojin have had. Post-retirement of that boss, the managing director maintained his solid relationship with the gang-affiliated organization.”

So, wonders Shukan Shincho, how does this fit into the publishing of children’s books?

“Usuda is known as an entrepreneur,” says a person with knowledge of the situation. “He has a solid record of working with companies. He is also the owner of Special Week, the horse that won the Japan Derby in 1998.”

In 2003, Usuda was involved in the founding of an affiliate company to Poplar — a move that helped him to establish himself as a chairperson. He is also the majority shareholder of the company in question.

When the managing director of the company in question was asked about Usuda’s involvement, he said, “I am not involved at all with Poplar or the yakuza.” He added, “While searching for a sponsor, we consulted with Matsukata-san, with whom I’ve had a 40-year relationship. He then referred us to Usuda-san. Usuda-san said, ‘Move into here,’ and thus we moved into the current location.”

The tabloid has also found that documents have recently been circulating with a sender’s name indicated to be “A Group of Employees Wishing for the Return of a Clean Poplar.”

The same individual associated with Poplar says that about a year ago another company whose business has no association with publishing as well moved into the building. “People appearing to be not exactly professional began to surface and employees started to feel uncomfortable,” the source adds.

What does Usuda say about all this?

“I was introduced to the managing director of the company in question by Matsukata-san, whom I know well,” Usuda told the tabloid. “I am bearing 104 million yen in monthly rent. There is no way whatsoever that the company in question is a fronting firm. If that’s true, Poplar will go down.”

Whatever the case, Shukan Shincho concludes, this is not exactly child’s play.

Note: Poplar offers a response to Shukan Shincho’s assertions here. As well, NIBM has modified its front page to respond to the allegations. (A.T.)

Source: “Kikansha Tomasu ‘Popura sha’ ni boryokudan furonto ga kisei shita,” Shukan Shincho (Sep. 9, pages 45-46)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

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A young girl plying the trade known as enjokosai, or compensated dating, is hardly new. Yet, observes Shukan Jitsuwa (Aug. 19), the glut of school gals on summer break and the harsh economy are combining to make present conditions in Tokyo anything but a seller’s market.

The tabloid cites the entertainment areas of Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Shibuya as common hot spots. Many young females migrate from the countryside and must offer sharp discounts, or gekiyasu enko, as slashed bonuses for salaried workers have become the norm.

Seated on a street corner is a 19-year-old from Niigata Prefecture. “I came to Tokyo to earn money for one week,” says the brown-haired girl. “I have only have a few hundred yen. Tonight I can’t find anyone. If someone will pay 5,000 yen and the hotel fee that’s acceptable…”

In Shibuya, the writer finds a deeply tanned female in a miniskirt. She does not offer sex, only hand-jobs, and handles five customers a day. Referred to as tekoki enko, the service costs 3,000 yen a pull.

Oftentimes, however, the girls will abstain from independent contracting and utilize agents, who entice prospective talent with rates of 50,000-yen per day. On websites or through ads in evening sports newspapers, the pimps will collect clients interested in Lolita-like lasses and arrange a deri heru, or call-girl, setup at a love hotel.

“A high school girl and can get 50,000 yen a day,” explains a writer for a national daily. “For a middle school girl it’s around 70,000 yen. But recently elementary school girls have been able to fetch 120,000 yen for one shot.”

The money is just one thing, says the writer. The girls also find the arrangement safer than working solo as the chances for trouble from an uncooperative client are reduced.

“If the police crack down on one organized service,” continues the source, “there will always be another ready to serve. There are so many students out on summer vacation.”

Cafes described as deai-kei establishments oftentimes will specialize in matching hookers with Johns. Girls enter free and can enjoy surfing the Web or reading manga comics. Guys observe their activities through a one-way mirror and then choose a girl who meets their fancy. The couple will then move to another booth and talk for 10 minutes. If an agreement is brokered, the guy will pay a fee to the cafe and transportation costs to the girl before heading out on a date.

Once summer vacation starts, Shukan Jitsuwa notes, the cafes are at full capacity.

“Most deai cafes are just for prostitution purposes,” explains fuzoku writer Yukio Murakami. “Probably 70 to 80 percent of the girls will allow sex if the money is right.”

The magazine then moves on to a street filled with kyabakura clubs, which offer hostess services, to examine the swindling of university students.

Waseda, Rikkyo, Meiji and Gakushuin universities are usually well represented but nowadays Tsuda College and Aoyama Gakuin University, known as “princess” schools since girls from wealthy families often attend, are entering the picture.

The con takes place at the recruitment stage. Students will be offered a generic kyabakura role only to later find out that the establishment is a sekukyaba,, where the kissing and fondling of exposed breasts is offered, or ichakyaba, in which touching takes place through worn garments.

“Even when they find out that touching and kissing are allowed they won’t quit because they are getting paid,” says a kyabakura employee. “It’s easy to trick them because they don’t know how the night world works.”

Runaways, it seems, have it no better. Wayward females will post requests for lodging on online sites. “In the postings, they’ll use the word kami (god) to describe the potential suitor but really he is an okami (wolf),” explains an editor at a fuzoku rag. “Since no one will offer free lodging, they are going to want sex. And since they are runaways, they have no means of recourse if there is a problem. I know of one girl that wound up shooting up on dope and got raped.”

Speaking of drugs, the use of shabu is escalating at an alarming rate, reports the magazine. Inexperienced girls will try it for the first time at a club, perhaps in Shibuya. “The girls will be told by a seller that they can get high on MDMA for 5,000 yen,” says a person in the club industry. “MDMA is a drug that enhances sexual pleasure, and one hit could lead to repeated use.”

Law enforcement authorities tell the tabloid that summer can be the start of a dangerous descent. “They might think that they are doing enko ‘only for summer vacation,’” says a source related to the police. “But that is just the beginning. There could be stress so they might go to a host club. They might also start up with drugs, pile up debts, get mentally sick or suffer a physical ailment. Life can get bizarre. It’s dangerous earning money in the sex trade, and it’s best to be on guard.” (A.T.)

Source: “Nettaiya ni ugomeku aoise wo uru shojotachi michaku 24ji,” Shukan Jitsuwa (Aug. 19, pages 52-54)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

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Tokyo Metropolitan University, or TMU, was formed in 2005 by the merger of four public institutions of higher learning in the Tokyo area. The institution was in the headlines recently when two of its seniors majoring in system design were summarily expelled.

The two had come up with a project they named “Dobusu wo Mamoru Kai” (group to protect ugly women).

“They went around on the street accosting women, saying they were ‘researching an article,’” a source at TMU tells Shukan Shincho (July 8). “Later it was determined that the video, showing the faces of certain women, had been posted on YouTube without the subjects’ permission.”

The school’s investigation found that on three occasions the pair had gone to Shibuya, Shinjuku, Tachikawa and other places in Tokyo and filmed a total of six female subjects “on location.” At least two of the six had data posted in a manner that enabled them to be identified by name.

The one shot at Tachikawa, filmed on June 12, ran for about six minutes in length. Its opening included this introduction by the producers: “Presently in Japan, dobusu (ugly girls) are endangered with extinction a possibility. Through dissemination of information more women are finding it easy to improve their appearance through cosmetics, fashion and hair styling, and in addition thanks to advancements in cosmetic surgery they are able to boost their appearance to the minimum level.”

The producers of this goofy video were actually dumb enough to include their own names in the credits at the end.

“After they submitted the video a friend who saw it chewed them out, and they deleted it, but the next day it was resubmitted,” the aforementioned school source relates.

By June 17, copies of the video had been spreading like wildfire all over the Web, and the following day TMU’s home page posted an apology from the president.

Then on June 24, the school announced that the two would be expelled from the institution. A third student who had provided the background music for the video was suspended from attending classes for one month.

The reasons given for the expulsion were for having made persons’ images public without permission; causing psychological harm to said persons; and damaging the university’s public image.

Shukan Shincho reports that the families of the students involved have been subjected to abusive telephone calls. From his home in Tottori Prefecture, father of one of the two told the magazine, “I saw the offending video. It was done in the humorous style of a TV variety show, but was lacking in morality and was cruel to the persons involved.

“I first learned about it in late June,” the father continues. “A complete stranger called me up at work, telling me she was in the process of organizing a protest and saying, ‘Do you know what your son’s been up to?’ Why didn’t he drop out of the university of his own volition?’”

Both students were in the process of job seeking, but their future prospects with employers appear to be in doubt. (C.J.)

Source: “‘Dobusu wo mamoru kai’ de shutodaigaku wo taigaku ‘bakatare daigakusei’ oya ga naiteita!” Shukan Shincho (July 8, page 40)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

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Law enforcement authorities from Tokyo and Miyagi Prefecture have shut down a major fraud ring involving online-dating sites designed to generate massive profits out of membership fees, reports Shukan Asahi Geino (Mar. 11).

On January 16, Noriyuki Hoshi, the leader of the operation, and ten others were taken into custody by police for defrauding members of deai-kei (encounter) matchmaking sites by hiring male actors to take on online personas of ladies seeking dates.

A reporter responsible for covering social media explains to the weekly that the victims were registered with such social networking sites as Mixi and Mobagetown. Between July 2005 and the day of the crackdown, the nationwide scam had swindled 1.4 million individuals out of a total of 2 billion yen.

This group had its headquarters in Tokyo’s notorious red-light district of Kabukicho, located in Shinjuku Ward. Its staff consisted of approximately 20 full-timers, including Hoshi, who was regarded as “the Chair,” and about 80 part-timers.

The article says that recruitment of members was highly cunning. “Members of this organization had different roles assigned to them,” the same reporter explains. “A solicitation division was responsible for stealing IDs and passwords and illegally accessing Mixi and equivalent sites. While disguised as a member of such sites, they would then send mails asking if the recipients wished to go on a date. After receiving a reply, they would then offer an invite to chat.”

The stage would then shift to the ‘Operation Division,’ where fictitious women, known as kyara, would continue to engage in email exchanges with the deceived men. “After telling these men that there is a need to change from the chat sites due to ‘an overwhelming influx of spam mails,’ they would then be directed virtual sites,” the reporter says.

When these men register with the virtual site, they are simultaneously and unknowingly signed up for pay sites that this organization was running. The organization had a customer service department to deal with anticipated claims or complaints.

“The organization utilized 200 personal computers and three shifts of actors to maintain this 24-hour operation,” an individual associated with the investigation tells the tabloid. “Each member’s duty was carefully and laid out in specially designed manuals.”

Actors acted out a total of 170,000 female roles, which included that of elegant college girls and affluent ladies who own imported cars. “These types of fabrications are designed to make sure that the members do not get bored,” says the same individual. “They were also taught how to carry out last-minute cancellations of proposed dates in order to make sure that these deceived men had no access to actual meetings.”

Even though this scam has been exposed, there are still men who believe that they are talking to real ladies.

“It is close to impossible to meet your desired date,” says an individual knowledgeable of networking organizations and organized crime. “The reason for this is the basis of the operation itself. Free online-dating sites usually adopt point systems. Male members have to purchase points. By spending them, the company running the site makes a profit. To continue emailing the girl, you have to continue purchasing points. You see, if they met, there is no profit.” (K.N.)

Source: “Deai-kei sagi guruupu no saishin koumyou teguchi ’suppokashi manyuaru’ made sakusei shite ita!” Shukan Asahi Geino (Mar. 11, page 44)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

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