Asia After Hours

When the springs on the beds at Ikaho spa, near Shibukawa City in Gunma Prefecture, got a little bit too hot, it was the police, not the fire department, that came to the rescue.

Nikkan Gendai (Jan. 25) reports that snack bar operator Kenichi Ando, Matsuba-kai gang member Jiro Sato and four others were arrested on a charge of violation of the Immigration Law and abetting prostitution. Specifically they lured two Thai women to Japan and charged them 5.5 million yen for “travel expenses,” which they were expected to pay back by engaging in the world’s oldest profession.

The two women, ages 32 and 35, were taken into protective custody.

According to police, when not working, the women were held in a padlocked room.

“The women claimed they were threatened by their keepers, who told them, ‘If you don’t pay back what you owe us, you’ll be going back home to Thailand in a white shroud.’” a police source is quoted as saying. He added the women charged their customers 12,000 yen per hour-long session, which allegedly included intercourse. “A woman from Taiwan also seems to be involved, we’re looking into her role in the prostitution.”

“Tricking foreign women into working as hookers is one form of ‘white slavery,’ “pink” journalists Yukio Murakami tells the paper. “It’s one of the ways gangs make their money. Japanese recruit women from Thailand and the Philippines, and set them up with gangsters. The women are then taken to lonely hot springs where men visit solely for meeting prostitutes. Most of the action is upstairs over the snack bar.

“The keepers eavesdrop on the women while they’re turning tricks to make sure they don’t beg the customers to help them,” Murakami adds.

The women are only paid enough to buy bento (boxed meals) and cosmetics, and are prohibited from going out. Until their “loans” are repaid, they are made to work like “horses pulling carts.”

“If a woman is attractive and popular, then about the time that she’s worked off her loan she’ll be told, ‘A customer complained about your poor service, and we’re levying a fine on you,’ or some other lie to keep her on the job longer,” Murakami adds. “In addition to Filipinas and Thais, females from Russia living in Tokyo and other cities who have run up large debts are also sent to work in the onsen gulag.”

Nikkan Gendai sternly advises its readers against having anything to do with such criminal enterprises. (K.S.)

タイ人女性に売春強要の疑い、６人逮捕

Source: “Tai josei ni baishun kyoyo; ichijikan niman-en ‘jinshin baibai’ no jittai,” Nikkan Gendai (Jan. 25, page 7)

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.

Related articles:

1. Hot springs stay turns into Cupid default swap “My boyfriend and his close buddy Kazuo, and Kazuo’s girlfriend…
2. 1,000 women, 100 encounters, 1 arrest: Kyushu’s nampa ‘king’ nabbed After covering the arrest of the science teacher in Tokyo’s…
3. Raunchy couple revels in tete-a-tit competition at hot springs “Work has been busy and it’s been hard to get…

Popularity: 5%

At the age of 20, pachinko shop employee Munemitsu Takahashi (a pseudonym) decided to quit his job. By age 28, he had not worked for eight years.

One of the ways Takahashi supported himself, reports Shukan Jitsuwa (Dec. 8), was to befriend females via the Internet and, while feigning to be the president of a real estate firm, find creative ways to swindle them.

One of Takahashi’s victims was a 28-year-old woman we’ll call Reiko. The magazine describes the tale you are about to read as resembling “the scenario of a low-budget horror film.” Read on.

The sly Takahashi, who lived in a part of Japan relatively far from where Reiko resided, managed to keep his hooks in her for seven years. At one point in their relationship, when Takahashi was age 24, he was sentenced to a prison term. Before going behind bars he sent her an email.

“I have decided to undergo an operation,” he wrote. “It might be some time before I can write to you again — maybe even a year or longer. Please wait for me.”

She did. After he was released from the hoosegow, he badgered her for funds to help pay his “medical bills.” “I’m going to rebuild my company,” he vowed. He also persuaded Reiko to issue him a cash card that would access her bank account and regularly helped himself to her money.

Soon, however, Reiko was heavily in debt.

“Why don’t you take a job in the sex industry?” Takahashi slimily suggested. She did, and continued to send him funds. Meanwhile he went online and found himself a new sweet patootie, a randy 20-year-old gal named Miwa.

Before long, Takahashi and Miwa were going at it like a pair of sex-crazed monkeys, sometimes getting it on 10 times a day. But Miwa began to feel discomfort down there; her physician informed her she had contracted genital herpes.

“The doc advised me to lay off sex for a while…” she shyly informed Takahashi.

“But it will be my birthday soon,” he whined in protest. “Won’t we be able to celebrate? Tell you what: let me bang you in the butt.”

“No way — that’ll hurt!” she replied.

Infuriated at her refusal, Takahashi went on a rampage, pounding Miwa’s head against the wall several times. He then unsheathed a Japanese sword, which he brandished before her eyes.

“I’ve killed people before,” he told her menacingly. “I can get a yakuza to take out everybody you know!”

Trembling before the bare blade, Miwa submitted to him successively, first in her rear orifice and then in the front.

Meanwhile Reiko had contracted a social disease while working at a sex shop. About to hit rock bottom, she decided to pay a call on Takahashi and try to recover some of the money she’d given him.

Takahashi responded by whipping out his sword and raping Reiko as well. He was further infuriated because when Miwa found out about Reiko, she fled and pondered filing criminal charges for assault.

“Go and tell the bitch that you’re my older sister, and that I’m dying of terminal cancer,” Takahashi ordered to Reiko.

Depressed over the lack of female companionship, Takahashi went back online and had soon recruited a 19-year-old, who he lured to his house. In addition to raping her, he handcuffed and beat her, fracturing her cheekbone.

A neighbor, hearing the girl’s screams, summoned the police.

Hearing the police arrive, Takahashi quickly strangled the girl into unconsciousness and squeezed her into the pantry space under the kitchen floor. He then nonchalantly admitted the two patrolmen, who were demanding a look-see. A keen-eyed cop noticed the kitchen floorboard was askew, and pulling it open was astonished to see a bashed-up girl inside, naked but for her panties.

But before they could take action Takahashi went on a rampage, pulling out his sword and slashing the two cops, causing serious wounds to their legs. After their “officer down” call went out, six additional cops finally managed to restrain him. He was charged with aggravated rape of four women and attempted murder. Score one for the good guys. (K.S.)

Source: “Keisatsu hachinin to shitou wo enjita Nipponto-otoko,” Shukan Jitsuwa (Dec. 8, page 181)

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.

Related articles:

1. Hard times: Japan’s commercial sex version of ‘fast food’ squeezes it out to rake it in
2. Toyota’s tremors send sex businesses sagging in Japan’s Detroit
3. Swindlers extend ‘send money’ flimflams to the sex business

Popularity: 6%

With the passing of nationwide legislation in October that prohibits ordinary citizens from having business dealings with criminal organizations, Sapio (Nov. 16) offers tips on what is acceptable and what is prohibited.

For assistance, the weekly magazine has turned to lawyer Hideyuki Takashima for some insights on such queries as: If one unknowingly engages in a contractual agreement with gang members, is that a violation of the law? If gangsters purchase certain items and one offers similar items to regular customers, is that a violation? How far can one take “associating” with criminal organizations before there is a violation?

To summarize, a problem will typically arise when one knowingly assists in promoting the businesses of gangsters.

In the operation of an izakaya, Takashima says that if a few gang members arrive to eat and drink at the counter or at tables with other customers, it is probably allowable. “However, if group, numbering a few dozen, turn up to use a private room, there might be a problem since it looks like a formal meeting,” the lawyer says. “The boundary line is whether one is fostering their activities.”

The size of the purchase is the key for the delivery of bento boxes, pizzas, and supermarket and convenience store orders. “If it is a personal purchase and does not appear to be an official catering order, it is acceptable,” the lawyer says.

For printing, markings denoting a yakuza organization or title on greeting cards or business cards are not allowable. “The printing of a gang name or title is promoting their activities,” Takashima explains. “Personal cards and private orders are probably acceptable.”

Hoteliers need to take every effort to confirm the identity of anyone using the hotel facilities, Takashima advises. “If they don’t know gangsters are behind a request to rent a room, or find out later, they are probably safe,” he says. “Whether or not a hotelier decides to cancel a party or banquet arrangement after learning that gang members are involved is a matter that is up to the discretion of the staff members.” (K.N.)

Source: “Izakaya ga nomi ni kita boryokudan wo sekkyaku bohai jorei auto ka seefu ka?” Sapio (Nov. 16)

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.

Related articles:

1. Tokyo times: Legislation to limit perusal of Ginza pussy
2. Real yakuza bust: Expansion of anti-gang legislation may give unwanted results
3. Fukuoka yakuza groups tackle police pressure in all-out war

Popularity: 7%

Not far from JR Sendai Station is a hotel that was used as an evacuation center after the Great East Japan Earthquake in March. Yet even now, seven months later, the mood inside its cafe is still rather dark.

Three groups of men in suits are seated, facing one another. One member casts a stern glance over at a reporter for weekly tabloid Shukan Post (Oct. 14). “Don’t make eye contact as they will likely start something,” says a local construction company employee. “This place is becoming a yakuza hangout.”

The commissioner general of the National Police Agency, Takaharu Ando, has stepped up measures to eliminate boryokudan activities, but he will have his work cut out for him in Tohoku, where gang groups are flocking to the area and the estimated 23-trillion yen in reconstruction work set to take place over the next decade.

“For many years, yakuza groups have been involved in reconstruction projects that follow disasters,” explains the same construction company employee. “They will have companies they back join the bids or rip off the contractors that get the work.”

But those groups seen staying at this hotel are not local, the source adds, rather they are from Nagoya.

Nagoya is the base for Kodo-kai, an affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest criminal organization. The Aichi prefectural police are currently collecting information and monitoring Kodo-kai activities.

After the earthquake, there were cases of unidentified groups distributing envelopes containing cash totaling 30,000 yen to evacuees at centers in Minami Sanriku and Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture. To prevent inequality, evacuation centers asked that donations be made to the center and distributed thereafter. That idea was refused, but the total amount reached around 50,000,000 yen.

“The police looked into the case and found that the Kodo-kai was involved,” says a local newspaper reporter. “By providing money, yakuza gangs are seeking to gain trust. While the enforcement has become more strict, the money for rebuilding is appealing. As a matter of fact, it is said that the company that won the bid to clean up the mess in the Sanriku area is said to be a front company of a yakuza group.”

The police appear to be taking the situation seriously. During a meeting in May with various chiefs of detectives from around the country, Ando said, “Yakuza involvement in the rebuilding process cannot be permitted.”

However, a crackdown has not begun. What they can do, according to a reporter from a local paper, is “disclose the names of companies that have relationships with yakuza.”

Yet it won’t be easy. Yakuza advances in business go beyond infrastructure work. It is said that they are also after the low-interest loans, which can reach a maximum of 200,000 yen, that the government has extended to victims who lost their homes. The sex shops shops that reopened right after the earthquake were allegedly due to such lending.

The article concludes on an ominous note, citing a reason for the lack of action to this point being due to the mixed relationship between the police and yakuza. “These are small communities, and they tend to hang out together,” says the previously quoted construction company employee. “Just because the police chief suddenly initiates an anti-yakuza crackdown it doesn’t necessarily mean that much.” (A.T.)

Source: “Shinsai fukko jigyo 23-cho yen ni muragaru boryokudan tachi,” Shukan Post (Oct. 14, page 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.

Related articles:

1. Only porn theater in Tohoku reopens after earthquake
2. Real yakuza bust: Expansion of anti-gang legislation may give unwanted results
3. Fukuoka yakuza groups tackle police pressure in all-out war

There have been very few upbeat stories emerging from the Tohoku area following the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11. However, weekly tabloid Shukan Post (July 22-29), happily reports that the region’s only porn theater, in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Prefecture, reopened for business on June 20.

The two-screen Ishinomaki Nikkatsu Pearl Cinema has 260 seats and was heavily damaged by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Yet in spite of resuming operations, it is not exactly business as usual.

A man in his 60s who visited the cinema early in July tells Shukan Post, “While I heard about the reopening from a friend, I came here to actually to confirm that as the schedule was not appearing in the newspaper. I was worried, but I am so delighted that it has reopened.”

According to the patron, the schedule typically appears three times a month in the local Ishinomaki Kahoku newspaper. However, no ad has appeared since the reopening. “The owner told me that ads were rejected,” the man says.

A person in the ad department at the Ishinomaki Kahohu explains, with a bit of sadness: “We are refraining from listing titles of such films. It is not appropriate to list them along with obituaries.”

The owner of the cinema is 84-year-old Tahei Kiyono, who handles the day-to-day operations entirely himself — from taking the tickets to the actual film projection. He has been placing ads in the paper for the last three decades. “I understand the situation,” says Kiyono. “The titles are too provocative. What are we showing now? ‘Beautiful Ass Ecstasy: The Pleasure Hole in the Afternoon 美尻エクスタシー 白昼の穴快楽’ and three others.”

There used to be five adult cinemas in Ishinomaki, but the Nikkatsu Pearl is the only one remaining. “When ‘roman porno’” — a genre of adult films made by the Nikkatsu studio between 1971 and 1988 that emphasized somewhat broad story lines to go with the erotic activities unfolding atop the tatami — “was in it’s golden era, most towns with commercial areas had adult cinemas,” Kiyono says. “Now this cinema is the only one left in Tohoku. I have a sense of duty to continue operating.”

The proprietor was at the cinema on March 11, when the tsunami sent mud flowing inside its doors. All the films stored on the first floor were completely destroyed. The projection machine on the second floor, however, was not damaged.

“I thought about closing the cinema,” he says. “But then I started to think about reopening and began cleaning up. Volunteers who were here helped me, too.”

When Nikkatsu shifted its focus to the roman porno genre in the early 1970s, the Nikkatsu Pearl converted its building from a single 400-seat theater to the current two-screen arrangement. Kiyono seems fond of those days, invoking the title of a famous Nikkatsu yakuza film “Otoko no Monsho,” from 1963 and starring actor Hideki Takahashi, to summarize his feelings for his work.

“It is a real ‘emblem of manhood,’” he says. (A.T.)

Source: “Kokoku kyohi ni mo megenai poruno eigakan ro-oonaa otoko no kunsho,” Shukan Post (July 22-29, page 144)

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.

Related articles:

1. Chinese gals from Tokyo turn cheap tricks in Kansai after earthquake
2. Feel-good Tenga goodies boost Tohoku males’ sagging morale
3. Tohoku deri heru gals back at work, dispensing consolation to shell-shocked quake victims

Popularity: 8%

Following a nationwide push, gangsters in Tokyo are preparing for pending legislation that will crack down upon their traditional rackets — a development that may provide citizens with more than they bargained for, reports weekly tabloid Spa! (Jan. 25).

“Dealing with organized crime is this year’s top priority for police forces in Japan,” said Takaharu Ando, the commissioner general of the National Police Agency, at a press conference on January 6.

A special law to eliminate boryokudan groups, as yakuza criminal syndicates are referred, originated in the Kyushu region last year and quickly spread to 27 prefectures, including Hokkaido. It is expected that similar legislation will soon be enacted in all 47 prefectures of the country.

“Tokyo aims to enact such a law this spring after it has incorporated elements of legislation already in place in other parts of the country,” added Ando. “It will likely become the most comprehensive one of them all.”

Top boryokudan groups are now organizing study sessions for top members, which includes having attorneys give monthly lectures. They are learning, for example, that not disclosing one’s real occupation upon signing a lease contract can lead to an arrest warrant for fraud.

“This is seriously a big blow,” explains a senior-level member of a Tokyo-based boryokudan group.

The tabloid senses that boryokudan groups are indeed pushing themselves for survival, as evidenced by the extensiveness of the training materials used during the lectures. But along with these activities, local residents around the country are taking initiative. At the end of last year, a notable gangster office in Ikebukuro was removed follow action by local residents.

“The police support the residents,” says the same top-level gang member. “Even when the building is owned, not rented, by gangsters, police will pressure residents and property management associations to push for their elimination. Residents are of course hesitant because they are afraid of yakuza.”

Should boryokudan groups be left out of the picture, however, disarray of social order can result, the article believes. When yakuza groups, which will reconcile troubles, are no longer available, visible bullying starts.

A hostess working in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho entertainment district heard from her male colleague about one particular kyabakura club that didn’t pay a security fee to a yakuza gang on the third of each month, which in the business is known as mikajimeryo. “They were worried about the police, and a competitor drove them out of business,” she says.

The club, which originally opened last summer, shut this winter because foreign objects had been jammed into toilets to damage the plumbing. “When the building owner asked for compensation of around 5 million yen, the manager disappeared,” she continues. “Another club also went out of business because a dead dog was left outside its back door and girls stopped showing up to work because they were scared.”

Another example is a fire that occurred last September at a club in Nagoya, which resulted in a hostess and a male customer receiving severe burns. “The media reported that fire was due to the club not paying a security fee to the yakuza,” explains one street tout. “But rumors were circulating that the club’s competitors were behind it. That particular chain of clubs was known for not paying. Since the market is small in Nagoya, without yakuza, there can be no order.”

Club organizers are also worried. “Yakuza members are ready to take care of trouble. So if they are not around no one will follow the ‘no drugs and fights’ rule at any particular event,” explains a DJ. “If drugs are deliberately left in the bathroom area, knowing that the police will come in to check, the whole club will be busted. It is simply not feasible to run a club without yakuza protection.”

An investigator from a prefectural police agency responsible for yakuza activities feels short-changed. “I am frustrated by this initiative from top management,” the source says. “What is most risky is that the gangsters will become no longer visible. The relationships we’ve had with key members for exchanging information regarding organizational structures, schedules, and locations are to be no more.”

Elimination of boryokudan will actually take some matters into high risk areas, with the sale of drugs being an example.

“There is no order with regard to illicit drugs,” explains one pusher. “Without the yakuza, there will be a higher volume of low quality drugs circulating. We can only sell cheap blends to middle school kids and high school kids. But undesirable foreigners will sell to even elementary school kids.”

Secret banking and fraud, too, may get ugly without yakuza involvement. “Yakuza gangs make sure not to kill those in debt to loan sharks,” explains one underground loan broker. “But without them, it may get to a point where those involved will go after the borrowers to sell their organs or murder them for life insurance fraud. We will no longer be able to call it soft finance.”

Funding for surviving boryokudan groups will as well become more closed but not extinct. “Yakuza front company will have to be disclosed,” says one senior gang member. “But in the Kansai area yakuza money is spread wide, from bento companies to the construction industry. In Kanto, it’s from real estate to online shopping. This money is also invested in major construction companies, used by private investors, and provided to organizers of underground fighting games. They will only become more clever in terms of how they play the masquerade with their front companies.”

Organizations such as Kanto-rengo, which received media attention following last year’s drunken brawl of Ebizo Ichikawa, could take up some boryokdan activities since they are not registered as organized crime entities.

“With boryokudan groups gone,” says another investigator, “there is a concern that these entities could be the source of problems. They have some older guys who teach their younger members the tools of the trade. Vertical relationships in their hierarchy are much more loose in comparison to boryokudan groups. It could lead to chaos. Once the boryokudan groups are eliminated, they could do anything, including targeting ordinary citizens at random.”

Roppongi and Shinjuku still maintain a sense of order even with the influx of undesirable foreigners as yakuza gangs are still in control. “It is Ikebukuro that is becoming like a Chinatown,” says the same senior-level gang member first quoted in the article. “Okubo became Koreatown around it’s border. The locals are free to do whatever. With undesirable foreigners, there will be more drugs and stealing.

“Yakuza gangs have to find ways to survive,” the source continues, “so they may welcome undesirable foreigners onto their turf depending on the area.”

One may postulate that boryokudan groups are totally fading, but that is not so, the magazine concludes. “If they are being underestimated, they will use the lives of ordinary citizens to display their power. In the past, when a shooting resulted in injuries to ordinary citizens, this would be followed by arrests of yakuza members who had agreed to internally report to the police. Now that will be no longer the case.” (K.N.)

Source: “Boryokudan haijo de chian ga akka shita,” Spa! (January 25, pages 26-27)

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.

Related articles:

1. Fukuoka yakuza groups tackle police pressure in all-out war
2. Yamaguchi-gumi gangsters give gifts in the name of goodwill in Kobe
3. Subjugated salarymen opt for real sex over staged ‘sekuhara’

Popularity: unranked

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.

Related articles:

1. Shibuya AV company president arrested for rape
2. Yamaguchi-gumi gangsters give gifts in the name of goodwill in Kobe
3. Suspected ‘black widow’ Kanae Kijima with possible ties to nightclub host

Popularity: unranked

The media has been full of reports about ties between professional sumo and the Japanese underworld.

The first question that comes to almost everyone’s mind is, how could these guys be so dumb?

Nikkan Gendai (July 1) looks to Alexandre Dumas for the answer, and — voila — comes up with Cherchez la femme.

As reported in the ongoing weekly column “The Dark Side of the Sex Business,” an ex-sumo grappler who opened up a “pink” shop after retirement tells the tabloid, “Sex shops can be profitable. You can expect to turn over 100 million yen or more in a year. So thanks to the sex trade we have a chance to become a yokozuna (grand champion), in a manner of speaking.”

Unfortunately, there’s a major impediment to such operations. Once the shops start making money, the yakuza are on to them like a ton of bricks, charging all kinds of excessive fees for rents, recruitment ads and others — at four to five times the going rate.

“Sumoists are easy to con,” an unnamed gangster is quoted as saying. “Most of them join the sport out of middle school, and they’re ignorant in the ways of the world, and trusting to boot. We can easily exploit these flaws.”

Actually, some gang members are also former sumoists. When a grappler retires, he’ll be approached with an offer to “assist” in the running of his sex shop. When and if business slows down, the gang will help keep it afloat by extending loans at usurious rates.

Once in debt to the gangsters, the ex-grappler is likely to turn to gambling to reduce his debt. But instead of going to the racetrack, he’ll make bets with the girls in his own shop. This system calls for girls making good on their losses by having a portion of their salaries withheld.

Should the girls fall too heavily into debt, they’ll just disappear; but the shop owner can’t flee so easily, and will find himself deeply in debt to the gangs.

To perpetuate the system, the gangs will order the ex-wrestler to approach young, still active grapplers from his former stable, and ask them if they are interested in starting up their own sex business to support them after retirement. And thus the vicious circle is maintained. (K.S.)

Source: “Sumotori wo kamo ni shita yakuza-tachi,” Nikkan Gendai (June 1, page 22)

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.

Related articles:

1. Females forced to work off debts on hands and knees
2. Ram-bam, no thank you ma’m: Vandals smash trucks into Saga sex shops
3. Swindlers extend ’send money’ flimflams to the sex business

Popularity: unranked

Recent incidents of violence in Fukuoka Prefecture, located on the island of Kyushu, have caused law enforcement authorities to take action against yakuza organized crime groups operating in the region, reports weekly Friday (May 14).

On April 13, the commissioner general of the National Police Agency, Takaharu Ando, announced inside an eighth-floor meeting room of Fukuoka’s Kokura Kita Police Station that society must rid itself of gangster activities. “Success or failure will be vital to the Kita-Kyushu area,” said the 60-year-old. “The elimination will be a war of mountain-sized proportions.”

The target of Ando, a member of the cabinet of former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto between 1996 and 1998, is the Kudo-kai, Kyushu’s biggest gang, boasting a roster of 690 members and another 510 personnel in subsidiary groups.

Fukuoka Prefecture has five yakuza organizations, the most of any prefecture in Japan, and, perhaps not surprisingly, between 2004 and 2009, it had the most gun-related incidents.

It is believed that putting an end to yakuza collection rackets, whereby money is obtained in the name of protection, would result in the demise of the gangs. As a result, on April 1, a non-payment regulation was enacted in Fukuoka Prefecture, the first of its kind in Japan. Citizens and companies, according to the legislation, are now held liable for contributions made to gangster activities. Penalties include a fine of up to 500,000 yen or one year in jail.

Heated disputes arose prior to the enactment. In early March, the Kudo-kai moved its headquarters to an area near a kindergarten and elementary school in Ogura Minami Ward — a relocation that was met with resistance by a local civic group. On March 15, the head of the organization had a gun shot enter his house.

Two weeks later, a threatening letter was received by the mayor of Kita-Kyushu, Kenji Kitahashi, who is also a supporter of the elimination campaign. The message indicated that he and his family will be subject to violent activities.

On April 6, an executive employee at energy supplier Saibu Gas had three gun shots hit the house of his parents in Fukuoka City. The next day, reports Shukan Jitsuwa (Apr. 29), five rounds from a Makarov pistol were fired at the entrance of a firm affiliated with the gas company. The tabloid adds that the firm had recently not succumbed to gangster requests regarding a construction project in Kita-Kyushu.

Satoru Nomura, 63, the fourth generation Kudo-kai president, had his house searched four days later.

“Historically, Kyushu yakuza get angry easily,” a prefectural police member tells Friday. “The Kudo-kai is the best example. They strongly oppose the police. In the summer of 2002, the they placed a dynamite-looking contraption inside a police dormitory. This resulted in arrests.”

However, should the police begin to significantly hunt down the Kudo-kai the retaliation will be massive, says a person related to the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s biggest gang, with a headquarters in Hyogo Prefecture. “Kyushu yakuza fight with pride,” says the source. “A conflict would not be a small matter.”

The source goes on to say that the Yamaguchi-gumi is carefully monitoring the situation and maintaining a good relationship with the Kudo-kai. “The Kudo-kai receive most of their revenue through protection money” — termed as mikajime, or literally a payment to be made on the third day of each month. “In the past, they never had financial concerns. But with this new legislation to eliminate yakuza, their collection rackets will be reduced. It’ll be harder to make a living.”

The question about whether the elimination campaign can eliminate the Kudo-kai or not is complicated by the fact that they are not afraid of anyone, believes the source: “Now they are biting like dogs.”

In the future, the police will be targeting all groups, and the Yamaguchi-gumi is not seeing Fukuoka situation as a case of “a fire burning on the other side of the riverbank,” the source concludes.

Somewhat ominously, a person related to the investigations unit of the Fukuoka Prefectural Police notes that a major concern is that membership within the Kudo-kai has not dropped. “With the recession, the gang has found new recruits, young guys who cannot get jobs elsewhere,” explains the source.

Friday is not sure how the battle will play out; but the local citizens are keeping quiet and waiting for the future. (A.T.)

Source: “Kudo-kai keishicho hametsushirei hatsudo de bopatsu no kyoi,” Friday (May 14, pages 22-23)

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.

Related articles:

1. Forsaken old yakuza checks out, possibly for good
2. ‘Sakura police’ on pervert patrol in Tokyo
3. Yamaguchi-gumi increasing operations prior to release of boss from prison

Popularity: unranked

Tokyo’s Kabukicho area as captured at night by the camera of photographer Hajime Kiyohira is seen to be increasingly turning into a Mecca for Japan’s youth, similar to Shibuya, reports Flash (Apr. 20) in a special pull-out section.

The four-page spread features a drunken girl urinating in a street corner; a salaryman takes a punch from an aggressive street tout in front of the infamous Parisienne coffee shop; women unable to walk are sprawled in the arms of their boyfriends as they are dragged away; a police officer chases and eventually corals another unruly tout; and a man with his clothes piled at his feet at the intersection of the Furin Kaikan building announces, “Hadaka de nani ga warui!” (What’s wrong with being naked!), as passersby snap photos with their mobile phones.

The shift towards a younger clientele started with the closing of the Koma Theater at the end of 2008.

“In the streets, there used to be a lot of yakuza,” Kiyohira says of the gangster presence. “But not anymore. It’s just hosts milling around. The area has changed a lot I think.”

The photographer, who has spent the last 15 years shooting Japan’s largest red-light district, recalls an incident 10 years ago in which a group of girls were approached by two men who asked for their phone numbers. “Soon after, a black car pulled up close,” he remembers, “and a few guys jumped out and started beating them. The ladies appeared to be in close with the boryokudan, maybe working in the mizushobai trade.”

Kiyohara says that the Kabukicho of today is frequented by “normal” people. “In the morning, you’ll see young girls sleeping in the streets,” he says, “and guys will haul them off to hotels. This is happening all the time.”

Photos very similar to those inside Flash were featured in Spa! (Sep. 1, 2009) — most notable were shots of naked university students pole-climbing in the plaza fronting the Koma Theater. In that article Kiyohara explained that the well-known clean-up of the area was misleading: “The big clean-up was simply a performance.”

He goes on to tell Spa! that 10 years ago there were only a handful of underground casinos and shops peddling illegal DVDs but now there are around 30. Similarly, Korean and Chinese fuzoku (sex-related) clubs numbered two or three. Today, the total is over 20.

Kiyohara believes that cops will shut one place but it will open in a slightly different form two weeks later. Kabukicho is still littered with girl’s bars, deai cafes, and fuzoku recommendation centers simply because the government’s tax coffers would be lighter if they were all shut.

“Strange, weird young people are out violating various laws,” he says. “In the end, it is not safe.”

A major theme in the Flash pictorial is the numerous shots of women unabashed about flashing some flesh. Low-cut tops, garters and short skirts are all on display. “It’s such a chilly day yet her panties are readily visible,” reads one caption of a man and woman walking away from Hajime’s lens and down a street.

Subculture monthly Jitsuwa Knuckles (May) also uses similarly titillating photos of Kabukicho from Hajime. In closing, it offers this question: The cherry blossoms are blooming and it is getting warmer and warmer — if people continue with such erotic behavior in public, what’s going to happen next? (K.N.)

Source: “Nisen Junen fuyu Kabukicho erosu & baiorensu,” Flash (Apr. 20, special pull-out)

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.

Related articles:

1. Tokyo’s Kabukicho teeters on the brink
2. Creative new commerce keeps Kabukicho hopping
3. Clampdown on boys behind bars in Kabukicho

Popularity: unranked