Asia After Hours

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Wild Sex Video From Bali

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“Excuse me, but I’d like to spend the night,” said the man, who appeared in his mid-60s, to the receptionist at the love hotel.

That, writes Shoko Harano — who has been chronicling her three-year tenure at a Tokyo love hotel for Nikkan Gendai (Feb. 18) — was not the expression habitually used by customers when checking into such establishments, who would normally use the phrase asa made (until morning) when requesting overnight accommodations.

The man appeared to be completely out of it. Moreover he was alone, and carried his belongings in two bulging shopping bags.

“His footing seemed a bit unsteady and he was struggling with the bags. While we don’t usually provide porter service I asked the room maid to give him a hand and help him get settled,” writes Harano.

The next morning when Harano arrived for work, the night clerk going off duty asked her what she should do with the two bags left behind by that same customer from the night before, who upon his departure had requested that the clerk “discard the stuff I left in the room.”

As waste must be separated in Japan, they began looking through the bags’ contents. Along with articles of clothing was a packet of about 30 letters. Some had appeared to be addressed to normal residences, but then toward the end the address changed to Fuchu Prison, a large penal facility in western Tokyo.

“Twenty years will be a long time. Hang in there,” one handwritten letter exhorted its recipient.

From the letters’ contents, it soon became clear that the customer had been a yakuza. And 20 years is a pretty long sentence. What had the man done to warrant such a long stay in stir? Could he have slain the leader of a rival gang? The letters didn’t say.

Harano was startled by one more thing she found among the old man’s possessions — a cell phone. Twenty years ago such mobile communications had not existed. And furthermore the phone itself appeared to be a recent model. Probably the man had received it from someone who had been waiting for him when he was released from prison, but was no longer with him at the time he checked into Harano’s hotel.

Leaving behind his letters, cell phone and other remnants of his past life, the mysterious old yakuza departed Harano’s hotel that morning with nothing but the clothes on his back. Was this mysterious modern-day Rip van Winkle determined to embark on a new start? Or merely to fade away for good? (K.S.)

Source: “Aru hi, furatto arawareta 60-dai no ojisan ga suteteitta mono to wa,” Nikkan Gendai (Feb. 18, page 19)

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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