I find it quite humorous that TV celebrity Shimada Shinsuke is mentioned in the article ("Tokyo, Okinawa usher in antigang legislation") as if he were a criminal — guilt by association.

If the Japanese government really wanted to get serious about battling organized crime, it would just send some officers down to Roppongi (Tokyo) in the evening to visit any of the yakuza-run bars that constantly rip people off with credit card scams and such.

According to this new law, credit card companies could be prosecuted for partnering with the ripoff joints that hire foreign men and women to harass people on the street and to lure drunk men into the establishments, only to be drugged and dragged out after they've signed credit card slips worth hundreds of thousands of yen. The Japanese police are Keystone Cops at best.

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.

henry wong