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May 20, 2024
 

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FRAUD

Japanese baseball superstar is presented with a proclamation by the Los Angeles City Council naming May 17 "Shohei Ohtani Day" in honor of the Dodgers' slugger on Friday in the city in this image taken from an official livestream of the council meeting.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 18, 2024
City of Los Angeles celebrates 'Shohei Ohtani Day'
In a ceremony at City Hall, council president Paul Krekorian hailed the Dodgers' acquisition of Ohtani in a record-breaking $700 million deal.
Entrepreneurs Yusaku Maezawa (second from right) and Takafumi Horie (third from right) attend a study session on fake social media ads and investment scams at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on April 10.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 16, 2024
Japanese billionaire sues Meta over investment scams using his image
Yusaku Maezawa is suing Meta for its negligence in regulating the use of his name and image in investment scams on its social media platforms.
A former employee of Bandai Namco Entertainment was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly embezzling ¥54 million by selling company-owned mobile phones and other items meant for game development.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2024
Ex-employee of Bandai Namco unit arrested over ¥54 million embezzlement
The man, 59, allegedly sold about 500 company-owned smartphones and other items without permission to a Tokyo-based secondhand store.
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, leaves federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 15, 2024
Ohtani interpreter appears in court over $17 million fraud
A lawyer for Ippei Mizuhara said the 39-year-old has reached a deal with prosecutors over his charges.
Special fraud cases in Tokyo in which stolen money was sent via online banking services grew some fivefold from the previous year in 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 12, 2024
Money stolen via online transfers up fivefold in Tokyo
Since many people use online banking services on a daily basis, the number of fraud cases involving such services is expected to grow.
A police officer from the Metropolitan Police Department visits a homeowner in Tokyo to increase awareness of roof inspection scams. The number of complaints made to the National Consumer Affairs Center in relation to such scams tripled between 2018 and 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 9, 2024
Tokyo police warn against costly roofing scams
Deceitful contractors coax homeowners into undertaking costly and unnecessary repairs by falsely claiming their roofs are damaged.
The National Police Agency coined the term "tokuryū" to classify individuals involved in dark part time jobs and quasi-gangsters, using the words "tokumei" (anonymous) and "ryūdo" (fluid) to reflect their characteristics.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
May 6, 2024
Tokuryū, a new crime menace in Japan, emerges from the shadows
Unlike the yakuza, which have a hierarchical structure and strict codes of conduct, they lack a clear organizational structure and thrive on anonymity.
The smartphone screen of a man in his 70s from the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture shows exchanges with a person claiming to be a woman from Taiwan discussing investment in gold.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / Regional Voices: Fukushima
May 6, 2024
Online predators seduce elderly victims into investment scams
Cases of people being swindled out of money show working-age people are also falling victim.
Takuya Hirai, head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s digital promotion working group
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2024
Facebook scams demand stricter online rules, Japan lawmaker says
Lawmakers in the Diet are considering summoning Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to testify before them regarding fake ads on Facebook.
Police have arrested a Nigerian man on suspicion of smuggling stimulant drugs from Britain and tricking his romance scam victim into picking it up.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 26, 2024
Nigerian nabbed in Japan for drug smuggling through romance scam
Police say similar cases of romance scam victims being tricked into helping smuggle illegal drugs continue to occur.
Four scam victims in Japan have sued Meta over fake online investment ads posted on Facebook that use images of celebrities.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2024
Meta sued in Japan over celebrity investment scams
Social media online hoaxes in Japan led to ¥27.8 billion in losses last year, according to the National Police Agency.
A police box set up on a road in Bangkok. Thai police have obtained arrest warrants for two Japanese men suspected of being involved in the death of another Japanese man.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2024
Body parts of Japanese man found in Thailand
Police believe that the man was a member of a fraud organization.
Entrepreneurs Yusaku Maezawa (second from right) and Takafumi Horie (third from right) attend a study session on fake social media ads and investment scams at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on April 10.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 17, 2024
Police warn against investment scams on social media
Scammers are posing as prominent businesspeople to increase credibility and to lure victims into "get rich quick” schemes.
Counterfeit credit cards at the Osaka Prefectural Police Department in November
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 10, 2024
Illicit credit card use damage hits record high in Japan
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry aims to strengthen measures to prevent such damage.
A fake website claiming to be that of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (left) and the actual site
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 5, 2024
Tokyo police issue warning on phishing scam involving false claims of arrest warrants
Tokyo police issue warning against scam involving fake websites aimed at getting victims to disclose their personal information and bank account details.
Prosecutors decided not to indict two Chinese women who had been arrested for a fraud case that garnered attention due to their alleged ties with what has been called a Chinese "overseas police station."
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2024
Ex-officials of alleged Chinese 'police station' in Tokyo not indicted
One of the women was suspected of falsely claiming that her sex-related business was a chiropractic clinic in order to receive COVID-19 subsidies.
Mobile phones seized from an apartment room in Phnom Penh in relation to a special fraud case are shown at a police station in Saitama Prefecture in November.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 22, 2024
Arrests of 'tokuryū' gang members estimated to have topped 10,000
More than 10,000 members of so-called tokuryū criminal groups are believed to have been arrested in Japan in the three years through 2023, a National Police Agency (NPA) survey showed Thursday.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government holds an event in Tokyo in November to increase people's awareness for fraud and 'dark' part-time jobs. Recruitment ads for such jobs formed some 90% of deletion requests made to internet service providers last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 15, 2024
Nearly 3,000 postings for 'dark' part-time jobs removed from internet in 2023
Recruitment ads for such jobs formed the bulk of deletion requests made to Japanese internet service providers last year.
Yusuke Yamazaki, former president of Nishiyama Farm, arrives at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 13, 2024
Ex-Nishiyama Farm president arrested after deportation from Indonesia
Yusuke Yamazaki had been on the international wanted list for his alleged involvement in investment fraud involving overseas fruit sales.
Aichi police assert that the duo also received approximately ¥5.9 million in kickbacks for the fraudulent practice from the company that it placed orders with.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 13, 2024
Two former Toyota employees arrested on fraud charges
The employees allegedly defrauded the company out of ¥11.5 million ($78,000) by inflating expenses and placing questionable orders.
America wasn’t made for walking, and it’s killing them
A 2010 study found that U.S. adults averaged 5,117 steps daily and that this was lower than the averages found in similar studies in Switzerland, western Australia and Japan.
Rare sequel to 'My Neighbor Totoro' to play at Cannes
A screening of "Mei and the Baby Cat Bus," which is being billed as a "mini-sequel" to the Studio Ghibli classic "My Neighbor Totoro," is set to take place at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday.
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Saudi crown prince seeks soft power in game hub Japan
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last July.
Japan survey finds 30% of student interns experience sexual harassment
The proportion of recent graduates in Japan who have worked as interns have experienced sexual harassment during their internship was 30.1%, according to a labor ministry survey, up 4.6 percentage points from the previous survey in fiscal 2020.
Fuchu Prison adapting to foreign prisoners
From the outside, the light-brown complex that is Fuchu Prison in western Tokyo could easily be mistaken for a city hall.
The politicians moving Japan forward on climate
While not the most outspoken politician on the issue, digital minister Taro Kono has a track record of being serious in his commitment to addressing the climate crisis.
Seoul's eclectic Art OnO shines light on Japan's artists and galleries
Art OnO, which took place from April 19 to 21 in Seoul, featured a modest number of 36 participating galleries from 15 countries.
Want to be a voice actor? Stay 'true to the character'
SungWon Cho is a veteran with more than 10 years of experience portraying characters in anime, cartoons and video games.
Local theater in Japan is more than a hobby — it’s a community
Japan Times contributor Laura Pollacco (front right) was offered the role of one of her all-time favorite heroines, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bennet, in the Tokyo International Players’ production of “Pride and Prejudice.”

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

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How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan
By Mai Yoshikawa

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