Nishi Azabu celebrity playpen target of Tokyo police gang probe

Coinciding with the enactment of anti-organized crime legislation last year, Tokyo Metropolitan Police have been focusing multiple investigations on a lavish club in upscale Nishi Azabu frequented by show biz personalities, reports Shukan Post (Feb. 3).

The club is owned by the former president of a real estate company that went bankrupt with liabilities of 10 billion yen. He has been arrested for tax evasion, and the club seized. The Tokyo District Court ruled that the property is to be put up for auction.

“The club as well as the owner’s residence are inside the same　apartment building,” a person involved in the investigation tells the tabloid. “There are nine apartments in the building, and eight are intended for auction. After the ruling, a friend of the owner filed a preliminary claim for ownership of the other unit. So it has become impossible to auction the whole building.”

(Shukan Post does not give the name of the club, but a Google search reveals it to be Geihinkan Nishi Azabu. The owner is Daisuke Shioda, whose former real estate company is called ABC Home.) Read more

Upper member of Yamaguchi-gumi attacked in 20-man brawl inside Roppongi hostess club

TOKYO (TR) – A senior member of the Yamaguchi-gumi criminal syndicate was injured after being assaulted by a large group inside a Tokyo bar early Wednesday morning, reports Fuji News Network (Dec. 14). Read more

Illegal Tokyo casinos popular with baseball stars

In November, Japanese prosecutors arrested Mototaka Ikawa, 47, the former chairman of Daio Paper, after he admitted to a breach of trust in connection to 10.6 billion yen borrowed largely for gambling purposes.

“In the beginning, he used to go to gambling joints in Japan,” a reporter for a national paper tells weekly tabloid Shukan Taishu (Dec. 12). “But he eventually went overseas, where he was able to bet higher. He then became addicted.”

The tabloid says that Ikawa started in the murky underworld of illegal Japanese casinos — establishments that big-name celebrities and sports stars also frequent.

(It should be noted that, aside from motorbike, horse, boat, and bicycle racing, gambling is prohibited in Japan. Pachinko is not classified as gambling.) Read more

Bust of Gas Panic bars in Roppongi due to ‘poorly behaving’ foreigners

TOKYO (TR) – The weekend bust of two popular nightclubs within the Gas Panic chain was due to the presence of undesirable foreigners, reports Nikkan Gendai (Nov. 30). Read more

Gas Panic clubs in Roppongi raided for improper licensing, two arrested

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police raided two popular nightclubs within the Gas Panic chain in the Roppongi entertainment district early Sunday morning for improper licensing and took two employees into custody, reports TV Asahi (Nov. 28). Read more

Japanese television stations also rife with yakuza ties

The resignation of television personality Shinsuke Shimada over the summer put the spotlight on connections between gangsters and the entertainment world, but, warns reports Shukan Post (Nov. 11), the broadcasting stations themselves should be equally nervous about associating with organized crime.

Nationwide legislation passed in October prohibits ordinary citizens from assisting the business activities of criminal organizations, yet television stations, the article says, can be structured whereby certain activities involve yakuza connections.

“I have experience in helping sell tickets to events hosted by TV stations,” says a gang member involved in show business. “A TV station producer will come to an event promoter because he knows on the surface things look clean, but the reality is a connection to the mob. A request will be made to sell half the tickets to an event. That will happen, but with fifty percent of the sales price kept as commission.”

Both benefit from this arrangement, and the relations only get deeper from there. Gangsters connected to entertainment production companies will utilize their resources to ensure that the performers within the company’s talent pool rise to the top to receive a take of the large fees they are able to charge for dinner shows and banquets. Read more

Tokyo times: Legislation to limit perusal of Ginza pussy

On a typical evening at 1 a.m., the lights in the Ginza club district start to dim, but standing out will be at least one brightly lit pet store, in which a number of dogs and cats can be viewed by passersby, typically bar hostesses and their customers. However, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Post (Nov. 18), these late-night shops will be the subject of new regulations to reduce abuse beginning next year.

On October 31, the Ministry of the Environment announced new guidelines that will ban the exhibition of pet commodities during late hours. Set to start next June, the legislation aims to prohibit the display of cats and dogs after 8 p.m.

In Tokyo, late-night shops are common in the entertainment areas of Ginza, Roppongi, and Shinjuku. Most of their visitors after midnight are hostesses in flashy make-up and outfits who wonder aloud how ownership can be attained.

“I visit here after I’ve dealt with particularly difficult customers or simply felt fatigued,” a 25-year-old hostess tells the tabloid as she locks her eyes on a Chihuahua, priced at 250,000 yen. “By looking at them, I can feel a soothing feeling. I will feel sad if I don’t get to see them.” Read more

Major developer Sumitomo acquires site of former gangster headquarters in Roppongi

(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, November 3, 2011)

TOKYO (TR) – Sumitomo Realty & Development last month acquired a controversial property once used as the headquarters for a yakuza organization in Tokyo’s Roppongi entertainment district, public records show.

Documents obtained from the real estate section of the Minato Ward branch of the legal affairs bureau indicate that on October 11 Sumitomo took title of the 3,800-square-meter property that was once occupied by the infamous TSK.CCC Terminal building, situated midway between the Tokyo Midtown and Roppongi Hills complexes. Read more

Former Kanto Rengo bosozoku gang leader arrested for assault in Tokyo

TOKYO (TR) – Tsuyoshi Kawana, former leader of a large bosozoku gang, was arrested yesterday in the Azabu Juban district of Tokyo’s Minato Ward for an assault that took place four months ago, reports Sports Hochi (Sept. 13). Read more

Fomer Morning Musume member Ai Kago attempts suicide in Tokyo

TOKYO (TR) – Former Morning Musume member Ai Kago was found in her Tokyo apartment yesterday after an apparent suicide attempt, reports daily tabloid Sports Hochi (Sept. 12). Read more

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