Democratic Party of Japan’s Yasuko Komiyama loses civil suit in lottery ticket scam

On January 12, the Tokyo District Court ruled against Democratic Party of Japan diet member Yasuko Komiyama in a lottery ticket fraud scheme masterminded by her brother, reports Shukan Asahi Geino (Feb. 2).

The ruling requires the 46-year-old lawmaker and the other defendants, including her brother, Kenji Hashimoto, 41, her mother, and lottery ticket sales firm New Lottery Service, to pay 15 million yen and accrued interest over a five-year period to the victim.

In June 2010, Hashimoto, was arrested for allegedly defrauding the 45-year-old plaintiff, a resident of Tokyo, out of 4 million yen in a fictitious transfer of rights to lottery ticket sales booths. Hashimoto is still on trial.

In December 2003, the plaintiff loaned 15 million yen to the New Lottery Service, for which Hashimoto was a managing director. “Komiyama was there and said, ‘Since I am here to act as an overseer there is nothing to worry about,’ the plaintiff said. “She guaranteed the return of the loan in full. She even signed on as a co-signer. With her father (Jushiro Komiyama) being a former posts and telecommunications minister, I trusted her words.” Read more

Japan in 2012: Fukushima looms, Sendai nightlife booms

The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11 left a big scar on the nation in 2011. Yet this year will truly be about recovery, believes Shukan Asahi Geino (Jan. 12) — albeit with the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant continuing to be a concern.

Shigeru Aoyama of Japan’s Independent Institute finds the government’s announcement in December that “a state of cold shutdown” had been reached regarding the three damaged reactors at the plant to be ridiculous given that mere cooling had taken place. “Actual recovery will be marked by Environment Minister Goshi Hosono or representatives from the Safety Committee working inside the nuclear plant premises and monitoring the situation,” says Aoyama. “The reality is that it will take a long time to complete real containment.”

What will happen to nuclear plants in the future?

“Japan will continue to utilize nuclear power plants,” Aoyama continues. “It is likely that Japan-made reactors will be used, not the U.S.-made models like at Fukushima. This will be considered a safer way forward. However, I am not sure how this can be explained rationally.” Read more

Popularity of smart phones in Japan fueling scams

Younger generations are finding multi-function smartphones appealing, but using one also increases susceptibility to fraud, reports Shukan Asahi Geino (Dec. 22).

The classic one-click spam from adult-oriented sites are becoming wide spread, says an editor from an IT magazine. “Just as we still remember that there a large number of victims when personal computers and mobile phones became hits,” the source says, “criminals are also taking advantage of the increase in popularity of smart phones.”

The editor says that the major issue is that younger generations are not familiar with one-click spam. “Middle school and high school kids click once and become victims,” says the editor. “In addition to leaking his or her email address, an invoice asking for 50,000 yen will follow. Fearing to be caught by their parents, they just pay.”

Needless to say one should simply discard such spam. It is, however, understandable that these kids become panicked as they have no knowledge of how these scams work. Read more

‘Fuzoku bubble’ of ’80s supplied sizzling sex services

As the “bubble economy” of the ’80s started to inflate, the nation’s sex industry rose to the occasion as well, so to speak, reports Shukan Asahi Geino (Nov. 24).

Dubbed the “fuzoku bubble,” the period largely began with the establishment of Monroe Walk in Kyoto in June 1980. It was the first no-pan kissa, or coffee shop in which women do not wear under garments. Other similar establishments opened in Osaka and Tokyo later that same year.

The shops featured topless waitresses in mini-skirts and stockings parading across a reflective flooring with fans to serve coffee for between 1,500 and 2,000 yen. A second boom occurred in 1984, when services were upped to include hand-jobs in private rooms for an additional 2,000 yen. Read more

New law to clamp down on Osaka’s ‘legal herb’ market

The Minami entertainment district of Osaka has seen a serious growth in the sales of drugs designed to fall within a legal gray zone, but law enforcement might get the upper hand with a new law, reports Shukan Asahi Geino (Nov. 3).

“Legal herbs” have documented adverse effects, but there are no laws regulating their possession and utilization, which has putting law enforcement in a difficult position.

“America-mura is known to be an area for drugs,” says a news reporter covering the society beat. “There are 20 clubs situated there, an area smaller than Shibuya, and many often receive illicit drugs, like weed, from foreigners. Pedestrians are approached out of nowhere for possible transactions.”

Dating back approximately one year, shops with signs reading “specializing in legal herbs” began to emerge. Now about 10 can be spotted in one area. With prices in the range of 1,000 to 3,000 yen per gram, most users are teenagers and those in their 20s. Read more

Tokyo trends: Deflation cutting hand-job prices to the bone

It’s a familiar nighttime routine: You are out in Shimbashi, drunk, and the last train has passed. What to do?

While pondering the predicament a young Chinese gal materializes on a nearby corner. “Excuse me, sir?”

Thus begins a survey of quickie sex services from weekly tabloid Shukan Asahi Geino (Sept. 15), which finds that prices are plummeting in the current deflationary environment.

“We can get you a room for 5,000 yen,” she continues.

“Ah, but I’ve only got 3,000 yen,” the crafty writer counters.

In Tokyo’s entertainment areas, below-the-belt services for 5,000 yen are in abundance, but many lucky lads are getting away with much less. Read more

Perverted pics providing peeks at particular private parts proving popular in Akihabara

A new erotic photo book is achieving brisk sales in spite of not revealing any of the faces of the female models nor full nudity, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Asahi Geino (Sep. 8).

The magazine says that the book emphasizes the subtle aspects of swimsuits and uniforms: The skirt of a sailor suit gently rises to expose high up a thigh; a sock is visible just before a change into a swimsuit; and an exercise session gently reveals a bare midriff.

The book “Natsufuku Joshi (Summer Clothing Girls, 夏服女子),” by Million Publishing, is recording tremendous sales, having ascended to the top of the photo book section of Amazon.jp at the end if July (and still holding that position now).

“Over the last year or two, it’s become something of a trend for this type of book to appear on shelves,” says Shunichi Kamada, manager of the Aratama book shop, located in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. “By not showing the faces of the models, the reader’s imagination and fantasies can be expanded. This particular title has become its own genre.” Read more

Radiation fears fuel abuse of Fukushima fuzoku gals

It has been widely reported that products sourced from the agriculture and fisheries industries of Fukushiima Prefecture have faced intense scrutiny since the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11. But who would have thought that bias would bode for blow-jobs, too?

Freelance fuzoku journalist Teruhiko Aoyama tells weekly tabloid Shukan Asahi Geino (June 23) that even before the nuclear incident, some regulars at sex clubs liked to look down on girls and verbally berate them. “Sadistic customers tend to fall in that category,” says the sex scribe, “and now they’ll give girls a hard time when they find out they are from Fukushima.”

It is common for many shops to disclose the hometowns of girls as a means of introduction. Prior to the earthquake, Fukushima locals carried an image of being passionate and nice. Now it is only about radiation. The magazine cites one deri heru (out-call) shop called Umichan in which an exchange regarding a Fukushima gal might go something like, “I forgot her name, but is the radiation here today?” Read more

Sendai’s sex-service clubs struggle to survive after earthquake

Weekly tabloid Shukan Asahi Geino is likely not the first publication one might peruse for updates on the ongoing developments following the Great Tohoku Earthquake — that is, unless there is an interest in how the region’s sex-related establishments are faring.

In its Mar. 31 issue, the tabloid somewhat surprisingly reports that Miyagi Prefecture’s biggest adult entertainment area in Sendai is functioning on a limited basis.

The lifelines of Sendai, which has suffered greatly following the Mar. 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, are starting to come back to life. Shops have begun to operate as their services are gradually being restored. Read more

Love me Tenga: That giant squirting sound you hear is half a billion men wanking…

When it comes to creative devices for the purpose of self-abuse, Japan simply can’t be beat. As Shukan Asahi Geino (Mar. 10) excitedly reports, Tenga, the nation’s most innovative supplier of hand-held, synthetic vaginas and related items has, set its sights on mainland China, where the rocks 600 million men are hoping to get off have nothing to do with rare earth minerals.

Tenga is tying up with two other firms, AV producer Soft On Demand and its affiliate SOD Create, to establish a joint venture in Shanghai under the name Yaxin Trading Co. (雅心商貿易公司 in Chinese).

A source tells Geino that while Tenga is prepared to go through regular business channels, the company is concerned over regulations on contents of adult videos. Read more

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