Cops arrest six for trafficking in Thai women at Gunma hot springs gulag
January 26, 2012
When the springs on the beds at Ikaho spa, near Shibukawa City in Gunma Prefecture, got a little bit too hot, it was the police, not the fire department, that came to the rescue.
Nikkan Gendai (Jan. 25) reports that snack bar operator Kenichi Ando, Matsuba-kai gang member Jiro Sato and four others were arrested on a charge of violation of the Immigration Law and abetting prostitution. Specifically they lured two Thai women to Japan and charged them 5.5 million yen for “travel expenses,” which they were expected to pay back by engaging in the world’s oldest profession.
The two women, ages 32 and 35, were taken into protective custody. Read more
Hostess club manager, gang members arrested in prostitution of Thai females in Gunma
January 23, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police announced on Monday the arrest of the manager of a hostess club and two members of the Matsuba-kai organized crime group for the alleged prostitution of Thai females in the Ikaho hot springs area of Gunma Prefecture, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 23). Read more
Inagawa-kai member busted for unlicensed money lending
January 20, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – Officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested an upper-level member of the Inagawa-kai organized crime group another man for violating money-lending laws by loaning money without a license, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 19). Read more
Police arrest three after worker linked to yakuza group sent to Kansai Electric Nuclear Plant, Jiji says
January 13, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – The Japanese authorities arrested three people accused of illegally dispatching a worker to a nuclear power plant from a construction company suspected of having links to an organized crime syndicate, Jiji Press reported.
The worker was allegedly sent to Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture, in central Japan, Jiji said. He was sent to the engineering firm Taihei Dengyo Kaisha, a subcontractor at the plant, according to the news agency. Read more
Sumiyoshi-kai gangster arrested for New Year’s Day stabbing
January 5, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – A member of the Sumiyoshi-kai organized crime group was arrested following a stabbing incident that occurred at his Tokyo home during a traditional New Year’s greeting, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 4). Read more
Yamaguchi-gumi member arrested for extortion of Shibuya hooker club
December 15, 2011
TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Thursday arrested a member of the Yamaguchi-gumi criminal syndicate for extorting money from a club raided in September for providing prostitution services, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Dec. 15). Read more
Sumiyoshi-kai yakuza members arrested for 2010 Tokyo robbery
December 5, 2011
TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday arrested two members of the Sumiyoshi-kai yakuza gang for robbing an office of cash and valuables and binding a woman in March of last year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Dec. 5). Read more
Construction exec gunned down in Kyushu, yakuza involvement suspected
November 28, 2011
TOKYO (TR) – The president of a construction company located in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture was shot and killed outside his home Saturday evening, reports the Nikkei Shimbun (Nov. 28). Read more
Japan times: Cut-up cops send sword-wielding slimeball to jail
November 27, 2011
At the age of 20, pachinko shop employee Munemitsu Takahashi (a pseudonym) decided to quit his job. By age 28, he had not worked for eight years.
One of the ways Takahashi supported himself, reports Shukan Jitsuwa (Dec. 8), was to befriend females via the Internet and, while feigning to be the president of a real estate firm, find creative ways to swindle them.
One of Takahashi’s victims was a 28-year-old woman we’ll call Reiko. The magazine describes the tale you are about to read as resembling “the scenario of a low-budget horror film.” Read on.
The sly Takahashi, who lived in a part of Japan relatively far from where Reiko resided, managed to keep his hooks in her for seven years. At one point in their relationship, when Takahashi was age 24, he was sentenced to a prison term. Before going behind bars he sent her an email.
“I have decided to undergo an operation,” he wrote. “It might be some time before I can write to you again — maybe even a year or longer. Please wait for me.” Read more
Toei Studios Kyoto vows to break off ties with yakuza gangs
November 22, 2011
KYOTO (TR) – Toei Studios Kyoto announced on Monday that it was committed to breaking ties to organized crime, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Nov. 22). Read more
