SAITAMA (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested the former president of a sales company in Soka City and three members of his family for selling ivory, the trade of which is regulated by the Washington Convention and other treaties, reports NHK (June 4).
According to police, Nobumasa Daigo, the 58-year-old former president of Daigo Ivory Store, falsely labeling the merchandise as “mammoth tusks,” which are not subject to legal restrictions.
Between 2022 and the year before last, the four suspects are alleged to have falsely labeled ivory products and sold them for a total of just over 120,000 yen on an internet auction site.
In addition, although the company was a “registered business” that handled ivory products, it is also suspected of not creating a “record sheet” that is required when processing ivory.
During questioning, all of the suspects admitted to violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. Daigo stated, “I thought it was just like littering a cigarette.”
He went on, “Auction sites are often seen by customers, so they sell well. To avoid having the listings cancelled, we sold them under labels such as ‘mammoth.’ We made about 100 million yen a year.”
Daigo and his accomplices are believed to have manufactured the ivory products in a workshop in Soka.
The company made at least 190 million yen on auction sites. Police are continuing the investigation, believing the suspects engaged in repeated illegal transactions.
Japan’s ivory market and mammoth tusks
According to the Ministry of the Environment, mammoth tusks are similar in quality to ivory. When processed, they are very difficult to distinguish.
Elephants are designated as internationally endangered wild animals. As a result, international trade and the import and export of ivory has been prohibited in principle since 1990 under the Washington Convention.
However, in Japan, domestic trading is only permitted for businesses that have been registered in advance. Buying and selling is permitted only if the tusks are managed in accordance with legal regulations, such as registering manufacturing and sales businesses with the government and creating management tables.
The target is ivory and processed products that were legally imported in the past. According to the Ministry of the Environment, at least 740 tons of legally imported ivory is thought to have been processed into seals, ornaments and other items and sold.
In addition, mammoth tusks, which have a similar material to ivory and are not subject to legal restrictions. They are imported as a substitute for ivory, which has resulted in many cases of ivory products being sold as if they are made from mammoth tusks.
Masayuki Sakamoto, a lawyer and secretary general of the nonprofit organization Tiger & Elephant Conservation Fund, said, “Demand for ivory remains high in Asia, especially in China, and the legal market in Japan has ultimately become a breeding ground for illegal exports. It has been pointed out that mammoth tusks and ivory are similar and are serving as a cover for ivory smuggling, so the nature of regulations is being called into question.”
