Japanese society going over to the 'Dark Side'

TOKYO —

Illegal loan sharks who prey on increasingly desperate borrowers; rampant tax evasion; trolls in cyberspace who recruit group suicides or who serve as middlemen for prostitution by minors, or who arrange services of hitmen. Some sell their family registry data to abet sham marriages with foreigners. “Hakobiya” (mules) smuggle drugs and other illegal substances, assuming the risk of imprisonment for a round-trip ticket abroad and a pathetically small payout.

Biweekly magazine Sapio (Sept 9) takes up these and other matters in a 12-page special section titled “Writhing of the ‘Dark Society’ that is Swallowing up Japan.” The title and articles that follow imply Japan is becoming a society where the law of the jungle reigns.

The three-page story on tax evasion could well provide inspiration for a remake of “Marusa no Onna.” In fiscal 2008, the National Tax Agency charged companies and individuals with evasion to the tune of 35 billion yen, the top five offenders being mining and metals firms, real estate companies, worker dispatch firms, commodities brokers and pachinko shop operators. Investigators armed with search warrants did their digging in places like the back yard of a Fukushima factory owner, where they unearthed a canister containing 73 million yen in cash. In addition to heavy fines, the most serious violators face imprisonment.

Basically, any current news topic can be spun off as an opportunity for creative con artists. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication’s PR activities for the switchover from analog to digital TV in 2011, for example, have spurred a host of new scams. Some crooks call on householders, clad in uniforms resembling those worn at mass appliance retailers; others present business cards introducing themselves as staff of the above ministry’s “Promotional Business Bureau.” In both cases, their aim is trick naïve people into signing up for unnecessary rewiring work or electronic components.

High-pressure sales techniques for energy-efficient water heaters and other products related to the so-called “eco boom” have resulted in well-meaning householders being bilked out of millions of yen. A standard MO is to tell potential buyers they’re entitled to a government rebate. “But eligibility is limited, so you have to sign up right now or you can’t get it,” a salesman will say.

Within weeks of the outbreak of H1N1 influenza, hucksters were peddling spurious medications. Now, with reports of the first fatalities and fears of an epidemic as the weather turns cooler, more flu-related scams are a virtual certainty.

When it comes to illegal profiteering, however, virtually nothing is sacred. This year being the 20th anniversary of Emperor Akihito’s ascension to the throne, as well as the 50th anniversary of his marriage to Empress Michiko, there’s been a leap in scams by companies marketing deluxe framed portraits to people who didn’t order them.

“If you receive goods you didn’t order, you can just dispose of them after 14 days,” advises Asao Ito, a spokesperson for the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan. “But it seems the greater the esteem a person holds toward the imperial family, the harder it is for him to discard such pictures.

“Scammers are harnessing that psychology to their advantage.”

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Latest 15 of 28 Total Comments Show All

GW at 09:24 AM JST - 28th August

most of this is old news, some has been going on forever! And they forgot a couple huge criminal organizations including the LDP & the beaurocrats who have been stealing from us for decades on end!
magpie at 10:06 AM JST - 28th August

The dark side has always been around! What's the news here?
fds at 11:54 AM JST - 28th August

its always been around but seems like its getting worse as more people catch on that enforcement is lax and penalties are low.
magpie at 12:54 PM JST - 28th August

seems like its getting worse as more people catch on that enforcement is lax and penalties are low.

fds let me rephrase my point. It's always been around it's been as bad as it ever was.

1). Drugs could always be procured. 2). Tax evasion has always been around in the size and scope. 3). The Yak use to be far worse and have even more gun fights and hits then than they do now. 4). Illegal gambling, hell they were in every prefecture. Even in nara the serenist of cities in japan! 5). Prostitution well we don't need to say more on that right!
womanforwomen at 01:17 PM JST - 28th August

....sham marriages with foreigners.

These sham marriages were with foreigners from certain countries. And the motivation behind those marriages was money.

It is so insulting when you just say foreigners. Not nice at all. I have seen many Jcitizens married to nationals from various other countries and have a good life. They contribute in a great way in creating variations in the gene pool here in Jland.

I, in fact have a lot of respect particularly for the European and Americans; The Asian culture is pretty complicated, and it sure is hard to adjust to it.
30061015 at 01:45 AM JST - 29th August

Darwin 101. Dark or light, the law of the jungle can never be eliminated, only papered over by the veneer of civilization in better times. Natural order is not moralistic. Evil opportunists will always multiply in an atmosphere of fear and desperation.
kanadamanada at 12:25 AM JST - 30th August

"Within weeks of the outbreak of H1N1 influenza, hucksters were peddling spurious medications. Now, with reports of the first fatalities and fears of an epidemic as the weather turns cooler, more flu-related scams are a virtual certainty."

What, you mean like, MASKS???
Farmboy at 05:52 AM JST - 30th August

These folks have always been there, but it does seems that now they are more organized, and problems are more frequent. Media coverage is better, too, so reporting of these types of crimes is more open. Sorry to see this trend.
MeanRingo at 10:35 PM JST - 30th August

It strikes me that Japan has always been a great place to perpetrate a crime. You could truly sell ice cubes to these Eskimos because the people by and large just accept everything at face value. A nation this gullible deserves to get scammed. I think they are just lucky that the language barrier keeps a lot of the snake oil salesmen out. If Japanese were as prominent around the world as English, the nation's coffers would have never been built and then drained as they have been. They probably would have sold the archipelago for a bag of beans following WWII, because the beans would have been "magic beans". Hmmmm... magic beans.
tkoind2 at 09:06 AM JST - 31st August

A pretty clueless article on whole. The so called Dark Side is, has and most likely always will be here. And the avast majority of it is domestic.

But if you want a real dark side, just look at the institutionalized corruption that defines so much of Japan.
bdiego at 01:40 PM JST - 31st August

Sounds like the rest of the world. If you know anything about prewar Japanese folklore, literature, and history, you'd know crime was far worse back then than it is now.
ratpack at 10:15 AM JST - 1st September

Join me Luke.....the power is strong on the dark side
Klein2 at 10:57 AM JST - 1st September

Actually, I have been confronted with two of the scams mentioned. Usually, scammers are very bad at mathematics. That is how I spot them.

The government subsidy scam is particularly entertaining. I bait them along. I ask dumb questions. Then I pin them down and see how long it takes them to get away. It is great fun. The subsidies are mentioned only vaguely. Asking for details about them is usually enough. A couple of guys tried to get me to buy solar panels. I did the math and showed them that even with subsidies and depreciation, I would be throwing away half of my money. I told them to come back with numbers. They never did.

I let a uniformed guy check my SEWER LINE, and he came back and told me I had to fix this and that... I said.OR WHAT? He calmly explained that my drain to the main sewer could cause problems for my neighbors. There was no physically possible way for that to happen, but I kept asking him questions. He lied to me for five minutes. He made up stuff and would not give up. Finally, I just told him to leave. He went next door. Amazing. The line was not five years old, and covered under the developer's warranty anyway.

One particularly shocking incident occurred when an assistant of mine allowed someone who vaguely indentified himself as a utility worker to go through my entire office checking every outlet with an unidentified device. I went ballistic when I returned to the office a couple of hours later. We called the utility immediately to verify the person's identity. It was ok, but she left that person to walk through the office unaccompanied for the better part of an hour. I considered that a terrible lapse in judgment, and she considered me a kook. I will never forget..."This is Japan", she said. Uh huh.
Ah_so at 09:06 PM JST - 11th September

A nation this gullible deserves to get scammed.

I am sorry you think so. "Gullible" is a very pejorative way to say "trusting" or "honest". Why is it a crime (they "deserve" punishment so you must consider trust to be an offence) to believe that what someone says to you and to start with a presumption of trust?

Is not more worrying that non-Japanese and Westerners are now so cyncical that every claim is immediately met with suspicion of some ulterior motive? The Japanese live in a largely honest society where one can presume honesty. Many Westerners live in crime-ridden corrupt societies where one must presume deceit.
diggerdog at 09:29 AM JST - 18th September

seems the police are to busy arresting members of smap and that j-pop druggy women to work on these issues, haha