Latest news with #ShinichiIshizuka
South China Morning Post
17-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
‘Gambling epidemic'? Japan weighs new law to tackle illegal betting via online casinos
Japan is considering new legislation to tackle the booming but illegal use of overseas online casinos, as high-profile scandals involving baseball stars and comedians expose what observers call a 'shocking' lack of public awareness about the law. Advertisement While gambling is technically illegal in Japan, the government does permit a limited amount of betting on strictly controlled events, such as horse racing, boat and bicycle races and the lottery, with the profits being returned directly to the government. For committed gamblers, however, yakuza groups have traditionally been able to arrange underground betting on cards, roulette and other illegal games. But those lucrative sources of income quickly dried up, for the government and underworld alike, when the pandemic struck in 2020 and going out became far more difficult, analysts pointed out. 'Historically, gambling has been very tightly controlled by the government as it was a very important source of income and they wanted to monopolise betting,' said Shinichi Ishizuka, founder of the Tokyo-based Criminal Justice Future think tank. Advertisement 'But things changed during the pandemic and the emergence of online gambling meant that the government lost control.'
South China Morning Post
06-02-2025
- South China Morning Post
In Japan, surge in shoplifting by foreign gangs sparks vigilance warning
Japanese police have intensified calls for tighter security in pharmacies amid a surge in thefts by foreign criminals posing as tourists, with analysts warning that lax internal checks were fuelling increasingly sophisticated shoplifting offences committed in retail stores. The National Police Agency provided guidelines on combating shoplifters to the Japan Association of Chain Drug Stores in late January, the first time the authorities had reached out to assist a specific retail sector. Police recorded 13,754 shoplifting cases in pharmacies in the first 11 months of 2024, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. It added that when Japanese suspects were detained, they were caught in possession of stolen items valued at an average of 10,774 yen (US$70.36), but foreign suspects had shoplifted goods worth an average of 88,531 yen. 'There are a couple of reasons for what is going on now, but the police are right to act because this is a growing problem,' said Shinichi Ishizuka, founder of the Tokyo-based Criminal Justice Future think tank. 'A lot more people are coming to Japan as tourists and they are seeing that shops here are not as well protected against shoplifters as in other countries,' Ishizuka told This Week in Asia. A lack of defences made retail outlets in Japan easy targets for thieves who would take their haul home, Ishizuka said. He cited an arrest in February 2024 of four Vietnamese who had arrived in Japan on tourist visas but took advantage of lax security at Uniqlo stores to steal the apparel chain's items before shipping them to Vietnam for sale. 13:21 How chefs in Japan's Nagoya transform miso from a battle ration to desserts, cocktails and more How chefs in Japan's Nagoya transform miso from a battle ration to desserts, cocktails and more
South China Morning Post
06-02-2025
- South China Morning Post
In Japan, surge in store thefts by foreign gangs sparks vigilance warning
Japanese police have intensified calls for tighter security in pharmacies amid a surge in thefts by foreign criminals posing as tourists, with analysts warning that lax internal checks were fuelling increasingly sophisticated shoplifting offences committed in retail stores. The National Police Agency provided guidelines on combating shoplifters to the Japan Association of Chain Drug Stores in late January, the first time the authorities had reached out to assist a specific retail sector. Police recorded 13,754 shoplifting cases in pharmacies in the first 11 months of 2024, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. It added that when Japanese suspects were detained, they were caught in possession of stolen items valued at an average of 10,774 yen (US$70.36), but foreign suspects had shoplifted goods worth an average of 88,531 yen. 'There are a couple of reasons for what is going on now, but the police are right to act because this is a growing problem,' said Shinichi Ishizuka, founder of the Tokyo-based Criminal Justice Future think tank. 'A lot more people are coming to Japan as tourists and they are seeing that shops here are not as well protected against shoplifters as in other countries,' Ishizuka told This Week in Asia. A lack of defences made retail outlets in Japan easy targets for thieves who would take their haul home, Ishizuka said. He cited an arrest in February 2024 of four Vietnamese who had arrived in Japan on tourist visas but took advantage of lax security at Uniqlo stores to steal the apparel chain's items before shipping them to Vietnam for sale. 13:21 How chefs in Japan's Nagoya transform miso from a battle ration to desserts, cocktails and more How chefs in Japan's Nagoya transform miso from a battle ration to desserts, cocktails and more
