Restaurants busted on suspicion of violating entertainment business law; Is it a rip-off aimed at foreign visitors to Japan? - Metropolitan Police Department
Quick Look
- The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Security Division has arrested five people, including a man of Nigerian nationality, on suspicion of violating the Entertainment Business Act for operating unauthorized businesses at restaurants Luxor and Princess in Kabukicho, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.
- Rip-off consultations targeting foreigners visiting Japan are rapidly increasing, and 70% of victims are foreigners.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
In Kabukicho, there has been a rapid increase in rip-off cases targeting foreign visitors to Japan, and the number of consultations within Shinjuku Police Station reached approximately 340 as of the end of October, an increase of approximately 200 cases compared to the same period last year. Seventy percent of the victims were foreigners, and in one case, they were made to pay approximately 9.6 million yen by credit card.
By the 12th, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Security Division had arrested restaurants Luxor and Princess in Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, on suspicion of operating a business that entertained male customers without permission, in violation of the Entertainment Business Act. Five suspects were arrested red-handed, including Ekuelundou Ambrus Osita (62), a Nigerian national who was in charge of the store, in Iriya, Adachi Ward, and Arata Kashihara (35), Oba-cho, Aoba Ward, Yokohama City. The suspect, Ekuelundou, remained silent, and the four others admitted to the crime.
Former employee arrested on suspicion of violating entertainment business law for serving junior high school girls at Men's Concafe - Metropolitan Police Department
According to the division, the number of rip-off cases targeting foreign visitors to Japan is rapidly increasing in Kabukicho. As of the end of October, the number of consultations within the Shinjuku police station reached approximately 340, an increase of approximately 200 compared to the same period last year. Seventy percent of the victims were foreigners, and in one case, they were forced to pay approximately 9.6 million yen by credit card.
A total of approximately 3.4 million yen in damage was reported at the two stores that were caught. Cases of people being accosted by African foreigners and taken to rip-off stores are rampant, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is stepping up measures such as distributing cards with warnings written in English.
Two suspects, including Exelundo, were arrested on the 11th on suspicion of operating a business that entertained male customers without a license in Kabukicho, Shinjuku Ward. Kashihara and the three other suspects are suspected of blocking the entrance of the store and preventing police from entering.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Measures against rip-offs in Kabukicho will be further strengthened, and warning cards will be distributed and patrols will be expanded.
Likely · Within weeks
The indictment and trial of four of the arrested suspects, who have admitted their charges, will proceed.
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- The names and roles of the remaining three of the five arrested have not been disclosed.
- Details on the total amount of damage and number of victims at the two stores are unknown.
- The reason for the suspect's silence and the future direction of the investigation have not been disclosed.
