Shunichi Matsuo, 47, public relations manager of JAC Consultant management office, and ex-Yamaguchi-gumi affiliated Nakano-kai member turned company rep Kazuo Kono, 58, had told Art chairman Kazuo Terada, 64, that an affair between Terada and two young celebs managed by JAC had caused the women to become too emotionally distressed to work. They told Terada that a lawsuit for damages totalling over 1.9 billion yen was filed with the Tokyo District Court on March 30, but police ruled the lawsuit to be false after fees involved were determined to be far above normal. Matsuo denies the accusation, saying that they had tried to work things out but couldn’t, so they filed for damages.

According to sources, JAC’s Kono also runs a number of similar companies, including one that manages two members of the rock band X Japan.

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The 36-year-old gang member gave a vague testimony that he had purchased the drugs from an associate, and investigators are currently trying to discover details as to where they were sourced from. Police believe the suspect had been selling drugs out of the apartment and in a nearby restaurant parking lot since March.

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Along with voicing the character Emporio Ivankov on One Piece, Imamura is also active as a stage actor and runs a bar for tattoo enthusiasts in Shinjuku Ni-chome named “Bar Toh.”

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According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, to put color into skin using tattooing techniques qualifies as a medical procedure, and accepting money without the proper licensing is prohibited by law. This is the first case in Japan of a tattoo artist being arrested for violation of the laws.

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Read the original story here.

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Members of the committee include Tokyo Metropolitan University Law School professor and chairman Masahide Maeda, Adachi-ku mayor Yayoi Kondo, Gakushuin University professor Keiko Sakurai, and other lawyers and experts in organized crime and civil affairs.

At the start of the meeting, head of the anti-organized crime division Tetsuya Mori talked about how front companies run by organized crime groups threaten the safety of private citizens, and how he hoped the implementation of more effective laws would help protect Tokyo locals. Maeda said he hoped Tokyo would become a model for the eradication of organized crime.

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As the rest of the country was on vacation during the first half of the week, there was not a lot to be missed. And with the DOW and Greece pulling unforseen tricks out of their sleeves, the latter half will likely be spent avidly watching exchange rates and reading financial news.

Some tidbits:

The Financial Times drummed up some coverage on love hotel funds (perhaps spurred by the same weekly article we were), with super special obligatory commentary by foreign loveho tycoon Steve Mansfield.

In guffaw-worthy yakuza news, two Yamaguchi-gumi-affiliated Shouyuu-kai gang members were arrested Thursday for selling fake Viagra. Police say that the pair sold about 100 million yen of the stuff to around 7,000 wishful guys, and were outsted out by another group of three men who were arrested for the same crime in February.

A 63-year-old Yamaguchi-gumi boss is on the run after police issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of fraud and attempted fraud. The gangster rented a room in a municipal housing complex for two months under someone else’s name in order to take advantage of reduced rent for low-income earners. The boss weasled out of paying a total of 28,200 yen, and police suspect he may be involved in a conspiracy with two other rooms.

The manager of a delivery health shop in Gotanda went for a run himself and ended up with a broken foot during a robbery on Tuesday. He and a fellow employee were running from a man armed with a knife who had entered the shop late that night. The manager jumped through a window in an A-Team-worthy escape but broke his left foot when he landed. The robber got away without any cash.

And finally a video: “Yakuza’s Attempt at 早口言葉: Tounge-twisters in Kansai Dialect” (via @AdySan)

The stolen Peko-chan mascots, from the Sankei News site

In unusual yakuza-related news, April 23 saw the sentencing of an ex-Yamaguchi-gumi higher up for a crime that’s worth a chuckle. According to Sankei News, You Inaba, 43, was sentenced to six years in jail for stealing 10 “Peko-chan” statues from Fujiya stores between May 2008 and February 2009 in Wakayama, Osaka and other cities. When laying down the charges, prosecutors said that Inaba “has had a huge effect on society because of the character’s position as a national icon.” Inaba testified that he stole the small statues with plans to sell them to get money for “drugs and entertainment.” The dolls are estimated to be worth a total of ¥590,000. Business must have been slow…

Meanwhile, here in the Kanto area, FNN reports that four Inagawa-kai bosses were arrested for threatening a ramen cart owner for shobadai, or protection money, near Tokyo station in December of last year. The four testified that the cart owner had a bad attitude, and that they demanded ¥20,000 from him while yelling, “Don’t make fun of the yakuza!”