Japan Black Markets: $84 Billion
Global Drug Trade in Japan
An estimated $9 billion is spent on illegal drugs in Japan.
Source: Jasper Becker, Rogue Regime: Kim Jong-Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea,
(New York: Oxford, 2005), pg. 162.
Counterfeit Goods in Japan
The Japan Patent Office estimated that companies in Japan lost 9 trillion yen ($75 billion) due to counterfeit goods in 2002.
Source: Yomimuri Shinbun, ” Chinese fakes costs trillions / Exports of counterfeit Japanese goods to Middle East on the rise,” January 5, 2007.
Japan under-reported $6 billion worth of Bluefin tuna over 20 years
Source: MRAG and the University of British Colombia Fisheries Centre, “The Global Extent of Illegal Fishing,” April 2008, pg. 7.
100,000 women trafficked into Japan every year
Source: Anson Musselman, “Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking in Japan,” UCLA International Institute, November 17, 2003.
331,136 counterfeit items seized in Japan over six month period
Between January and June 2007, a half-year record of 331,136 counterfeit items were seized in Japan.
Source: Kyodo News, “Fake brand seizures ht new half-year high,” Japan Times, August 24, 2007.
$658 million lost to movie piracy in Japan in 2005
In 2005, Japan’s film industry loss an estimated 80 billion yen ($658 million) to piracy.
Source: Japan Patent Office, “FY 2004 Survey Report on Losses Caused by Counterfeiting”,March 2005.
80 percent of all arrests in Japan involve methamphetamines
Japan is one of the world’s largest markets for methamphetamines with approximately 80 percent of all drug arrests in Japan involved methamphetamines.
Source: 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy, “Southeast Asia: Japan,”, United States Department of State, March 2007.
1 to 3 million casual meth users in Japan
Law enforcement officials estimates that there are 600,000 meth addicts and between 1 to 3 million casual users in Japan.
Source: 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy, “Southeast Asia: Japan,”, United States Department of State, March 2007.
Biggest consumers of illegally traded organs are Americans and Japanese
According to Dr. Nancy Scheper-Hughes of Organs Watch,the biggest consumers of illegally traded organs are the Americans and the Japanese.
Source: Leslie Ferenc, “‘Living Cadavers” forced by poverty to sell organs,” Toronto Star, February 4, 2008, (accessed: February 5, 2008).
