What is it about Britons and big cons in Japan in October?  There’s been two big ones in the news this month and we’re waiting for the third (as things always come in threes!)

The first was a British man who won 16 million yen betting on horse races and then escaped Tokyo tax officials by transferring all his booty (and himself) out of the country and back to Hong Kong, where he currently resides.  Sounds like a James Bond film?

The story, announced by the Asahi Shinbun, takes even further twists as it has become apparent that the man used a complicated predictive software system to “guess” the winners of races, and when the tax authorities closed in on him and confiscated his passport; he reported it as lost to the British Embassy and immediately got another one that he used to flee Japan.

Although he is wanted for a payback in taxes and penalties by the Japanese tax authorities, there is a tax agreement in place between Japan and Britain.  UK tax authorities may share information with Japanese authorities, but the Japanese authorities are in no position to take a British national into custody overseas over a case in Japan.   Looks like things are turning his way…

And just when this story is dying down, another erupts about a British lady conning a Japanese Bank (where she works in London) out of millions of dollars.  She persuaded colleagues to ignore rules and make huge money transfers to help a friend’s airline that was going bust (Indonesian Air Efata).  In return, she gained around £1.95million in pay-offs and used the money to pay for breast implants, earrings and her mortgage on her luxury London townhouse.

October has been a busy month for news on British cons in Japan and with 3 days to go, there could be time for one more!

Unknown to a lot of nations and people, Japan does donate a lot of money (often granted by the Japanese Government) to groups of other nations who are in need or less fortunate than themselves. Earlier this month, the Japanese Government extended this generosity to some of Jamaica’s poor.

In some rural parts of Jamaica, sub-standard “pit latrines are used instead of flush toilets and children do not have basins to wash their hands”.  According to Food for the Poor, the donation from the Japanese Government will ensure that modern day restrooms are constructed on several school grounds, which will benefit more than 1,600 school children and staff from 10 different schools.

The grant of almost $100,000 marks the “first time Japan’s Embassy has partnered with Food for the Poor and their mission to help the poorest of the poor”.  Visit the Food for the Poor website for more details.

We hope that this is only the beginning to this relationship of working together for an excellent cause and hard working charity group.

Fall in Japan’s unemployment rate

According to the BBC, “Japan’s jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 5.5% in August from July’s record high of 5.7%, official figures showed.”

Although this looks like Japan’s economic condition is started to improve, the situation is still pretty bleak and unemployment levels are still very high and among the worst since World War II.  Analysts expect the unemployment rate in Japan could still increase again shortly.

US “mad cow beef” banned in Japan

The New York Post is covering a story on the mad cow row between Japan and the US.  It says that “Japan suspended beef shipments from an American meatpacker today over its failure to remove cattle parts banned under a bilateral agreement, as officials here (Japan) raised concerns about U.S. safeguards against mad cow disease.”

The hope is that any wrong doing is quickly apologised for and improved on to avoid any repeat mass blanket ban that happened back in 2003. This is something the new ruling Democratic Party in Japan would be prepared to do, so it may come down to necessary reassurance from the US Government and Department of Agriculture (to Japan) that fair punishment has been assigned and that this *won’t* happen again.

UNIQLO are having the time of their lives

BBC state that “shares in Japanese clothing group Fast Retailing have jumped 16% after its Uniqlo store chain posted a big increase in same-store sales.”

This increase in same-store sales has been put down to the success of the Autumn collection so far. Something we at Japanfo love!

Airline WIFI thanks to Panasonic

Lufthansa announced this week that it would be introducing a WIFI enabled service to allow users of iPhone, Blackberry and WIFI enabled laptops to connect to the internet “even when flying over the ocean, thanks to a satellite-based technology provided by Panasonic of Japan”, according to the NY Times.

So, wherever you go (even 10,000FT in the air) you’ll still be on FaceBook and Twitter : )

Although he manages to escape, he must only have been grateful for the quick and effective Japanese Police for protecting him.

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