Illegal businesses aimed at inbound visitors springing up in Osaka ahead of next year's expo

This year, buoyed at least in part by the weak value of the Japanese yen, the number of visitors to Japan from overseas has rebounded from the COVID pandemic with a vengeance. Next year the world exposition, Expo 2025, will begin from April 13, and is expected to contribute to a projected record of 15 million foreign visitors to Osaka.

But Asahi Geino (July 18-25) is warning Osaka's Expo 2025 is also on trajectory to earn it the sobriquet "crime expo."

From some years ago, illegal operators in the Kansai area had begun operating unlicensed minpaku (bed and breakfast places) and gypsy cabs, which were advertised online in the travelers' native languages.

"Because the sites are posted abroad in foreign languages, police found it extremely difficult to keep track of them," a reporter for a national newspaper relates. "In response to complaints from local governments some suspected minpaku locations have been monitored by police, but if confronted, the suspects mouth excuses like 'I'm just letting friends stay in my place, and so on,' so nothing came of it.

"And these days you can also see deluxe minivans with white (non-commercial) license plates lined up at the terminal of Kansai International Airport, openly taking on foreign visitors."

While growth in visiting tourists is ostensibly supposed to benefit Japan's economy, when revenues are being skimmed off by unlicensed foreign operators, that's a problem, not only for legal hotels and taxi firms, but for governments that receive the taxes they don't pay. Taxes needed to support roads and other infrastructure, as well as maintain sightseeing resources.

"If a Japanese feels I've bilked them they'll sic the police on me," a Chinese business operator is quoted as saying. "So I stick to Chinese, both tourists and business visitors. I plow my profits into business hotels or manufacturing facilities. So the profits I earn underground get channeled into legal businesses."

One Chinese in his 30s is said to operate 6,000 minpaku in Japan, a majority of which are unlicensed. Some have set up shop next to drinking areas, having been taken over from failed hotetoru (short-time hotels where sex is dispensed).

One giveaway that a space is being utilized by short-term visitors are electronic keypads installed by the entrances of buildings in Osaka. These enable access to locked boxes containing keys to the unit; customers are given the address and keypad combination after making direct prepayment by credit card.

Not all of the businesses appeal to foreigner visitors; beauticians from South Korea, who operate out of some minpaku units have been coming to Osaka to perform Korean-style art makeup, cosmetic treatments that use a needle to inject ink into the outer layer of skin. The treatments are not permanent but generally last about three years.

A Japanese woman in her 30s who used such services said she received an ad via direct mail and was afterward told where to go for her appointment.

"The beautician couldn't speak Japanese, so we communicated via a translation application," she told the reporter.

Many of clientele are said to be Japanese women working in the "water trade," i.e., nightclub hostesses and the like. When compared to having the procedure done in Japan by a cosmetic surgeon, or flying over to South Korea for the same purpose, costs of using an unlicensed sojourner are considerably lower, reportedly in the range of ¥40,000.

Needless to say, although the beauticians might be licensed in their own countries, they are not in Japan, which requires such procedures to be performed by a physician. Possible risks entailed include infection or numbness. Unfortunately there's no way to ascertain the level of skill and experience of the practitioners who fly over on short-term visas.

Another growing gig are unlicensed tour guides, many of whom are foreign students who receive between ¥10,000 to ¥20,000 per day to take their fellow countrymen sightseeing and shopping. They also receive kickbacks from restaurants.

"I generally get about 10% for introducing customers to restaurants -- usually Korean barbecues, sushi shops or shabu-shabu places," said a Chinese student. "So on a good day, between my guide fee and restaurant kickbacks, I can clear ¥40,000 or ¥50,000."

With tax-free earnings like that, the writer remarks, it's no wonder they're being drawn to such jobs like ants to sugar.

© Japan Today