Psychologically, it’s something you can do more casually than drug smuggling. People see it as an easy way to earn extra cash, almost like a part-time job.

Takahisa Urushibata, a criminologist at Osaka University of Economics and Law, speaking about the resurgence of gold smuggling in Japan. Experts say gold smuggling is the type of crime that might appeal even in law-and-order Japan: It requires no violence, has no victims except state coffers and does not call for an aging person to carry a gun.

© New York Times