Japan's WORST Tourist Scam Explained | $6,000 Lost in a Day
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- Опубликовано: 28 апр 2024
- Japan is one of the safest countries in the world. But even then it's not free from scams. We explore two of the worst.
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00:00 How Safe is Japan REALLY?
04:05 Scam #1 - A Real Tokyo Horror Story
11:40 Scam #2 - A Cult in Japan
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NOTIFICATION SQUAD: I honestly regret not talking about this sooner on Abroad in Japan. But hopefully if we can prevent just a few of you from enduring it, it'll make up for it.
But what's the WORST scam you've encountered inside or outside Japan? SHARE your wisdom below!
Early
Pogger
Early for once
You and Pete discussed it a lot in the podcast you don’t promote.
Edit: oh, you did this time. Good job, Chris!
Nfts probably...
My favourite part about the woman who stopped Chris on the cycle has always been the idea that she knew exactly how to lure a British man into a trap….. biscuits. Great video as always, nothing wrong with alerting people to dangers especially ones aimed at tourists
We all know it's only a matter of time before she pulled out the tea, then Chris really couldn't leave. Good thing he did!!
If a cult involved tea and biscuits they can have my unwavering dedication and loyalty.
Little did she know she was just one piece of familymarkt fried chicken away from luring Chris in
creepy serial killer vibes. lure them back with biscuits and pictures of previous victims.
You gotta ask yourself how bad can a cult that deals In tea and biscuits be?
general rule that holds true with tourism anywhere: you never ever go with the person who approaches you, doesn't matter if it's cab drivers, guys in front of clubs, store owners, etc... they don't need to drag you in if they're legit.
Not even to the seedy backroom strip club at a bar in Riga where the bloke said everyone coming out had "BIG smiles!!!" and that it was all "lovely jubbly"? I mean, I said no at the time but it's one of my biggest regrets in life that I didn't go to see what was behind the curtain.
The 2nd woman would have skinned n stuffed Chris i guarantee it
There is an easier solution, but no one wants it... JUST DON"T DRINK ALCOHOL.
just not for tourism but its true for every salesperson
@@zam023 you do know they can drug the water and the juice don't you? Or should one not leave home ever?
There is a easy rule don't follow strangers... or one can be a puritan...
If something like this ever happens to you, NEVER tell your bank/card that you were scammed. Always tell then you LOST your card (or it got stolen) and you don't know anything about the transactions. This gives you a much higher chance of them cancelling the transactions.
Right? There is no way a bank wouldn't work with you in this situation. That's the whole reason there is a fraud department and charge backs.
That was my first thought. Someone robbed us last night. People are so naive, then they wonder why they're so easily scammed.
@@josephsmith961 blaming the victims
@@josephsmith961 It's not naive to be surprised that they have to make up an explanation because the bank doesn't consider it a robbery when somebody drugged them and then took their cards and used them while they were blacked out.
@@snowangelnc If you don't understand how your financial instruments work, that's just being stupid. Had they read the rules of how the card works, they wouldn't have lost any money. They didn't bother to do that, which makes them one or the other, naive, or just plain stupid. I think stupid applies here more than naivete.
A similar scam went on in Budapest in Hungary (without the drugging). There is a RUclips channel that covered it. They heard about the scam and, with a hidden camera, let themselves be led into a bar, secretly filming the whole process. Their video actually got quite a media coverage in Hungary and the bar was closed down after that
Sadly, in many cases, media pressure is the only way to get actions taken.
only to re-open with a different name and exact same MO approximately 9 hours later.
Really? Source?
A story about the time I stayed in Shinjuku. It was my last night there and I decided to spend it at the Golden Gai. On my way back to my hotel, I was bombarded by touts trying to get me to come into their scam bars but I was told to act like they're ghosts by my travel agent. There was this one swole tout who clearly did not take kindly to me ignoring them and he followed me up the block shouting slurs at me. I was scared out of my mind but suddenly, a guy in a suit up the road, smoking a cigarette walked out in front of us, arms crossed, and the tout was suddenly gone. He was clearly Yakuza and I'm not exactly sure why he stepped in to save me, but I still think about it.
He was protecting his territory, not trying to save you.
@@alexanderarmfelt4452 or maybe it was kazuma kiryu????????
I think he could've been the touts' boss and he was simply disapproving of the guys behavior since being loud and irate could drive away potential victims. Or like the other guy said, he was protecting his territory which the tout may have come too close to
kazuma-chan saved your ass lmao
KIRYU-CHAN!
I've had to explain this to many others so I'll leave this here as well: Just because Japan has this ''squeaky clean'' image of crime doesn't mean that it isn't crime ridden or crime doesn't happen. It's just leagues & fathoms lower than many places elsewhere in the world.
The more I look into it the more I start to call into question this belief. Crime isn't actually low just Japan is good at covering it up. There is no one to counter argue because police torture suspects for a false confession and have them locked up. It is extremely easy to get preyed upon in tourist spots and difficult to get out of when the criminals know the law. (or bribe police) Corruption is extremely common. Only recently Yakuza were running the streets and fighting in broad daylight. The problem is still there just better hidden.
@@sunwukong5413 But in terms of overall crime, it's substantially a world of difference than in say another G7 nation like the US or the UK. There were 45,000 shooting deaths in the US in 2021 alone -- there were barely 30 since 2016 in Japan. There's no comparison (or excuse) for modern, industrialized countries like the UK, US, and Japan. There's car jackings _daily_ in Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, LA, and NYC. It's a *DAILY* occurrence.
@@sunwukong5413 _[citation needed]_
@@sunwukong5413
You know nothing, that's "your desire".
I know that you have not gone to japan.
A sseth_tzeentach avatar?
An individual of culture we have here.
Japan: We have low crime rate! Also Japan: Report a crime and you're told there's nothing they can do. Technically a lot of variation in crime statistics between countries actually reflects a difference in how crimes are reported.
Also... 99% of all reported and followed up (by police) crimes are solved and result in prosecutions in Japan.
Amazing eh?
@@CubicSpline707 Key words "followed up." If the police tell you there's nothing they can do for crimes that may be difficult to bring to a conclusion, taking only the ones that can be readily resolved, yeah, that makes your "solved" rate look fantastic.
So true
@@CubicSpline707 Improbably amazing, sounds like cherry-picking is involved.
And police are useless.
I was unfortunately drugged at a bar in Roppongi, but since I was with about 10 burly men who were all worried about me passing out, the bar just pretended I was too drunk to be there and kicked me out to be picked up at the street. I am forever grateful to all my friends who took care of me until the next morning.
That was your first mistake. I went to college in Japan, and my Japanese classmates told us, NEVER go to Roppongi. That's where the Yakuza and their hired help set up bars.
That first story is terrifying... not only were they scammed, they were robbed. Not only were they robbed, they were drugged and sexually assaulted. ON THEIR HONEYMOON. Beyond awful.
And the cops did nothing!! That's the part that made it so, so much worse for me. They simple don't even care that those things are going on.
@@SkyeAten which is very ironic because there are an overabundance of policemen in Japan, but none of them are useful when we need them.
I agree, this is incredibly sad and tragic. These scammers the biggest assholes, they deserve to be found and jailed. Its crazy the police did nothing, I would be furious
@@ShadowZZZ Yeah the police in Japan have a tendency to assume foreigners are at fault in most things, so they usually ignore most crimes that only affect foreigners, which is a shame
I'm also surprised by the response of that credit card company, which is nothing.
That's supposed to be a chargeback and an immediate replacement of their credit card.
Literally the exact same thing happened to my cousin in Roppongi with around $4k total across 4-5 transactions for be below the amount that usually triggers banks to fraud. Same thing happened, cops had zero interest in getting to the bottom of it. No report lodged, not showing on the reports… BUT, lucky for him, I speak fluent Japanese and lost my shit at the police, got them to put together a report, which then was given to the bank to lodge the fraudulent access claim, which led to him getting his money back. 👍🏻 Hot tip: get a report saying that there was a violation!
"Hot tip: get a report saying that there was a violation!"
That was my thought after hearing the first story.
Without it, the bank would probably do nothing.
VERY important info... embarrass the Police into writing a report. Tell them you will lodge a complaint against them, if they don't do their job.
@@vilena5308 How do you get the report? Is there a specific information that we need to provide? I’ve always thought that if the police refuse to help then there’s nothing we can do 🫠
It happened to my coworkers visiting Japan for business. There were 5 them in a bar with a total bill of about 12K USD. They all used their credit cards just to be able to get out of the bar manned by Nigerians. Then they all call their banks (individually, no group drinking happened, cards were from different banks) and claimed that they have lost their card a few hours prior to the scam. They all got their charges reversed. Sometimes you just have to tell the bank a different story.
When I travel, I always have a "scam" credit card for the scammers. I was scammed in Budapest, Paris, Amsterdam recently in small amounts but get all my money back.
@@rin__ This depends on the country. There should certainly be a complaint procedure: what to do if the police is not taking your report, you feel they are not providing all the information, they are dragging their feet, etc.
When you are in a foreign country, it depends. If you are in Japan, and know Japanese well enough or have someone in the police who speaks English, you can push them, insist you are staying till the report is filed or tell them you want to file a complaint on them and ask what is the procedure.
It also depends what's the situation overall. Honestly, in this case (first story), drugs, theft and molestation, I would have first contacted my embassy and asked them for help and advice how to proceed with the criminal charges.
When I travel and stay in a foreign country, as a rule, I carry a printout with contact info of my country's embassy and I enter it in my phone as well.
The one and only time I was scammed in Japan was after stepping off the airport bus in Shinjuku. Pouring down rain. Guy in a big Cadillac asked me what hotel I was going to. I told him and he said he'd take us for ¥1000. He loaded our bags, we got in the car, he pulled a U turn and stopped. Ok, we're here. The hotel was directly across the street. More of a "taking advantage of" than a scam I guess.
looool finessed. That bastard.
😂😂😂
lol the sucks but in all fairness at least they only took you for 1000 yen which isnt bad
I've got a similar story to the first one. 2005 mine and my brothers first trip of two to Japan. We are out on the town in this big club called vanilla on 3 floors, I went to the bar to get a drink come back and he is gone from the standing table thing where I left him, I thought he had just gone to find a bathroom so I finish my drink and dance some and he doesn't show up I look for him for a bit and then an hour or so I go back to the hotel thinking he will show up, well at 4 in the morning there is a knock on the door there he is barely standing with a cab driver behind him, the cab driver explains he could not pay for the cab but promised I would so I get him in the room go get some money pay the cabbie, I wrestle out of my brother that he lost his card and so I go down to the lobby and get to make a call back to Iceland to Visa and tell them my brother has lost his card and they need to close it, his card had been maxed out but unlike those unlucky ppl in the video visa cancelled most of the charges from the night. But the story doesn't end there I get informed in the morning that someone had called the hotel around noon demanding to speak to my brother giving the room number and name. The hotel staff that I talked to in the night said to them there must be some mistake to that person and that the info did not match, we were then moved to a different room and put under a different name. Needless to say there was quite a bit less nightlife in our trip after this traumatic experiance.
That’s awful!
seriously though, the staff is such a huge saviour!
I was in Tokyo a few years ago with a friend and a street tout physically grabbed our arms when we walked by ignoring him. He tried to drag us away into the store (we're both small Asian girls). He only let go after my friend started screaming at him. He then let us go and shouted slurs/derogatory terms at us while everyone stared without helping. This happened in the middle of a crowded street during the day too. Love Japan and Tokyo but the street touts are honestly some of the worst scum I've ever encountered in any country.
Why doesn't the Japanese police do anything about this? This has clearly become a systemic issue. Do you think they're being bribed?
@@gnarlin4964 I imagine a societal image of it "not really being a crime" because nobody was hurt, as well as not wanting to step on anyones toes
@@gnarlin4964 the police might happen not close in there, so they are not aware something like these happen.
@@DragonEdge10 not only does it have to do with that (unfortunately), but it also has to do with the fact that Japanese are really quiet and don't really engage socially with strangers. What we may think is "shyness" from their part is actually just their standard mindset of "I'm on my own, and everybody else is also. I'm just going to carry on with my day, I have nothing to do with other strangers".
Staring while not helping definitely sounds like a Japan thing.
General rule of thumb in Japan:
If an overly friendly person comes up to you in English, they want your money
If an overly friendly person comes up to you in Japanese, they want you to join their cult/religion
Or they’re Natsuki 😅
It they want you to eat some spiked tofu with who knows what. lol
yess, this is so true. I once went to a huge 2nd hand store and when my girlfriend and I came out, we had a mother and a child ask us in Japanese if we wanted to pray at their shrine because of the current tsunami situation in the south of the country. we expected them to just take us to a local shrine where we would go through the very common procedure of throwing coins into a box, clapping and bowing. Instead, they took us on a 40-minute train ride, up 20 stories of some skyscraper handed us a necklace and a booklet, where we spend the next 30 minutes sitting in a tatami room chanting some form of us religios song. Still the weirdest experience i've had on all of my trips to japan, but at least we got free icecream after 😂
Edit: i was only haveway through the video when looking at the comments. So yeah, I guess I experienced this 2nd form of "scam" or religions recruitment xd We did not have to sign documents to join their ranks on the other hand....
Fortunately I have to disagree with you.. I met a wonderful Japanese lady in Japan about 11:00 at night in the hotel laundry 😂. We met again the following day and enjoyed the whole day out doing sightseeing in Tokyo. She came and visited me in Australia for a month the following year and I joined her in Osaka in the family home for three weeks. I heard the most fantastic time!!!! We are still in touch and planning to get together again!!
is it any different at any country?
Moral of the story, Crime is very much alive and well in Japan. Its just hidden so perfectly that everyone is able to pretend it doesnt exist, including the cops.
And in many cases, this is far more dangerous than situations in other countries.
Pickpocketing is probably low but for other crimes is another story.
Anybody who's heard of Yakuza shouldn't be surprised by this
@@elgatofelix8917 Every country have their own mafia or criminal group, America is just special having multiples xD
This scam actually happened to me at my home university in Austria. I was sitting in a park when a japanese guy approached me and we had a very nice conversation. He told me that he is working for a company that holds an event at our biggest concert venue and invited me to come. He even said that famous artists from a TV show come and have a performance. I didn't have anything better to do that day and since he seemed really nice I thought "cool why not" and bought tickets for me and my boyfriend. When we got there we realized that the entire event was about religion and it was definitely a cult we were recruited for. So this kind of japanese scam can even reach you in your country.
I got got by friggin MORMONS that way once, music concert my ass... never trust white boys on bicycles in America, even if they're not in the dang mormon uniform lmao...
Oh dear, I hope you are okay. Cults sure can be dangerous factions of belief and ideology.
@@Taiyo_Jinja sure I am fine..luckily nothing else happened and we only lost some money :)
A Dutch journalist once made a series in which he intentionally got scammed in different countries to show the practices. He also got himself into one of these Tokyo bars (and saved a tourist). The episode is on youtube (auto translate subs works pretty well): "Oplichters in het Buitenland - S04E01 Deel 1/5 - Tokyo"
Kees van der spek 😍😍
ooh thanks for this, will make a good follow up watch
definitely a good program , he's gotten tons of scammers arrested before.
Danku voor de suggestie
I've seen that guy and show!! Great
There is a Japanese youtuber who actually secretly recorded himself getting scammed and the yakuza threatening him with the police. He walked with the yakuza to a police station where the police did absolutely nothing at all until he forced their hand with video and audio proof of the whole situation. These scammers usually get off scot free just because the police don't like to "rock the boat" without 190% undoubtable proof of guilt..
Oh yeah. I think his account name was "The Dark Side of Japan" or something like that and he does videos on the sketchy parts and stuff that goes on in Japan
@@jaredf.6532 Thats the one!
They really like their statistic of 99% conviction rate and will do anything to keep it like that. Such a joke.
Yes I remember that, it is a video I will remember certainly
From what I heard the Japanese police turns a blind eye to the Yakuza as long as they don't have any wars or any murders and keep smaller crimes off the street, sort of like a symbiotic relationshiop. Not sure how true that is but yeah...
I had a really scary experience in harajuku when I was there on a school trip many years ago. Our teacher gave us time to explore and I was with two girls that I wasn't really friends with. This really shady looking guy invited us to his T-shirt shop which had 'many more sizes and styles' than the few on a rack he was standing beside. The girls I was with quickly took his offer even though I tried to tell them not to. I ended up going with them out of fear that something would happen to them if I didn't, he led us down an alleyway and up several flights of stairs into this room with no windows filled with T-shirits and a BIG and HEAVY looking door. The other two walked straight in but I planted myself in the doorway leaning against the door on the wall.The dude looked SO pissed at me and several other workers tried to draw me away to look at their items. They sent us away and told us they're closing as soon as it became obvious I knew something fishy was up. So terrifying to think what might have happened if I didn't do that.
Actually doors look like that in Japan. It’s completely normal. All apartment and office doors etc, are metal and heavy looking. You probably didn’t know that if you were just there for a very short time.
I am pretty sure that absolutely nothing would have happened to you. Harajuku has many hundreds of small little privately owned boutiques run from tiny apartments, with a clothing rail somewhere outside to attract customers.
@@dragonbone5000
'I am pretty sure that absolutely nothing would have happened to you.'
hooo boy.
you thought being led into a windowless room by a stranger is not a big deal?
not to mention that there are SEVERAL other 'workers' inside that windowless room???
and all of a sudden,magically,that guy said that they are closing as soon as OP doesnt want to come in?(even though shes on a school trip,and free time to explore usually meant that its not late night or midnight?)
theres plenty of red flags here,and you didnt think that anything is wrong here?
im going to miss you when something bad happens to you.
LOL!
@@ssllsg9439 not sure what ‘hoo boy’ refers to, as actually I am a female.
@@dragonbone5000
'not sure what ‘hoo boy’ refers to, as actually I am a female.'
and THIS is your main concern?
youre not worried at all about your lack of common sense and awareness for your own safety?
yep.
my worries is justified.
LOL!
I think you saved them from an experience they would have regretted for the rest of their lives.
The "sect" story happened to me in Tokyo. I was walking out of the Tokyo SkyTree and an elderly women approached me. She asked me if I wanted to go see a temple. I was much in my yes-man phase, on a high honestly with everything in Tokyo. So said yes. Deep down I also cursed myself, would I be assassinated in japan and not in my home country?
Anyway we walked for a bout 2 minutes before we reached a normal looking building. There, the elderly lady introduced me to 3 approx. 30 years old women, only one of them spoke enough English to get around so it was more a game of telephone with the other two. They were really lovely.
They took me inside, gave me a book of prayer and a set of beads (which I still have!). The shrine was pretty I have to admit. We sat on some office chairs and a prayer started. One of the women pointed at the words while they were being chanted so could follow along. Then they took me to a small tatami room where a monk was waiting. I think he baptized me??? I will never know. I just remember they were impressed with my seiza. lol Never was money mentioned once. (Which was surprising)
After the whole ordeal, I explained I was going to go back home, that I would stop somewhere to have supper alone, since I was travelling on my own. One of the 3 women wouldn't have it and off we were the four of us in a family restaurant (my first time there and not my last!). I got to know them more, after the meal, we exchanged line and I was off to bed with a nice story to tell. But it's not over!
At another point of my trip I was back in Tokyo, the ladies asked me if I wanted to go visit their 'main' temple, thinking about it now, I can't remember for the life of m where it was but they actually RENTED a car and took me along. It was outside of Tokyo, we drove for a while. There, we got to sit n the biggest golden room I ever been into, I think there were at least a thousand people or so. After the prayer, we had lunch on the premises and then they drove me back! Once again, no money was ever discussed!
I think i saw them once more ate that for dinner, I gotta say, really amazing and selfless people! I'll never know what their deal was beside allowing me a good time haha! Wherever they are, I hope they're well :)
Excellent story, but my favorite part was the implication that you know you're going to be assassinated somewhere, and you were upset that it looked like it wasn't going to be at home.
Have you tried finding out about it by asking other Japanese people? You had their LINE so with the help of a Japanese speaker, you can find out.
My guess is that they are some new religious group trying to convert people without bad intention. Basically missionaries. MAny Christians also do this but usually not to people who they cannot communicate with.
Very interesting
Be wary of this kind of stories. They are easily fabricated. Use your common sense always while traveling.
feels nice to read a story with a happy ending, thought that assassination was inevitable as I kept reading hahahaha
had this happen to me in kabukicho about seven years ago (spiked drinks, handsy hostesses, $2k charged to my card) - fortunately, my credit card provider reversed the entirety of the charge after calling the bar's listed phone number and finding it was disconnected (canadian banks are apparently quite benevolent at times)
I hate our banks but they only thing that makes me proud about them is that they don't tolerate fraud, same thing happened with my friend but in different country and they got his money back
@@astrothelad had they called the bar and reached a legitimate establishment with a proprietor who could confirm the charge, they likely would not have reversed it, particularly because i didn't bother filing a police complaint.
The first time I went to Japan my bank preemptively blocked my card because "someone" was suddenly spending so much in a foreign country far away from mine, and it seemed suspicious to them. I had to call them to tell them that it was me acting like I'm rich (when I'm not).
@@astrothelad I was an investigator for a credit card company for 13 years until recently. My job was literally investigating cases like the first story. US, Canadian and Australian law require that the banks provide a dispute process to argue suspicious transactions. The review process is much more than just a phone call to the business. On top of that, in the rare case the bank allows the charge, VISA, AMEX and MasterCard all give the customer the opportunity to request a deeper investigation through them directly.
So the victims in the first example either didn't do their diligence or are exaggerating the story.
@@simonlemlem9759 Had my Gmail hacked a few years back and they took $115 through my PayPal. Thankfully I was able to go to my Canadian bank and get my money back after a few days of panic.
I also added the finger parent verification to sign in with my phone.
@Dragonfly hell my bank gets suspicious if I use a VPN so in cases like this I'm glad to have a Canadian bank.
I was almost caught out by a street tout. This happened about 7 years ago and had only been in Japan for about a week. I had missed my last train and was in Chiba city, so was waiting outside the station for the earliest one (I was very very drunk). Someone came up and started chatting, a friendly dude supposedly from Colombia. Anyway we chatted for like 30 minutes about Japan and family and stuff, he seemed like a genuinely cool dude (although I had heard of the street touts, it hadn't at all crossed my mind with him).
So we got walking whilst chatting, (sure beat the hell out of sitting outside the station) and then suddenly he said "Hey, actually I know this bar that's still open we could go to, you wanna go?" and red flags started jumping around in my head. Trying to be friendly I was like "Okay, sure!" whilst trying to fight my sobering brain cells screaming at me to get away as soon as possible.
We got to a fairly busy crossroad where there was another foreigner standing around who gave the Colombian dude strong eye contact, then a big smile, and they high fived. That confirmed what was going on, and I realised we must be close and it was now or never. I said to him, "Sorry, you know what, I've got to go." So I turned around and started walking the other way. He ran back to me and grabbed my arm tightly (not exactly what I was expecting), and said to me, "Hey you need a drink or some food?" and dragged me into a 7eleven right next to us. He was gripping pretty tight, but I didn't want to get into a fight and possibly end up in a koban for the rest of the night, so I allowed him to drag me into the 7eleven. He was saying "You want a coke, a sandwich?", he grabbed a bottle of coke from the fridge and walked me over to the till. At that point I thought I was in a pretty safe environment with cameras etc, so I jolted my arm from his grip and briskly walked out. He didn't follow, probably because he was still holding a bottle of coke at the till.
When you're in Japan for the first time, you definitely can let your guard down due to how friendly people can seem, and how trusting people can be. I've now reverted back to my British cynicism though.
That’s certainly quite scary but I must say, the bloke didn’t fail for lack of commitment.
I don't usually leave comments on You Tube, but I couldn't help it after reading your message. I am very sorry that this happened to you. As a Colombian, I feel deeply ashamed that there are always malicious people who give a bad reputation to our nation (more than what is already historically known). 🤦🏽♀🤦🏽♀🤦🏽♀🤦🏽♀ And to anyone reading this message, not all Colombians are bad people or criminals. Unfortunately for us, it is an invisible yoke that all citizens carry whether we want to or not when we live abroad because of the bad reputation that some bastards have created.
As a Colombian I am so sorry that you went through this experience and am glad that you made it out ok . We are not all bad even though the media usually portrays otherwise. We have our good and bad people just like every other nation
Yeah, that can happen pretty much anywhere.
Always listen to those red flags. And never, ever, EVER assume the best in random strangers talking to you with no context or justifiable reason.
You are weak
That set is truly amazing,you did a excellent job on it
Literally got approached for this today and luckily my buddy had seen your video. 👍 Thanks mate.
As a 16yr old on a school trip to Japan, we were warned about the touts beforehand. I looked a little older than my age and managed to attract the attention of a tout during our free time. I'm notoriously jumpy due to a childhood of jump scares from my cousin, so when he appeared behind me suddenly I shrieked. He apologised and made a very quick get away. Felt terrible that I'd hurt his feelings until our teacher reminded us what their job was.
Thank you for the screaming tip! That should actually work almost 100% of the time 😂
@@soldadogomez3811 wtf?
@@soldadogomez3811 dude wtf… Get some help
@@x8Pukaluka8x you too kid
Damn, must be a nice school if you are getting a trip to Japan.
I was at Dotonbori in Osaka when a Japanese schoolgirl came running up to me and asked to use my phone because she had to call her parents right away. I said sorry, my phone doesn't work here, which was the truth because I didn't have a Japanese SIM card. But the street was absolutely crowded with Japanese people, and I have to question why she would want to use the phone of the obvious tourist and not a local who spoke Japanese. I feel like I dodged some sort of bullet.
She probably just wanted your attention. Japanese kids still see foreigners as strange oddities even in the big cities.
Asking a stranger for a phone is awkward and embarrassing and some Japanese people feel more comfortable asking foreigners for such things because you are not viewed as part of Japanese society, and may be more likely to be open and understanding. But, we can only speculate.
This is a known scam where you unlock your phone, hand it to them, they call somebody, run away with your phone then basically they've stole your phone and can reset / sell it. it happens all over the world. It's always "I need to call my parents" because something has happened.
@@Yarnocalypso Thank you for this info! It's good to know my scam-detector is working. Seriously though, who lets a complete stranger use their phone, even if it's a kid?
A Japanese schoolgirl could just go to a koban if there were such an emergency.
when i was in japan there were some people trying to get my whole group into a bar and they tried like 4 times theyre very persistent and they even tried to offer us a free round of drinks if we went in the 3rd time, funny everything you said about that scam was exactly what happened and im glad i avoided it even though the guys in my group were happy to take him up i convinced them to follow me away.
the same night my friends insisted on going to this club, we went and when my friend went with one of the strippers in the back she actually took his wallet out of his pocket while he wasnt paying attention and put it in her purse, luckily my friend was ballsy enough to just open her purse in front of her to check, but i know most people myself included wouldnt have done that and just assumed i lost it before that, definitely be careful, if something feels shady it doesnt matter how safe the country is it probably is shady
This was on okinawa
The scam with drugs in a bar probably happened to me last year in Roppongi. A tout came to me and started persuading me to come to a bar nearby. I was drunk and it was almost the end of my vacation so I was like yeah man let's do it (a bad idea). The bar was hidden on one of the upper floors of some building, and it was a classic hostess bar with everything as you'd expect - free drinks for you, expensive drinks for the girls that spend time entertaining you and ridiculously overpriced champagne (100k yen for a bottle or so). Well, at the beginning it was quite fun, but after a few more drinks I basically blacked out and I don't remember much afterwards. From the moments that I do remember, I know that I indeed felt like a zombie and had no control of what I was doing. I kinda remember using my card to buy the fucking champagne tho. At least a few times. Overall, my stupid little decision to go with the tout cost me around $3k and I have very little recollection of how I even got back to my hotel. Up until I saw this video I didn't realize there were may have been drugs involved, I thought that I just got too drunk. I've never experienced anything even close to this state though, so I'm quite confident some other substance was involved. I guess it could've ended up even worse, but I sure as hell won't be going with a tout anywhere ever again.
That's terrible. I'm sorry that happened. So sad really
The fact that your bank said that was an authorized transaction is BS. I would definitely look for another bank. It’s called claiming fraud for a reason.
The scary thing is that in Japan, you don't even need to put in your pin for a transaction 😭
@@ReXiRa787 as in the US.
This is why you need to use a credit card. Your debit card is your money and the bank doesn't care. The credit card is their money and they will get it back. They will fight for their money
@@ChikNoods Yeah, I never used my debit card at all in japan, credit cards and their travel protections are really the way to go
I think the same precaution applies in _any_ country: If some stranger comes to you and asks you to follow him or her somewhere, politely decline. There's literally zero reason why that would ever be a good idea.
Of course. None of these scams listed in the video are unique to Japan. They happen in all major cities.
So very true, though in my case following a stranger in Japan actually worked out for the best.
@@CyrussNP how ?
Well this is easy. The people I'm not supposed to trust are b|ek? I'm already one step ahead of you.
THANK YOU! This is exceptionally helpful!
It's astonishing there are so many people who are completely comfortable with harming others.
It seems to me many tourists try to be too polite. With a tout, don't try to reason with them, say no and walk away. It's best to not even slow your pace, shake your head and keep walking. It's ok to be "rude" to them. I've never had a problem, lived in Tokyo for 10 years and have traveled all over the world.
Yup, that is exactly what I did when some random dude tried to stop me at a station asking me to buy his food off him. Like fuck off with that dude. You may not have drugged that but I have no way of knowing.
If people would actually say no to anything they have the entire world at their feet and can do everything.
I’ve had to be violent with touts because of them harassing me and my friends.
You're completely right. I'v spent a reasonable amount of time in Egypt and you have to be like that on a daily basis.
Yeah that's what I do in big cities. Just keep walking. If they follow I say no and don't reply
I'm glad you mentioned this, Chris. In 2019, I took a month-long trip to Japan (not my first, but my most extensive) and I had some of your stories in mind when I did. Good thing, too, because when I was visiting Hirosaki, Aomori during the Neputa Matsuri, I'm pretty sure I was targeted by one of these scams. I was on my own, exploring the area around Hirosaki castle, when a young man about my age comes up to me on the street and strikes up a conversation. As you mentioned, this isn't really something that happens in Japan, so I was already a bit confused, but he seemed nice enough. He asked me the same questions you listed - where I was from, what I was doing in Japan - and when he found out I was there for the festival, he said, "My town has a festival going on too. I would like to take you there." Immediately I thought about your experience with the woman in Niigata and politely declined, doing my best to end the conversation as fast as possible and making up a BS reason that I had to go meet some friends back at my hotel (figured he was less likely to do anything weird if he thought people were expecting me). Eventually he gave me a pamphlet for some sort of religious movement and left (still saved it as a souvenir).
These types of stories are very helpful for foreigners going to visit, just so we can be aware of what to look for. If I hadn't heard from you and Sharla about some of these scams that target foreigners, it likely never would have crossed my mind.
People in Japan don't "just come up and talk". Yes, there are places, where people are "shabe-yasui" (easy to talk to), Taito (in Tokyo) or Okinawa are such places where people genuinely just want to chat. But there is one stark difference... they (at least to me) never feel creepy. And they don't approach you if you're not welcoming to conversation. And they never ever want to give you something or take you places. NEVER.
The rules we were taught as children apply to adults as well. NEVER TAKE CANDY FROM STANGERS. NEVER FOLLOW STRANGERS.
I havent seen that vid, what happened over in Niigata?
Straight out of Midsommar
@@lou00006 Chris describes it in this video (it's the "biscuit lady").
@@marihanderkhan5663 Midsommar is actually always nice, sun, drinking, and strawberry cake. As a Swede I haven't experienced anything like in the movie.
I have heard from military friends that Roponggi is off-limits all because of the Nigerian bar scammers. There are even "neighborhood watch" people standing around in yellow reflective vests near these bars. How has Japan allowed this to continue???
Because they're mostly scamming dumb foreigners I guess.
At best the police rather to pretend it doesn’t happens or blame foreigners instead of do something and risking tarnishing their reputation. At worse they are into it.
Japan will probably experience more diversity now that their people are dying en masse. As a European I can tell it won't be good.
DEI = DIE
@@Vercingetorixeur Just grow some balls and say you don't like black people. For real, who do you think you're fooling?
Love the podcast, British Pete and you are great to listen to!
I had to report 2 assaults in Japan and they essentially bully you into not reporting and saying reporting won’t do anything since I didn’t have any substantial proof. Oh I had to persist to submit a report for 2 hours before they caved and let me. But not after berating me and making me talk through and act out what had happened. Gross police work.
I guess that's how the keep the crime statistics low
@@galamotshaku Exactly. Just like in South Korean police ignores your peports, mocks you and etc. You HAVE to know legal basis for you actions beforehand to force them register you case and give you report number. That would allow you to file a complaint in case they try to avoid invistigation. And many other little trick you have to know. Otherwise you get nothing.
There is not crime if there is not case registered, right? And lets not forget about society shaming victims of harrasment and sexual assault. yeah, yeah. japanese police develops alarm application, creates seminars about that but its nothing more than a cute dressing.
as safe as japan seems to be, its not because of a robust police force. Police in japan are about as useful as nipples on men.
@@robertnomok9750 can confirm. lived in korea for a year. only thing i saw the KNP do was knock around a few drunks when it was closing time.
Having lived in Japan, I can honestly say that the Japanese Police are the most useless police force in the world. They are essentially cosplayers in police outfits. Whenever I visit Japan I avoid them like the plague.
The fact that the police didn't care when those two got robbed and sexually molested/assaulted is a great highlight of the Japanese policing and justice system. It's terrible. And the reason they can be is because of low crime rates due to culture etc. But it definitely needs improving.
They are paid off and part of it. Same as Thailand. It's just an extra income scheme for them. You are viewed as dumb and a sucker to fall for it.
Japan's police mandate is to "maintain peace", not necessarily "enforce the law".
Therefore, taking out the crooks they know predate primarily on tourists and creating a power vacuum is probably viewed as more endangering to the "peace" than letting them do their thing.
Yeah, that's why it's best to avoid getting into trouble in Japan.
And IIRC Japan back in pre 2000s is known to their notorious crime and modern society only change how they work.
While every country can have corrupt police, Police in Japan can be irresponsible as they get when it comes to such matters.
The thing most ppl don't know about the japan low criminal rate is that it don't include
sexual misconduct/assault on women's (if it did it will be like 3 or so in the world).
So most women's report if considered at all are 4 or 6 in the priority list. property law is #3 on the list so most get under the rug with the usual excuse if you don't know the guy why you talked/replied to him so you're the one who prompted the incident type of reply.
also the cultural fact that you need to keep quiet and don't bother ppl/family with your problem don't help eighter
That’s alarming as a woman. So their low crime rate probably isn’t right. I wonder if the police in any country is actually good or at the bare minimum.
15:10 "whenever someone comes up to me in a very friendly and happy manner I assume it will be a scam" .... can definitely say that is the rule in Britain.... no one in their right mind would be happy walking on the street!!!
interesting video and thank you for your valuable information
I live in Akasaka, one of the most prestigious and high tier addresses in Japan. Even here, drunk one night after drinking at my local, I was approached by a cute and friendly Taiwanese girl. After a short conversation where I told her about my travels in her country, she told me she’s working at a local bar and asked if I’d like to go.
I thought why not, she seems nice and Akasaka has a great reputation, I’ve never had problems here before.
She took me to her bar which looked sketchy as hell from minute one. I decided I would only stay for one drink, and the girl also asked for a drink and I said yes. After 30 minutes I came over very tired, and luckily I still had the consciousness to ask for the bill. Pretty much as I did so, another 2 girls entered carrying a clearly drunk and semi-conscious salary man who could not even walk or talk. Immediately they started ordering drinks for him and themselves even though he was basically unconscious. I was beginning to feel like I would be scammed. 2 drinks, one for me and one for the girl came to a whopping 60,000 yen (around $600). I said can I use the restroom first? They said okay. I ran home without paying, but fell unconscious half way in the side streets - in hindsight, I think I must have been drugged. I woke up hours later, a policeman had been tipped off about the unconscious gaijin in the neighborhood and had come to check on me. He took my ID and then helped me get home. My ankle was in a lot of pain. The next day I woke up to the most horrendous headache, much worse than the worst hangover I’ve ever had, and my left ankle was massively swollen and bruised.
It took a few days for me to even get out of bed, but when I did get to a doctor he told me it’s lucky that my ankle wasn’t broken and it’s the worst sprain he’s ever seen. It took around 6 weeks to fully recover. I must have fallen hard on my ankle when I passed out, again I think I must have been drugged.
Luckily, I made it out without losing any money. But even then, the sprain was hardly worth it. Don’t talk to touts!
Holy shit! Good that you escaped before anything worse happened!
God damn that's horrible, I hope karma takes care of them!
If you lived there why didn't you search for the bar afterwards? To make them trouble, or just write anonymous tip/review? Exact address name, even take photos
Should have reported it to the police
@@roberts3423 I live in Japan and stuff like that is actually legal what they don’t do is tell you about all the “hidden fees” like walking in the bar fee talking to the girls fee sitting down fee etc
The drugging happened to me in Tokyo. I called my bank and had the charges reversed by saying "I got charges from a company that doesn't exist on Google. This is fraud."
Huh, do companies HAVE to exist on google?
@@murry001 no but it helps you tell your bank its a fraud if they can't find it they will believe the fraud charges. 4000k was swiped from mine and i still had 2 weeks to go in singapore on only $500 cash.
@@sidewithwerewolves yeah the main isuue with the victims is they acknowledged the existence of the place and the fact that they were there...if you tell your bank this is a fraud charge I wasnt there they would most likely take the charge back specially if it doesn't fit your shop profile.
@@kazmaBlends not to mention that puts them in a position to prove that you were there.
Thank you for the information!!! 😮 I will be safe
Thanks for this video. I’m preparing for a trip to Japan alone. And now I know what to be aware off 🙌🏻
Me and my friends almost got into one of these scams when there was an overly friendly guy in Roppongi trying to lure us into a bar.. unfortunately for the guy I am Mexican and somewhat paranoid and told my friends that’s basically how one ends waking up without a kidney. 😅
I also remember chatting with someone in a hostel who had practically the same experience with forcibly joining a cult, but he seemed more amused by it than annoyed.
I was in a bar in Roppongi when a random guy approached me. He was from Spain and was trying to make small-talk. Then out of nowhere he starts telling me that could hook me up with anything. You name it! Weed, cocaine, meth, etc. I acted like I had to go to the restroom and just booked it
When anxiety is your superpower lol
Sometimes I wonder if we're evolving anxiety to replace the missing common sense, too paranoid to get trapped if you never leave the house.
It is not paranoia, because someone from Mexico has to be the MOST cautious or his kidneys are gunna be in different times zones.
If you think about it. Japan would be the perfect place for a scam. Your guard is down and you think you are going to be ok because you hear how safe it is. Just know your surroundings and be safe out there!
It's safe cause no one reports crimes and when you try the police don't care
It's also a great place for a scam because the police don't care about foreigners. Scam all the tourists you want.
I think Japan does have a lot of scams directed at the every growing elderly population there.
can understand why Nigerians Iraqis and Albanians are trafficked to the UK in boats because they will be working illegally in a factory or a scam in London. I don’t think it just happens in Japan
Plus people on holiday tend to leave their brain at home...
I feel like I’ve liked every video I’ve ever seen on this channel. Always interesting. Always funny. A nice channel.
Luckily, I'm in an a situation where I don't drink, and my Japanese wife is my guide , so I've never fallen into those traps. But I can see how people's naivete can get them into trouble. Stay safe people and don't let your guard down, even in Japan. The cutesy, innocent smiles are sometimes a trap.
I have had these guys bother me in Shinjuku. One guy followed me to an ATM and stood behind me asking me if I was a “faggot” because I didn’t want to go to the girly bar he was trying to entice me too.
What pissed me off the most, was that outside the 7-11 there was a police sign that said the police would arrest anyone bothering people. Unfortunately this is complete crap. They don’t do anything.
Shouldve asked the cops you are being harrased.
@@NatzoXavier which cops? The ones that didn’t exist on the streets at all??
i feel like the fact that you're a foreigner is why
@@scottcopeland2585 U didnt mention they werent close by.
They should be deported.
in other words: If the police doesn't accept and record a crime, there's no crime added to the statistics. Therefore the statistics are insanely good. This however leads to more people believing crimes and rip-offs don't exist in Japan.
I think I spot a pattern there
Wait till you hear about the ‘near perfect’ conviction rate
remind me of a village in Hot Fuzz
same pattern with a lot of government statistics all around the world
that's (sadly) the way it goes
Japan believes in forgiveness
Interesting point, but i still think its safer than most. Every country has its crooks. Heck, in japan someone had to make their own diy gun to shoot that ex japanese politician because they are practically non existent. But yeah, crime still does happen. :(
Thanks for the really great video. I experienced something similar to the cult story in Tokyo about a decade ago when I first moved to the city. It started at a friend's party, when I met someone who seemed cool to hang out with. We exchanged contact details, and some months later agreed to meet up for lunch at a family restaurant. All seemed perfectly normal, until a few of this person's friends joined us during the meal. Everyone was having good conversation, so it didn't seem strange that they proposed to continue the fun and go "for a coffee" at someone's apartment near by. When we got to the apartment, I found it filled with people chanting buddhist prayers and no sign of coffee, so I decided to make a speedy exit. The story ended with me dashing to the closest train station, with two of these people in close pursuit, shouting out things like "Wait! You don't understand. We can share the secret of true happiness". It was a quite scary at the time, and one of the most bizarre experiences I've ever had. Fortunately, I've never experienced anything else like that in my many years here.
Nothing like being chased and screamed at to make you feel safe and on your way to true happiness 🤣
By the way guys, disable the magnetic band payment on your debit cards. Only use the chip payment. With the chip payment they actually need a PIN code for payments and can't just steal your card
wouldn’t work in the UK either. Contactless payments are up to £100
@@therealjetlagthat still only uses the chip, not the magnetic strip. You’re thinking of contactless payment which came in AFTER the chip and pin thing. The band is what they swipe and you have to physically sign for it, like my parents used to have to do whenever they used their debit or credit cards.
Only use Apply/Google pay and turn off biometrics(face recognition or fingerprint) before going out!
@@therealjetlag you can use your mobile banking app to turn it off in the uk and also set a limit on spend on tap and pay.
Also you can holders aka sleeves that you put your card in that shield from people trying to scam your detail's. Same with mobile phones just turn off apple pay or on Android turn off nfc in settings
@@jessicalong1809 Read the OP again. He says that you need a pin for chip payments. In the UK, you do not, for payments up to £100.
Moved to Tokyo about a month ago and have already encountered the cults quite a bit. They have definitely evolved beyond just approaching you on the street, I met people via language exchange and dating apps as well that start off with totally normal encounters that end either with Japanese that has all of a sudden gotten very very fast and trying drag you off somewhere or "would you like to come pray with me?" and being handed registration sheets half filled in with the information they already know about you
That's... Actually fuqqin spooky, i dunno if i have the gal to run or look for an opportunity to dash away
What we (westeners) understand as "regular" religion, is just every day life in Japan. People go to shrine or temple, throw in their 100 yen, toll the bell and clap and bow and buy an omamori... And they just don't talk about their "spiritual experience". People who do, are part of cult. People who talk religion, mean cults. And most of them are pyramid schemes. People who talk about religion in Japan are only after you money and that of your family and that of your friends... and lots of it.
STAY AWAY from anyone who talks religion, who offers religion.
Shrines and Temples that are wide open to the public are generally safe. Those that are in Office Buildings or closed to the public... don't enter.
you're living in tokyo as a foreigner or japanese? so many questions lol, what are you doing there any how much rent do you pay? Im so jelous lol we visit japan 1-2 times a year but would love to live.
What? So that particular episode in Konosuba was true
@@krisb-travel : You can get a one room, 1DK or even 2DK apartment central Tokyo (and I mean central, as in inside Yamanote-sen) for under 10man (about 900USD)... though you need to be relatively fluent in Japanese language and culture / behaviour, because most of those aren't rented to foreigners.
As someone who's spent the past 12 years in Japan, I really want to stress that like Chris said, it's more of a Tokyo/big city thing. (The incident in Niigata took me by surprise!) The pros and cons of big cities and small towns are mirrored; in the cities you get people who can speak English, tourist spots that are more foreign catered, etc. In rural areas, there's not much in the way of tourist support, but less tourists also means less tourist targeted scams.
That said, as long as you stay away from anyone who's oddly persistent in taking you somewhere, Japan should be safe and a pleasant experience!
I went to University in Niigata (a uni with a lot for foreign students), and we were warned against cults because members (usually middle-aged ladies) wait around the supermarkets we visit on weekends to try and pry foreign students into their cult.
They stopped me once when I was alone, they wanted me to "have lunch with them" and they would "take me back to school in their car." (Im born and raised Latina, Im not stupid enough to get into any stranger's car).
I escaped them by saying I was getting back together with my friends.
i feel like it's this way globally
i've experienced all kinds of things in LA, Vegas, and NYC that would never happen in smaller towns across the US
it really just boils down to a 'street smarts' thing, which only comes with lived experience. it is what it is
From what I gathered, Japanese in general rarely invite people/friends into their homes, much less strangers. These women readily inviting you in for tea or whatever is already suspect.
My thoughts exactly. 🍻
@@peko7446 That would be a huge red flag for me but in the moment people might not think clearly.
I was warned to stay far away from Kubukicho by an uncle that lived in Japan. He said exactly what you said about the Nigerians. First day in Japan I had a yakuza guy grab me by the arm and tried to pull me into a sexual setting. It was pretty terrifying and I had to use force to get away. The other yakuza dude was laughing but I didn't find it all too funny. The whole trip I got bombarded by men and women trying to get me sexual favors for $50. You just have to be confident in saying NO. My second trip was a lot better since I brought my wife but then I got hassled by a monk trying to scam with beads and sob stories.
Great video, thank you. Your “Blade Runner” decor in your studio is very cool. I’m hoping to visit Japan within the next 18 months or so.
When I was in the US Navy we were briefed about the bar scams specifically in Roppongi and "drink girls" in general, never heard about the cults though. We had a guy who broke the battle buddy rule, went off by himself and came back hours later talking about how he sang karaoke with these really cool tatted up japanese guys. Surprisingly he didn't get scammed lol.
your guy sang karaoke with the Yakuza
@@drxgncs90 Well, if there's one thing the Yakuza video games has taught me is that those guys can really bring down the house! ... whether while singing, or otherwise.
The irony is, from all the stories I've heard of westerners in Japan, it's dangerous to mess with people who work for the yakuza, but the yakuza themselves are a blast to hang out with, since they've got money to burn and think it's fun to show off to the tourists. I've heard of people being afraid of tatted-up Japanese guys, but never actually getting hurt or scammed by them, and lots of stories of neverending actual free drinks, crowds laughing at each other's bad karaoke, and comped hotel rooms and onsen visits.
@@tildessmoo the ones with large tats are higher up and don’t need to get their hands dirty the ones starting off are doing it all for them
I was "kidnapped" by some young street gangster types in Kyoto. They took me bar hopping and clubbing, paid for everything, and I danced with their girls -- who I mostly hung out with because they spoke some English. The next morning, excruciatingly early, some of us went to see a TaiDo tournament, which was filled with yakuza making huge money bets out in the open. I went back to Korea thinking, "did that just happen?"
The video game "Judgment" has a side quest set in the game's version of Kabukichō in which the lead character follows a tout into a bar and gets a hundred thousand yen bill and can't get out of it.
Yakuza 0 also has a side quest where you save someone's daughter from one of those religious cults.
@@dannad74 Munancho!
One of the Monogatari characters has a parent who got caught up in a cult as well. The way it was portrayed was quite sinister
I literally just started watching Bakemonogatari yesterday showing that mom getting into the cult and found it super coincidental right now that a video about cults was released by Chris. It's sad but coming from a crime ridden country it's really nothing new for me.
@@robintitanstudios6455 *he knows*
Thank you for the video 🙏was planning a night out on our trip in Shinjuku, you know dinner and a few brinks at different bars but its not worth it after seeing the comments . Especially when drinking makes you less aware of stuffing happening around you .
Haven't seen a video from you in a minute loving the set! Missing ur apartment to tho.
Good to see that Sharmeleon's partner started his own channel, wishing you the best!
But how will he get viewers if he's not a blonde chick in Japan?
He has started a channel and that's fine but i feel like he should start a series where he cycles through the whole of Japan.
@@NZobservatory you mean a broad in japan?
Who's Sharmeleon? Do you mean Bread Girl in Japan?
@@MrBejkovec But... But... But... She's blonde! In _Japan!_
When I researched Japan in 2017 to go, your videos came up a lot. I remember you mentioning somewhere that they are still very much a cash society. I left my card in my hotel room each time we went out at night and paid cash for 90% of everything on my trip. I went off to this bar where girls were overly friendly. Like, almost 'lap dance' friendly. I saw one girl pocket this dude's card and I immediately bailed. Had I not followed your advice, it could have happened to me as well. Thanks for that.
Except for a limited few cases, touching is an absolute NO-NO in Japan. Those exceptions are Hostess (or Host)-Bars / -Clubs, Snacks (similar, but smaller, with a "Mama") and Soap-Land (you go there to be touched).
But any regular (non-sexual) establishment... NO TOUCHING. Even Maid Cafes and Girls-Bars are NOT for touching.
Touching women in maid cafés and girls' bars is prohibited.
Racists will not understand this.
I just came back from a trip to Bangkok and had withdrawn all the cash i needed b4hand (before even getting into the country LOL at the airport). I took some of the cash everyday to spend. Nice solo trip in general.
Im a guide in Tokyo and i always warn my guests, got few with the same problems as you did described, the funny thing is that you can see foreign security people walking around shinjuku warning people , and that is amazingly helpful
Same scam happened to me, my brother and a friend and in Thailand. We are form South Africa and also got pulled in at one of these places. Also experienced something like that in our drinks my brother got effected the most. Luckily i had "some" experience with being drugged and relisted what was going on, got us out of the place. We needed to carry my brother to the hotel and he is a big guy. We really struggled to find the hotel I left my friend and brother at some well lit area wile trying to stay awake. After about 2 hours of searching i got the place and some how managed to get them back to the hotel. we only lost about 4000 baht could have been much worse.
I hope the pandemic shutting out tourists for years has majorly hurt these scammers financially.
Except they probably double down on the locals to keep profits up.
@@TharzZzDunN I imagine the locals are more aware/informed about the scam. At least I hope so.
when i was there last week there werent many around but i guess when Japan opens up again they will be back out in full force.
They know how to make money other ways. Thiefs are clever unfortunately
@@drumsR4girls i could tell a bullshit artist in my own language/country. They probably prey on the elderly japanese.
I'm glad this is finally addressed by someone! My partner got scammed in Shinjuku with his friend in 2016, where they followed a tout into a bar. They got drugged, separated and threatened until they made card payments, they lost about $3500 combined. They also tried to go to the police, who were listening at first, but when the police man spotted someone outside (who had clearly followed my partner and his friend) they became completely unhelpful. The next day the boys both felt terrible due to the drugs and basically just fled Tokyo as they still felt very unsafe. Hearing this story completely shook me as I had never heard of things like this happening in Japan!
So the police were in cahoots with the guy outside the station.
@@dannydaw59 Yeah, definitely. My partner and his friend actually went to a different police station when they returned to Tokyo for their flight home and those officers were much more helpful. It even got escalated to a higher level when my partner mentioned the guy who ran the bar had a scar on his face (they clearly knew who this dude was and were keen to hear more).
@@DutchieAbroad Yeah Police in Kabukicho are mostly useless because a lot of them are paid off by those scam owners to don't do anything, i'm from Mexico and Kabukicho for me felt super safe compared to my city XD, also because of Mexico for me was super easy to tell scams apart, we meme in Latin America that we have this "Latin America instict" in which we can easily tell if someone wants to rob or scam us.
I’m surprised people still get taken by those touts. Even had I not known it was a thing I’d never follow a tout into a bar in any country.
You and this guy told stories about people being robbed, held hostage, kidnapped, one of the worst crimes in many if not most countries on Earth, at least in Western civilization, in sleazy bars after being roofied then going to the police and being told to get bent, to take it with their credit card company. Lovely police response and “justice” system! On par with the UAE, Qatar, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia where victims are totally helpless. Ghastly!
Theres probably a correlation between low reported crime rates and an indifferent police force
Yeah, there’s many things that don’t add up in relation to Japans’ “justice” system, or lack of rather, and policing. That until they decide you’re “guilty till proven otherwise”, locking you up indefinitely, till you confess something that you didn’t do. Lovely!
My general rule: If someone aproaches me on the street, he is probably a scamer. When he asks something, I alway reply in my native tongue: "Já vám vůbec nerozumim!" wich means - "I dont understand you at all" in Czech. They usualy go: "Eh?" Maybe sometimes repeat and then leave. What can you do with someone ho you dont understand? Fun fact: once I answered a tout in Morocco this way and he replied also in czech. I gave him some tip because I was amazed and he earned it. From that time I try this on every stranger or tout in foreign country and if they answer me right I give them money. But that never happened again. Sadly. For them. Hahaha!
Funny story but also why the hell would you tip a kidnapping gangster jesus
I do the same thing just in Icelandic it works like a charm
@@fjodorf7341 not everyone in the street is a kidnapping gangster lmao
This is the only use I have found for the Welsh language. It gets rid of scammers everywhere in the world
Even if they ask me the time I answer I don't know.
Holy shit, this almost happened to me when I was in Tokyo in 2019, a Nigerian women with ok English latched onto my arm and kept directing myself and my mate to a nightclub we had no interest and she suddenly started asking “Do you want girls” and both of us said “no thanks just exploring and etc…” and then she goes “Oh I can get you boys instead “ I broke myself laughing and asked her just to go away at that point I am terrified to think what could have happened if we gave in and followed her.
„Well, so you have unicorns? I’m only interested in uniforms. GOOD DAY, MAM!“
"I want spiderman!"
Yeah, I've been to Shinjuku recently and I've had quite a few people come to me saying things like "are you looking for sex? massage and sex? fuck?". And every now and then there would be loudspeaker announcements in the entirety of kabuki-cho saying that you should avoid, by all means, going to places recommended by people who would proactively reach out to you in the street and/or paying with card on bars/clubs due to the risk of fraud.
The problem being -- those announcements were just in Japanese, so 99.9% of the foreigners would stay in a vulnerable state regardless...
I once had a tout just straight up go "do you want pussy?" when I was on my way home from the gym. That was a surprise (I didn't)
"The police wasn't particularly interested in taking this up... "
Probably the reason why Japan is so "safe".
That is exactly why the crime rate in Japan is so low. I got robbed, went to the police to report it and after about 16 hours at the police station (no joke, I think they wanted free English lessons) they told me they wouldn't do anything. So no report, no crime on their stats. You have to wonder how often that happens, and how often people don't even bother reporting crimes in the first place.
Tbf there is next to no violent crime, but yeah especially when it happens to foreigners nobody will do anything. But like compare it to any city in the US and it is incredibly safe. It's kinda silly to say it's not safe at all.
@@derekskelton4187
Maybe, but literally drugging people to get at their money wouldn't be called a "scam" in my country, and police would actually do their job!
So I can't help but wonder how bad crime really is in Japan...
I’m honestly dubious of any country/city that prides itself for being “safe.” Just because it looks nice and citizens can leave their doors unlocked DOES NOT mean a place is actually safe. Also, considering the significant stalking and harassment issues female citizens face on a daily basis, I doubt that Japan is as crime-free as people make it out to be.
Well I'd assume it has something to do with about half the population having one foot in the grave. Old people don't commit a lot of violent crime. One if the reasons the U.S has a bigger issue with violent crime is we're about a decade younger then most other developed nations.
Was in Shinjuku a few years back and I was approach multiple times near several bars and your best bet is to just completely ignore them and keep walking. I saw a lot of people stopping to talk and it not worth the headache. Some even got a bit aggressive after refusing them for those that stopped to talk with them.
I'm grateful for these posts, from you and others, but I'm now starting to dread traveling to Japan alone this fall.
“Two monkeys went on a rampage”
Goddamnit Connor, Wacky weekend got really out of hand
Can attest to the experience with scouts on the streets of Kabukicho trying to lure us to a club and being very persistent and following us down the street when we felt like making a quick exit to escape the conversation. After that encounter we learned to avoid that street and stick to the areas that were more lit and had more people and eateries. Other than that, our stay in Shinjuku just adjacent to Kabukicho was a fun time!
I'm sure this is going to be a hot take -- I don't drink alcohol when I travel. It would be nice if I could "trust" that the places I'm going to are safe, but there are BAD people out there even in the best hotels. The only way to be safe is to avoid situations where someone could take advantage of you, and abstaining is a big step you can take to make yourself less of a target. The bad actors know that once you've voluntarily had a few, it will be hard if not impossible for you to get them in any trouble for taking advantage of you. Sad but true.
Your videos are so good it makes me wonder if I'm about to get scammed!
a youtuber called “dark side of japan yuki” intentionally went to one of these bars while secretly recording, so any claims were recorded. in the end he was threatened to be killed and he just said no im leaving. ended up at the police station with the guy asking for a tens of thousands of yen, but he had confirmed the prices on camera before drinking so they settled the bill correctly and they split ways. i think this worked since hes japanese, a foreigner might not be so lucky
the video is called
I battled Yakuza at a Yakuza rip-off bar in Shinjuku Tokyo Kabukicho
Thats not Yakuza.
Yakuza doesn't do small things like that.
You have been fooled
Many of his videos are scripted/fake. But its indeed something that can happen in Japan.
@@Veniks wait proof for how it's fake?
@@sankujamatia525 who is it then?
@@sankujamatia525 You watch too much anime, guy. They're a gang, same as any other.
Thank you for letting me know
me being japanese i’ve almost been scammed in takeshita street. there’s foreign men in the street who have this paper about their clothing store. they say just looking is okay but after u enter their store they kinda give u the vibe to buy something. i lied i’m busy, i have no money and i said i’ll come next time (which i didn’t lol) and let the store.
it’s really common, lately there’s security guys in the street but that’s not stopping them from trying to lure people in their stores.
moral of story, don’t follow people into stores or buildings, if someone wants you to do a survey, say no or ask them if you can do it on the spot, if not, chances are they’re gonna take you into their building and make you buy something, and you can’t leave if you dont
LOL The last scam with the menus you brought up, I was stationed and lived in Okinawa for 6 years and my friends from Sweden were in town. We all went to a bar down in Naha, Okinawa's capital city, and it was our first time in that bar (they also lived in Japan for years in Okinawa and we frequently went out to bars). We walk in and sit down at a table and immediately open the Japanese menus that were already on the table, when a waiter sprints over and replaces our menu's for English ones. However, they forget to grab one of the menus and my buddy almost immediately pointed out how drinks on the English menu were 3-400 yen more than on the Japanese menu. The waiter comes back and we all order beers, but we demand the Japanese price for the beer and he is SHOCKED that we can read the menu and doesn't know how to respond and just says to talk to the manager. So we confront this guy and he is just as shocked that we can read the menu's and he apologizes MULTIPLE times and even gives us a free round of drinks. We drink them and just leave.
They are always so shocked when foreigners can read/understand the language even today in Japan and Korea.
Lol wtf? They allow that in Japan? Im from Sweden and can't believe something like that ever occurring here. That restaurant would be shut down quick.
@@pepedeltoro6647 yeah, they have a lot of strange laws people don't talk about as well. Like openly displaying signs in some restaurants that if you're a foreigner you are not welcome. Pretty rare to see. But I've seen it enough to talk about it.
And their economy has suffered because no tourists during covid lock down, maybe we just all stop going to Japan.
@@dico3557 damn O.O
I vividly remember the tourist horror stories on the podcast so it’s great that you finally had the chance to make a video on them. Also, petition to make Abroad in a Scam your next channel idea 🙏
I met a tout in Shinjuku, not far from the Robot Restaurant. In a matter of seconds they make themselves seem so friendly and welcoming and will shake your hand, ask about where you're from, and invite you to cheap drinks and accompaniment of young women (who were standing behind him closer to the door, wooing at me). I knew what was up, and when I went to release the handshake and he didn't, I calmly and sternly said, "Let go of my hand." He did, the girls pouted at me, and he seemed to know he wasn't going to get me so he didn't try to save it. The whole exchange was 10 seconds or less and I was on my way. All of my other experiences in Japan were awesome and I met a handful of genuinely kind and friendly people who I enjoyed conversation with. It's good to be aware of these scams, but don't let it scare you into doubting everyone!
Thanks for the heads up :D im going to japan next year for 3 weeks on my own so thanks :D
Fun story: Back in 2019 my brother and I were in Shinjuku for a layover. We went to a yakiniku place near the red light district for dinner and when we were walking home we stumbled into an area with a lot of seedy looking bars. We got approached by one of the street greeters who was telling us they had cheap drinks and cute girls and we were both like “naw were good.” He wasn’t taking it and as we were walking away he grabbed my brother by the arm and was like “man I’m telling you you’re gonna love it in there.” My brother, a 6’4” dickhead grabs the dudes arm like how your grandpa would shake your hand and looks this dude dead in the eyes and says “We’re Mormons, and our 5 wives will kill us if they find out.” The dude gets stunned and lets go of my brother and we walk back to our Airbnb. Last thing I heard him say was “Did he say they have five wives?” Laughed my ass off all the way home.
I'm gonna use the 3 weed smoking girlfriends as a get out jail card for this situation if I get into it
Gold
This comment is king.
As a Mormon, this made me and my three wife’s laugh
I love your brother's response!
This happened to me in China. I went to the concierge at my hotel and they had the assistant GM go with me to the Chinese Tourist Police who were excellent and put me in a van with me, the AGM, and 3 cops. We then drove around to the involved bars (and a few others) and they grabbed all the cash they could find (huge amounts of RMB 100 notes, in stacks), the credit card machines, etc. and they gave me ~120% or so of what I'd been charged in cash, as well as detaining all the people involved back at the station. It was pretty amazing. Other people were getting scammed at the same tea shops while we were raiding them and we rescued them (they were...disbelieving at the time, but then I talked to them).
Chinese police in large cities like Shanghai is actually very efficient even for petty crimes like theft or robbery, there is zero tolerance for crime or scam over there especially against foreigners. If you report it they usually investigate and make right if it’s true and arrest the criminal or make them pay, there are high def video cameras everywhere so finding the criminal is super easy. As long as you don’t get political and fuq with the government.
Um, I think you are now a criminal in China
That is amazing! Good job Chinese police for actually doing something about it 👏
Yeah, some countries have tourist police who make sure tourists don't get scammed. I think they exist in Thailand too. Every country should have this.
the chinese do not fuck around when it comes to crime. the law breakers get whats coming to them, unlike the japanese. i do like japan but their inability to admit their fault in the atrocities they committed in world war 2 is a reflection of the type of society japan is today. sweep the evil under the rug and hope it goes away.
Good timing on this showing up as recommended since I'm planning a trip to Japan in October. Fortunately, I'm not really a drinker and don't plan on going to the big touristy entertainment areas, so I should be good. I'll just have to deal with the normal tourist traps selling trinkets.
I knew about not following the greeters into their bars or restaurants, but this is the first I've heard of the cult scams in Japan. I wonder how widespread this is, because there are often people who seem like they might be in a cult around the station in Matsuyama.
Oh my god, you've explained something that happened to me in Kyoto in 2010. Me (an English girl) and my friend (also an English girl), both in our early 20s at the time went on a night out in Kyoto, bought one drink in a club that we had to use a lift to get to in what looked like an office building (my friend's suggestion as I was fairly new to the city) and then can barely remember the rest of the night... it was obvious we had been drugged. My friend reacted very badly and started being sick and somehow in my addled state I managed to take control of the situation and get us out of there. I have very patchy memories of the night with long gaps (it was like one second I was in the club helping my sick friend and what seemed to me a second later we're outside looking for a taxi, I'd apparently just fallen over and some random Japanese guy was helping me up and my friend was practically passed out). I don't remember missing any money but I was so out of it I don't think I would have noticed and probably just assumed I spent it during the blank parts of my memory, thankfully I only took cash with me, and not that much, never even crossed my mind that it was a scam! Coming from a city in the UK with quite an active nightlife scene (Liverpool) I was used to not accepting drinks from random people and keeping an eye on any drinks to make sure nothing was put in them, never thought to worry about the bar staff as well!
This is the most fucked up cause you can’t trust even the bar so what can be done? Take your own drink???? Guilty of that no regrets… but it is still so fucked up
@@heyhorinshi I have a strict no open bottle policy wherever I go overseas for this reason, if I'm not the person opening that bottle or I see the barman not do it in front of me, im not drinking it.
@@buda3d2007 Even worse are the scams where they practice resealing the bottles so can't even trust that in a bar.
@@TharzZzDunN happened in China, so I don’t drink there lol
This is awful!
I got targeted as soon as I walked out of Shinjuku Station after traveling from the Airport. "Come with us for a good time", "Come and party with me and my friends", and "Come and meet my friends" all by Japanese women whose grasp of English was probably limited to those phrases. Being 6' 2" didn't help. I was like a lighthouse in a storm attracting everyone and everything. By far the worst though was the Nigerians. They get right in your face and try to stop you from walking down the street. In the end, I reverted to a common English phrase "Get the f**k out of my way!!". Walking in Shinjuku at night, on my own, I was lucky to walk more than 50 meters without getting propositioned. The interesting thing was that during the day a loudspeaker system announces that what these touts are doing is illegal and to avoid them or report them to the Police. The mixed up world that is Japan
Yeah, something tells me you're not actually 6'2.
Especially so since you talk like 6'2 is tall. That's something a 5'4 dude would do.
@@almark6548 lol
@@almark6548 Why does that even bother you so much...? Do you like him or something wtf, you're caring about a strangers height. And yes, 6'2 would definitely be considered tall in Japan, have you been there?
@@SomeOne-wr1wr 6'2 is tall everywhere ... 5.8 is an average height for men so being 4 inches above that is tall, totally agree with the rest of the comment.
@@elieoni-6213 Yea ik the average height for men is 5'8 but the delusional complex guy above doesn't think so...
I don’t want you guys to hate Japan, but I hear the same kind of story from my japanese friends. Just don’t believe in every people in Japan. If you have any questions, ask them to some normal citizen who is around you (hoping one of them can speak English)
As an English learner, I would love to communicate with foreign people. Hope you guys have a safe trip
Did you do this translation yourself? if so it is really good. It is not perfect, but it is definitely passable.
@@theglitchcounter264 yes, I did. Thanks for a kind comment. I appreciate it☺️
@@user-pp5fn1pt6b no problem 👍
i've been wondering about collapsible batons in Japan for a while. Is it legal to carry a collapsible baton for self defense reasons in Japan?
@@soujemn5 I'm not a professional in law, but I think it's illegal. If some police ask you to show your stuff and they find a collapsible baton with you, then they may tell you to follow them to a police station. Self-defense cannot be a sufficient reason to have a collapsible baton in japan.
Japan is not dangerous to make you carry them though.
A friend I have traveled with got a prepaid credit card with a $500 limit from his bank before taking the trip, and this was the only card he would have in his pocket when we went to questionable venues. He figured that even if his pocket was picked he'd only be out $500.
I always do cash or I guess if in Japan, that prepaid Suica. When I bring cash, I portion it out, so I have to go back to my room if I need more money. No way I'm using anything with my bank info and transaction fees on top.
When visiting Japan several years ago, I stayed in Shinjuku one night with my gf. We were walking around and suddenly it seemed like the atmosphere on the street changed with many of these touts hanging out outside many of the establishments. It was so jarring that we left the area immediately and seeing this, I’m glad I did. I absolutely loved my time in Japan and this was the only time I felt uneasy.
Once I visited Shinjuku and some guy advertised to one of our guys in our group if we want free hookup. That was really weird, it's the usual darker melanin guy tryna pimp. In a Japanese city suburb.
@@FiredAndIced I visited Kabukicho back in 2019. Same thing happened. The entire district was filled with street touts, most of them were black foreigners. They came asking if i'm looking for prostitutes. Took us by surprised really.
Same happened to us (boyfriend and me) in Osaka. We just kindda rushed for our bikes and rode away
I still cant get over the fact that connor and his equals went on a rampage. Truly horrifying!
Very useful to know, thanks, but OMG what a long story.
When I first moved to Japan, we were visiting a tourist area and one lady from a small group in the area came up and was asking if she could pray with and for me and my children. She had pamphlets and kept wanting to hold our hands for prayer (I saw them do this with other foreigners there who prayed with them holding hands and with closed eyes). I'm super skeptical having grown up in a big city where scams happen all the time, so I said "no thank you" and she insisted and even my kids were saying, "come on mom she just wants to pray". I ended up walking away saying thank you and that she could pray for me from a distance if she wanted to but I did not want to stay there and hold a stranger's hand while she prayed God knows what in a foreign language. Scam or not, IDK for sure, but it felt very suspicious so I insistently declined. Thanks for this video!!
Unfortunately this exact scenario happened to me. Got drugged. Woke up with £1700 charged to my card (more than I had on there to begin with). Police didn't care. Luckily my bank reimbursed me.
How did you get in that situation?
@@qopiqq3629 exactly how described in the video. I was walking through the golden gai district while on my way back to my hotel. Got approached by a Nigerian tout offering free drinks. Initially said no, but was very insistent. Went in, had one drink, don't remember anything else until I woke up the next day and realised what had happened. Felt very strange for 24-48 hours.
@@christopherbaldwin8146 Not gonna lie i'd probably have fallen for it aswell. Good thing you got your money back
@@qopiqq3629 Thank you, was a very surreal experience. The police were not helpful in the slightest, luckily my bank was very supportive.
@@christopherbaldwin8146 That's real fortunate that your bank was able to reimburse you. Some bank would not reimburse for stolen or missing credit card happen in oversees. (Bastards..) Visiting nearby embassy may or may not be helpful... (I cant say so certain about this..)
Good lord, shame on their bank. A situation like that would absolutely be regarded as an unauthorized transaction by our bank and federal credit union alike.
shame on the Japanese police as well
Yeah that seems off. All banks i know wont even argue against it,. Unless maybe somehow i spend 6000 dollars every other day (and even then that wlukd probably make me a Very important client and they would treat me with care)
But I mean think about it...you went to a bar that you don't remember the location of and also doesn't show up in google, you definitely got drunk there, and not sure if you were drugged or just had too many drinks. You claim that they sneaked your money without consent which you also can't prove since you don't have a proper alibi and were drunk to begin with, also there is no footage evidence since you can't find the bar anymore. So now you roll up to police and say you were scammed kinda feels like your fault
My bank would instantly block that amount of money and they always ask for the pin. The bank is at fault also. It can freeze the money. And I would have made a scandal at the police since drugging people isn't something they should shrug off
@@NeonSake13 The cops get a kickback from the $6k.
I think I must be very cynical because every time I'm somewhere abroad and the locals are suspiciously nice to me and interested in me and they tell me I should definitely visit XYZ place, my first thought is ALWAYS: They want to scam me.
Oh boy! I’m going to Japan for the first time in 2 months and I’m very excited for the most part but this scares the heck out of me.