Soda Seller in Japan Arrested by Police, Turns Out It’s a Yakuza Family

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Asakusa –

A soda seller in the Asakusa area was arrested by security officers. He was accused of blackmail and after being investigated it turned out he was a member of a Yakuza family.

Asakusa has been known as a popular tourist destination in Tokyo. That’s because this place offers comfortable tourism and tourist attractions from various eras. And, like in other tourist areas, there are also street vendors selling their wares.

Launch Soranews24, Wednesday (14/2/2024), one of the sellers is Atsushi Ogawa, who has been part of Asakusa for 15 years. Here he sells ornate ramune soda on Denboin Street, near Sensoji Temple.

He is known to often provide friendly and warm service to customers. This makes him popular among visitors who often take photos and videos of him.

From selling in this pedestrianized area, Ogawa is reported to be able to earn around 30 thousand Yen per day or around Rp. 3.12 million if converted into rupiah.

But behind that, the reason why this 56 year old man was able to occupy this area is interesting. As it turned out, he was known as Katayama, a high-ranking member of the Yakuza Yaneya family affiliated with Sumiyoshi-Kai.

This is a privilege that allows him to continue selling in that place without interruption. However, on Friday (29/9/2023), a 39 year old man dressed as a ninja was distributing ninja experience brochures nearby. The man was said to be too close to Ogawa’s territory, and Ogawa was said to be blackmailing the ninja.

“Unh-uh, Mr. Ninja, this is where I work. So, if you want to do it here, you have to pay me 10,000 yen per month. I’m Katayama of the Yaneya Family,” Ogawa told the ninja, according to reports.

It’s unclear what happened after that. However, the Metropolitan Police finally arrested Ogawa on Thursday (8/2/2024). He currently faces racketeering charges but denies them.

“I just gave him a warning because he was being rude,” he told police. Despite his denials, his arrest alone gave police the authority to search his group’s home and offices.

Due to this incident, most netizens were confused as to why a high-ranking yakuza member was selling soda.

“Are the yakuza still okay?,” someone asked.

“How did we get to the point where the yakuza sell drinks?,” said an astonished netizen.

“I would be very worried if I were Mr. Ninja,” said the netizen.

“10,000 per month is quite reasonable. Previously it was up to 30,000,” joked netizens.

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(wkn/wsw)