A Real Life Tokyo Horror Story | Japan's No.1 Dangerous Place

Hey guys,

It may sound like an ominous clickbait title that'll destroy us all, but if you're coming to Japan I want to make sure this doesn't happen to any of you, as it's fucking dreadful.

So last week we did a Podcast discussing scams in Tokyo, as there was a recent surge in activity in areas such as Akihabara. Most notably some foreign tourists were wandering the streets of Tokyo, sticking flags in the hands of pedestrians, then attempting to extract 500 yen out of them (there's a decent article on it here: https://bit.ly/2Wk0pCH).

Amusingly, I actually saw the two scammers featured in this article in person about an hour after I read it, when I witnessed them attempting to dupe my friend into buying one of their tacky flags. It was only after I shouted at my friend from across the street that she handed the flag back and made a hasty escape from the bewildering interaction.

After every Podcast, we also receive quite a few emails from people responding to the topic of discussion, and last week one of those responses really stood out to me. It was the story of a woman called Rachel and her fiancé who had come to Japan on a long awaited holiday, only for it to get off to a devastating start after she and her fiancé found themselves in a situation so awful, that it makes the flag scam look like modest fun.

Having spoken with Rachel over email a few times she went into great detail on her experience and I'd like to share it with you all below as a warning.  I know for a fact many of you are planning on visiting Japan and are likely planning to visit Robot Restaurant in the heart of Shinjuku's Kabukicho nightlife district. And there's nothing wrong with that. However the area is not without its perils - in fact new ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) arriving in Japan are often told to avoid it upon arriving in Tokyo.

But at the very least from reading the below story, it may save one of you guys from experiencing a similar fate.

Here's Rachel's story:

So my fiancé and I were in Japan from 3rd-22nd April and started the trip in Tokyo. We were staying in Shinjuku and had pre-booked the Robot Restaurant for the evening of Sunday 7th.

We got to the Robot Restaurant and quickly discovered it was pretty tacky and touristy so figured we’d need a few drinks to get through it so to speak, so we had a few beers during the show and got chatting to a few English couples who were sat near us. 

The show finished and we all agreed with the other couples to carry on for a few drinks together and we left the Robot Restaurant and decided we should find a karaoke bar. We wandered the streets in Kabukicho for not even a couple of minutes before one of the group (neither me nor my fiancé) got chatting to a tout on the street. 

I didn’t hear the conversation so I don’t know what was offered, but in any event we found ourselves in a bar and were taken to a karaoke room and were brought several trays of drinks for the group. Now I know we’d been targeted as a group of pretty tipsy and naive foreigners.

My fiancé sang a bit of karaoke as did a few others then after that point we don’t remember much at all. 

Next thing I knew it was several hours later and we were in the same bar but in a different room and a hostess girl was basically sat on top of me straddling me and I looked over and my fiancé was in exactly the same situation. 

Let’s just say these girls were extremely handsy and doing stuff to us without any consent basically. I also recall a Nigerian man coming over several times with trays of drinks. I remember being in a totally zombie-like state as I saw my fiancé kissing a hostess girl and I had pretty much zero reaction so definitely confident we were drugged for that reason. If I was just pissed I’d have been upset or angry at least to see something like that but instead was weirdly emotionless.

After that all I recall is being in a taxi trying to get back to our hotel and I had no cash at all in my purse and had to pay for the taxi on my credit card. Miraculously we made it back to the hotel! 

Next morning we wake up and I looked in my purse to find my debit card was gone which prompted me to check my online banking. A transaction appeared for around £2000 (273,600 yen to be exact) and so my fiancé checked his and he had the same for roughly the same amount. Then I checked my credit card and there was another transaction for around £550. So in total between the two of us we had just over £4500 gone from our accounts. 

After a bit more searching, and as the most horrendous hangover of my life wore off we realised that my bank card was in fact in my fiancé’s wallet and one of his cards was in my purse which made me think that the bar staff had probably just helped themselves to our cards and swiped them and put them back in the wrong wallets. 

We reported to the Police the next day who weren’t particularly interested and told us to take it up with our banks. The banks weren’t interested as they said it was an authorised transaction and we’d have to take it up with the bar (which obviously we had no intention of doing since we knew at this point that the bar is clearly run by Yakuza or such like).

I don’t even know the name of the bar. It comes up on our bank statements as Prime Time Bar but google brings up pretty much nothing from that name in Shinjuku. 

So yeah that’s it basically. We couldn’t wait to leave Tokyo and I barely drunk a drop of alcohol for the rest of the trip. And we are in debt now unfortunately! 

I’ve also no idea what happened to those other English couples we were with. I didn’t see them again so wonder if they were scammed as well or if they managed to escape. 

Rachel's story sounds strikingly familiar to the accounts of several people I've spoken with who've experienced the exact same thing; a night out involving street touts, tainted alcohol and credit card theft.

The real horror of the story is the sense of helplessness afterwards; the police and card companies are unable to help and you're left with a gaping hole in your wallet. So just be aware if you find yourselves in Shinjuku's Kabukicho district or Roppongi, never EVER follow a street tout - as friendly and as convincing as they often are with the lure of free drinks - as the outcome could be a holiday ruined and a debt burden that burns a hole in your bank balance long after you return home.

And if you know anyone visiting Japan any time soon, be sure to spread the word and make sure they don't fall for the trap.

Finally, as this Patreon post has been so utterly fucking ominous and riddled with despair, I'd like to end it on a positive note with this delightful photo of Natsuki in some snow.

- Chris