{"id":150732,"date":"2020-09-30T14:49:18","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T21:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=150732"},"modified":"2020-09-30T15:20:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T22:20:01","slug":"japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Police Arrest Top Yakuza Boss Accused of Running High-Stakes Tokyo Baccarat Den"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tokyo police said this week they had arrested a high-level yakuza boss who they accuse of operating an illegal casino in the bustling Roppongi area of the Japanese capital.<\/p>\n

\"Yakuza
Roppongi is a part of Tokyo popular for its nightlife, which included an underground high-stakes casino until it was busted in July. (Image: Japan Times<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chizuka Yamamoto, 70, is a reputed \u201cexecutive\u201d of the Takumi-gumi organized crime group, a subgroup of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan\u2019s largest Yakuza organization.<\/a><\/p>\n

According to a police statement, Yamamoto had been running the members-only high-stakes baccarat den in a room of a multitenant building since January 2019. In that time, the business had generated revenues of around JPY480 million ($4.5 million USD), they added.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Customers Detained<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The operation was busted in July when nine people, including the manager, were detained by police. Subsequent investigations resulted in the arrest of Yamamoto on Monday, along with three Yakuza associates, police said.<\/p>\n

In addition to seizing two tables, chips, and playing cards, investigators also detained five customers, aged between 37 and 72.<\/p>\n

The casino stayed open throughout the state of emergency called by then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in response to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

\n

Some customers told police they had been frequenting the illegal establishment only because they could not travel abroad to gamble because of coronavirus.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Police said they believe the profits from the venture were used to fund other criminal enterprises. Yamamoto denies any involvement with the casino.<\/p>\n

Yakuza Gambling Origin\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Takumi-gumi was founded by Masaru Takumi, a powerful Japanese crime figure and number 2 of the Yamaguchi-gumi until his assassination in 1997. The Yamaguchi-gumi is one of the largest criminal organizations in the world, with more than 20,000 members.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also among the wealthiest, amassing billions of dollars a year from extortion, gambling, the sex industry, drug dealing, arms trafficking, stock market manipulation, and construction kickback schemes.<\/p>\n

\n

As the Japanese government lays the groundwork for its new, liberalized casino market, it\u2019s determined<\/a> to keep the Yakuza out. But the Yakuza have other ideas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Many of today\u2019s modern Yakuza groups evolved from itinerant gambler societies of the 18th<\/sup> to 20th<\/sup> centuries, known as bakuto. These groups peddled games of chance and loaned money, and were considered social outcasts, living outside the norms of society. For many Yakuza, spiritual descendants of the bakuto, they \u201cown\u201d gambling in Japan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Poised to Infiltrate Casinos <\/strong><\/h2>\n

In July 2018, an unnamed high-ranking member of the Yamaguchi-gumi told respected left-leaning national newspaper\u00a0Ashai Shinbun\u00a0(AS<\/em>) that the Yakuza were determined to profit from the regulated casino market, and there was little that anyone could do to stop them.<\/p>\n

Once rules are decided on how to place restrictions on organized crime, we can begin thinking about ways to get around those legal barriers,\u201d<\/strong> said the source.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yakuza would infiltrate the new sector most likely through loansharking and junket operations, just as the Hong Kong triads did in Macau in the 1990s, he claimed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tokyo police said this week they had arrested a high-level yakuza boss who they accuse of operating an illegal casino in the bustling Roppongi area of the Japanese capital. Chizuka Yamamoto, 70, is a reputed \u201cexecutive\u201d of the Takumi-gumi organized crime group, a subgroup of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan\u2019s largest Yakuza organization. According to a police […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":150735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJapanese Police Arrest Top Yakuza Boss Over High Stakes Baccarat Den<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Police in Tokyo arrest Chizuka Yamamoto, 70, is a reputed \u201cexecutive\u201d of the Takumi-gumi Yakuza organized crime group.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japanese Police Arrest Top Yakuza Boss Over High Stakes Baccarat Den\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Police in Tokyo arrest Chizuka Yamamoto, 70, is a reputed \u201cexecutive\u201d of the Takumi-gumi Yakuza organized crime group.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-30T21:49:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-30T22:20:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rop.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"832\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"468\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/\",\"name\":\"Japanese Police Arrest Top Yakuza Boss Over High Stakes Baccarat Den\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rop.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-30T21:49:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-30T22:20:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Police in Tokyo arrest Chizuka Yamamoto, 70, is a reputed \u201cexecutive\u201d of the Takumi-gumi Yakuza organized crime group.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rop.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rop.jpg\",\"width\":832,\"height\":468,\"caption\":\"Roppongi is a part of Tokyo popular for its nightlife, which included an underground high-stakes casino until it was busted in July. (Image: Japan Times)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Asia Pacific Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Japanese Police Arrest Top Yakuza Boss Accused of Running High-Stakes Tokyo Baccarat Den\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Japanese Police Arrest Top Yakuza Boss Over High Stakes Baccarat Den","description":"Police in Tokyo arrest Chizuka Yamamoto, 70, is a reputed \u201cexecutive\u201d of the Takumi-gumi Yakuza organized crime group.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Japanese Police Arrest Top Yakuza Boss Over High Stakes Baccarat Den","og_description":"Police in Tokyo arrest Chizuka Yamamoto, 70, is a reputed \u201cexecutive\u201d of the Takumi-gumi Yakuza organized crime group.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2020-09-30T21:49:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-30T22:20:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":832,"height":468,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rop.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/","name":"Japanese Police Arrest Top Yakuza Boss Over High Stakes Baccarat Den","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rop.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-30T21:49:18+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-30T22:20:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Police in Tokyo arrest Chizuka Yamamoto, 70, is a reputed \u201cexecutive\u201d of the Takumi-gumi Yakuza organized crime group.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rop.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rop.jpg","width":832,"height":468,"caption":"Roppongi is a part of Tokyo popular for its nightlife, which included an underground high-stakes casino until it was busted in July. (Image: Japan Times)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/japanese-police-arrest-top-yakuza-boss-over-high-stakes-baccarat-den\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Asia Pacific Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Japanese Police Arrest Top Yakuza Boss Accused of Running High-Stakes Tokyo Baccarat Den"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150732"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}