Japanese Amateur Robbers vs. Chinese Vigilantes: A fierce battle of wits with 50,000 bonus for Every Head of the Criminals

Since the “black-market job” incident was uncovered, there have been a number of reports of robberies. However, these are only the tip of the iceberg. At Chinese esthetic salons in Tokyo and Saitama, unreported incidents have been occurring frequently.

The owners of a Chinese esthetic salon in the Kanto area have created a community on SNS to share information as needed. In the year and a half since the beginning of last year, there have been about 20 cases of robbery reported there. The number of stores participating in our community is about 100. That means that one out of every five China Esthetic stores has been a victim.

Ms. Wang (pseudonym, in her 40s), a Chinese woman who runs an esthetic salon in Saitama Prefecture, told us this. In January of this year, Wang’s store was also the victim of a robbery.

“The robbers came to the store when there was only one girl working there, pretending to be a customer, and after the treatment was over, they threatened to ask for money,” she said. “It is typical for them to come when there is only one employee in the shop. Our girl didn’t resist, but they beat her up and injured her.”

On May 3, a man visited a massage parlor in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, pulled a knife on a Chinese female clerk, took 20,000 yen and her phone, and fled. Most stores, however, are unable to report robberies to the police. Wang continues.

We do business in a gray area, so we don’t want to get into trouble with the police. Japanese backstreet brothels would turn to the yakuza in such cases, but most Chinese estates do not associate with them.