<figure id="attachment_456927" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-456927" style="width: 1952px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="58ecae40"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/8b57169819a53ef7b6a594f2864c177b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-456927" class="wp-caption-text">The suspect, Obata, was transported to the Itabashi Police Station in Tokyo. He covered his face with a hood and did not show his face to the press.</figcaption></figure>
<h3> The head of &#8220;Natural&#8221; was arrested.</h3>
<p> It was an electric shock, and the top of the group was captured in one fell swoop.</p>
<p> The illegal scout group &#8220;Natural&#8221; has about 2,000 members, mainly young people, and is called the largest and strongest (and most dangerous) group in Japan. Its leader, Hiroaki Obata, 41, has been arrested by the Anti-Gang Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.</p>
<p> He was hiding out on Amami Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, 1,200 km away from Kabukicho, Tokyo, where Natural&#8217;s main activities take place.</p>
<p> Natural is an &#8220;anonymous and liquid criminal group (Tokuryu)&#8221; that has routes to introduce women to brothels in almost every downtown area in Japan, and receives &#8220;scout backs (introduction fees)&#8221; from the brothels, which is illegal under the revised Entertainment Establishments Control Law. The annual revenue is estimated to be at least 5 billion yen, but even the police have not been able to fully grasp the actual situation.</p>
<p> For nearly two years, our investigative team has been following this mysterious organization and has reported three times on its bizarre appearance, organized as if it were an ordinary company.</p>
<p> What kind of person is the suspect Obata? The police authorities&#8217; investigative documents, which we obtained independently, refer to him as &#8220;Chairman Kiyama,&#8221; so we will refer to him as &#8220;Chairman&#8221; in this report in conformity with the documents. His background is as follows.</p>
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<p> The founder of Natural was a man named Kiyama, who has since repeatedly changed his name and now goes by an alias. He started his scouting career around &#8217;06, gaining experience as a scout for a group called Lancôme in Tachikawa. Around 2009, he moved to the entertainment district of Kabukicho in Shinjuku and gradually increased his group of scouts, and began calling himself and others &#8220;Natural.</p>
<p> A person in the underworld who knows who they are says, &#8220;They used to say, &#8216;I&#8217;ve been a member of every kind of breeding group in the country.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> They have been saying for a long time, &#8216;We will conquer every downtown area in the country! He was always saying, &#8216;We&#8217;re going to conquer every downtown area in the country! He was just a very high-spirited person.</span></p>
<p> He sometimes showed a violent side.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When he was young,&#8221; he said, &#8220;he would say, &#8216;Yakuza are nothing,&#8217; and he would make the gangsters bow down to him without backing down. Nowadays, he is less likely to take action himself, but his philosophy of domination through violence has not changed, such as circulating videos of young members being yakki-ed by the executives.</span></p>
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<p> The February 6 issue of &#8220;FRIDAY February 20/27&#8221; and the paid version of &#8220;FRIDAY GOLD&#8221; report in detail on the police&#8217;s &#8220;summit operation&#8221; to arrest Obata and the latest situation of the illegal scout &#8220;Natural.</p>
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<p> For more details and multiple photos, click here↓.</p>
<div data-friday-gold-link-url="https://friday.gold/article/397436" data-friday-gold-link-title="Illegal Scout Group &quot;Natural&quot; vs. Police Authorities: &quot;Blitzkrieg Summit Operation&quot; and &quot;Endless Exposures&quot; to Make a Name for Themselves" data-friday-gold-link-excerpt=" Deep Scoop Report: Chairman Hiroaki Obata was arrested in a persistent investigation! Nevertheless, the organization still continues to operate in the entertainment district and continues to earn money--a veritable blitz, capturing the top at once. The group has about 2,000 members, mostly young people," data-friday-gold-link-thumbnail-wide="https://assets.friday.gold/friday-wp-production-assets/app/uploads/2026/02/SH5_8500_original-05110532464159.jpg/v/crop-faces:width=256,height=144/format:type=webp?Expires=4102444800&amp;Key-Pair-Id=K2H5GZZHVJCN4V&amp;Signature=vSMgXU4HXiprLgEYz1nNDeMvSaAlKnc85S3tUXrMgyWw0yI2scmnQ6o1PfdnPqOMN4hKeEHF5nbdqRbJ~2JZh32q1NtCugYsMhzeyFvrzjhV8mgwQF7NdslMX1kPXTzw-6IqqRK~l1doYWvLxs1zLozmzgoD-V1fP60EYV1SVa3CdJ~cY~zuvdHwbUmNv4LQ4jU4K0bybzWasHtiR~0hOTzqmJGv2UWl9sFBqPhd9o7WwxXPFiKkpna2IwvRkXWMKFSPTMJTxBWFODKb5o1Eg6j0xHhTXsy-j6n~ZeRcZ3OrcUb2rRuCBGvrcW7uGh0Ifz~qXFZug-K~ZMOZBHMPnw__" data-friday-gold-link-thumbnail-square="https://assets.friday.gold/friday-wp-production-assets/app/uploads/2026/02/SH5_8500_original-05110532464159.jpg/v/crop-faces:width=105,height=105/format:type=webp?Expires=4102444800&amp;Key-Pair-Id=K2H5GZZHVJCN4V&amp;Signature=lRrA0vPArHNz0~VvdiuPqkHm-IQrrtJqK9emvod8nczuDH6yGfFU7F6hQM1OlKM5MW8rwnPvJ--u6TQhk~c6vnsWqCclOBa2-FjVJ5mrsOh9tAboCb3W51A4EzWMe0fNFfeJRnZttRA-sG5IdIvKo7O1R6-BCVwmYCIZAVGkzOSyFzVKdmLbWdiigsRKq-zZGsmPE5VkL7iz9Fy1yH3q6bdAXpvTeYKYGLDDUeVHjVCmUIQZqpMu9plaUNcn4YdzRM66C3BB~7chmvwVELHrjB~Z97kInqUTSFY8T7psgpqsUZwcHILHTc0q63ZkK6ItYjy-rtk33XrmdNHI7kJqZw__"></div>
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<figure id="attachment_456928" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-456928" style="width: 1601px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="599c903c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/e96d6c48ebe06301aeda551fe3d0897d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-456928" class="wp-caption-text"> A close-up view was also disclosed at the time of the public arrest. He has remained silent when questioned by the Metropolitan Police Department, saying, &#8220;I won&#8217;t talk about anything right now.</figcaption></figure>
<p> From the February 20-27, 2026 issue of &#8220;FRIDAY</p>


 The Nihonbashi Group is a new type of reporting and intelligence team consisting of people from the media, bureaucracy, and political circles. Their latest book, "Predation: The Dark Side of Natural, a Tokuryu-type Crime Group That Turns Desire into Money" (Kodansha), will be released on February 12.

 Nihonbashi Group

 Shinji Hasuo (1st) Jiji Press (2nd)

 Hiroaki Obata, 40, the leader of the illegal scout group "Natural," was arrested by the Anti-Organized Crime Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. What kind of person is this Obata suspect? An underworld figure with knowledge of the suspect's true identity told us about his true identity, which remains unknown.

Hiroaki Obata, the Arrested Head of the Illegal Scouting Group “Natural,” Was “Just a Cool Guy” in His Own Words

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