Background

How Criminals Tarnished the Reputation of Private Investigation Services in Japan. In the private investigation industry, not everyone is looking for a lost loved one or wishing to conduct a background check. There are instances where criminals attempt to utilize private investigation services for their own gain, which can produce disastrous results. Case 1: 2010 “Yakuza” Japanese Mafia Use PI Services for Police Blackmail (Source Link) The Japanese Mafia, known

We have more and more Japan related investment fraud cases where fraud companies that pretend to have a physical address in Japan defraud investment money from foreign customers. They are categorized as “Cold Callers” and more and more those entities are being black listed on Japanese FSA website. They have a Japanese local phone number and a physical address in Tokyo, Osaka or Yokohama. But often the case, they do

ID number system kicked in 2016 A comprehensive ID number documentation system (My Number) put in practice in Japan in 2016. But the database of this system is used for official purposes only. Therefore, just for ID verification purpose s, complicated double documentation system is still in use: Residential registration system for municipal government or “Juminhhyo“ Family registration system or “Koseki“ Juminhyo Residential registration is registered at a city hall

Reunion of lost siblings over 60 years, between US and Japan 人探しで涙の初対面 当社の調査成果が沖縄タイムズで取り上げられました！ 当社は、外国顧客への調査サービスを提供する日本では数少ない探偵社です。 ガラパゴスと呼ばれる特殊性の強い日本と諸外国とのカルチャーギャップを埋める調査サービスを提供し、常に国際的な視点に立って活動しています。 そうしたいつもの活動が報われ、日米に分かれて生まれ、お互いの存在を知らぬまま暮らしていたきょうだいを60年の時位を経て初対面させることができました。 この成果が新聞(沖縄タイムズ)に取りあげられ、依頼者と対象者から感謝の言葉をいただきました。 First reunion of siblings Our case on Okinawa local newspaper!!! We commenced surveillance on this case, researching American client’s sister in Japan. As we located the sister’s address, the siblings between Japan and the U.S. were finally able to meet. Okinawa local newspaper took up this case, and the siblings gave us a

How much is locating someone in Japan? It is a frequently asked question, but it is very difficult to answer because it depends on your situation. Basically, Japan is a country of strict privacy laws. There are no public records which are searchable only from a name. So it is very difficult to even to judge if it is possible to find the person. Typical obstacles in finding someone in

Residence verification Question The client lost contact with her friend Joan Doe and the last contact was by e-mail on xx August 20xx. She lives at 1-1-1 Chiyoda, Chiuoda-ku, Tokyo. Her date of birth is xx Feb 19xx. Nationality is Canadian. The client wants to ensure that she is OK and wants to communicate to her that he wants to hear from her. Answer Why don’t we send a registered

This is the picture of the perpetrator of  traffic accident who repeatedly neglected the process service from a district court via post office. In Japan, court documents must be served by a post delivery man. And they will never do a service by placement even though the method is valid by laws. Nor will they do public records check or a neighborhood inquiry. So if they fail to serve the

We got a case from an American ex patriot single mother who needs to find out the employment of the father of her son who is a Japanse engineer and doesn’t pay the child support after he designed the previous employment this year. Both of them are living in Tokyo. He has been an engineer working for foreign based automobile industry. We have done employment investigations twice in the past.

Civil asset recovery in Japan Unfortunately、Japan does not have any laws regarding pre-litigation private investigation, nor does have broad discovery procedures. Therefor, it is currently almost impossible to realize a civil asset recovery as a legal system. No name search on publicly available records Real estate, corporate records and civil and criminal case records are publicly available, but in fact, they are not searchable from the name of subject’s parties

Restrictive privacy laws First of all, due to restrictive privacy laws, background check in Japan is much more difficult than other English speaking countiries. Education verification: Mostly possible for those of 35 years old and older. A particular letter of attorney is required for complete verification. Employment verification: Possible but, obtaining a letter of attorney from the candidate is preferable. Bankruptcy: It is a public record. But the problem is

We happened to encounter a fleeing two fugitives in car who attempted to kill policemen in Shinjuku. We shadowed two fugitives, a male in his 30’s and a young female in her 20’s after they abandoned their car and tried to flee on foot. There were bunch of police cars around there but none of them could saw the fugitives parked their car in the narrow street. We watched them

Request Email From Stalker Murderer On November 6, 2012, Ms. Miyoshi Ryohei (33) was stabbed to death by the ex-boyfriend, Hideyuki Kozutsumi (40) = Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, at home in Zushi City, Kanagawa Prefecture. On November 4, Mr. Kozutsumi requested us to locate victims’ home address. Even though we declined his request, another PI agency took on his case, of which result eventually assisted him to murder the victim. Investigation request

Client’s confidentiality Our surveillance investigations are 100% confidential. We do everything necessary to ensure the covert nature of the investigation. If we ever perceive that the security of the investigation is threatened, we back off and re-evaluate with your input. Never threaten the subject One important point: Never threaten to hire an investigator. This will make the suspected cheater even more difficult to watch. If you have done this, be

We are always keeping in mind that the most important goal is discretion in the matter of surveillance. Surveillance requires numerous tactics which we have mastered with experience. Our associates are hand-picked to match the best-suited investigator with the proper surveillance. We always pay attention to the nature of the case and the venues the subject is likely to visit and adjust our attires so that we blend in the atmosphere.

Surveillance is the best method used to verify if spouses are cheating on each other. It can involve husbands, wives, boyfriends or girlfriends. Also referred to as “tailing someone” it is the technique of putting an investigator out in the field who follows the suspected cheater to document their activities without their knowledge. This is accomplished by recording their activities on videotape. The number of investigators used depends on a

Please advise cost and timeframe of results (turnaround time) to conduct employee background checks in Japan. We are interested in the following items: 1.Criminal records 2.Driving records (if available) 3.Medical records (if available) 4.Education (highest degree awarded) 5.Employment (2 prior employers) What information do you need from us, besides the person’s full name and a signed release form? The investigative situation in Japan Criminal records are basically unavailable in Japan.

We have been constantly getting a large number of consultations from overseas clients whose children were abducted to Japan by their Japanese spouses without the settlement of custody or visitation right. Arguments over whether Japan would join Hague Convention or not have been repeated for the past 10 years or so, but Japan have always put off the ratification until now. We were concerned about how other countries saw us.

Japan’s alien registration act will abolish next year. After that, I assume we will be able to check foreign residents easier than now. Now under the different registration, alien (foreign) residents in Japan are almost invisible without name in Japanese language and address information. You register your name in Japanese language based on what you wanted be called in Japan. Therefore, there should normally be three or four combinations in

Due to the strict privacy laws and the government policy, not only PIs but also the general public are not allowed to get access to government data or utility company data in Japan. We are not allowed to get access to some of the information which is commonly disclosed to society in many countries. Therefore, we often need to employ some alternative method to get a similar result. But those

In November 2011, five people including a PI along with lawyers got arrested for obtaining residential/Family records without the purposeof litigation. This happened because they worked for the Japanesebiggest anti-social syndicate and were asked to search the householdof the police investigators who are in charge of the syndicate. In 2004, there was a huge political scandal with regards to the respective number of politicians failing to make mandatory social pension

In Japan eight professional occupations such as lawyers, judicial scriveners, notary public, etc. are granted to procure residential (Juminhyo) records and family (Koseki) records as their duty claim. No third parties except above eight occupations or the related person (such as a creditor, or legal hair, etc) are allowed to obtain the records. Former lawyers, arrested for fraudulent procurement of family registration (Koseki) records (November 14, 2011) Aichi prefectural police

Speakers Mr. Kevin J. Ripa, EnCE, CDRP, CEH Computer Evidence Recovery, Inc Kevin J. Ripa, owner of Computer Evidence Recovery, Inc, and Past President of the Alberta Association of Private Investigators, is a former member, in various capacities, of the Department of National Defence serving in both foreign and domestic postings. Mr. Ripa left the service of the Federal Government in 1991 but continued to serve on an “as called”

Investigative situations in Japan There are huge cultural differences in circumstances of private investigation industry between Japan and Western countries. Almost all the government registry records are not open to the public, except for real estate registry records and company registry records. And the Act on protection of personal information enacted in 2005 which had been pressured to install by EU countries is causing greater counter reactions to privacy matters

UNSCRUPULOUS GUMSHOES TARGETED LDP moving to clamp down on private eyes The Japan Times: March 20, 2005 People in general may have a positive image of private detectives. After all, they’re often the heroes of TV dramas, righting wrongs and helping the disadvantaged. But the work of private eyes in Japan is usually not romantic at all — and many of the detectives are not necessarily good guys. Indeed, an