Japan's WORST Tourist Scam Explained | $6,000 Lost in a Day 

NOTIFICATION SQUAD: I honestly regret not talking about this sooner on Abroad in Japan. But hopefully if we can prevent just a few of you from enduring it, it'll make up for it. But what's the WORST scam you've encountered inside or outside Japan? SHARE your wisdom below!

general rule that holds true with tourism anywhere: you never ever go with the person who approaches you, doesn't matter if it's cab drivers, guys in front of clubs, store owners, etc... they don't need to drag you in if they're legit.

My favourite part about the woman who stopped Chris on the cycle has always been the idea that she knew exactly how to lure a British man into a trap….. biscuits. Great video as always, nothing wrong with alerting people to dangers especially ones aimed at tourists

If something like this ever happens to you, NEVER tell your bank/card that you were scammed. Always tell then you LOST your card (or it got stolen) and you don't know anything about the transactions. This gives you a much higher chance of them cancelling the transactions.

A similar scam went on in Budapest in Hungary (without the drugging). There is a RU-vid channel that covered it. They heard about the scam and, with a hidden camera, let themselves be led into a bar, secretly filming the whole process. Their video actually got quite a media coverage in Hungary and the bar was closed down after that

A story about the time I stayed in Shinjuku. It was my last night there and I decided to spend it at the Golden Gai. On my way back to my hotel, I was bombarded by touts trying to get me to come into their scam bars but I was told to act like they're ghosts by my travel agent. There was this one swole tout who clearly did not take kindly to me ignoring them and he followed me up the block shouting slurs at me. I was scared out of my mind but suddenly, a guy in a suit up the road, smoking a cigarette walked out in front of us, arms crossed, and the tout was suddenly gone. He was clearly Yakuza and I'm not exactly sure why he stepped in to save me, but I still think about it.

That first story is terrifying... not only were they scammed, they were robbed. Not only were they robbed, they were drugged and sexually assaulted. ON THEIR HONEYMOON. Beyond awful.

Japan: We have low crime rate! Also Japan: Report a crime and you're told there's nothing they can do. Technically a lot of variation in crime statistics between countries actually reflects a difference in how crimes are reported.

I was unfortunately drugged at a bar in Roppongi, but since I was with about 10 burly men who were all worried about me passing out, the bar just pretended I was too drunk to be there and kicked me out to be picked up at the street. I am forever grateful to all my friends who took care of me until the next morning.

I've had to explain this to many others so I'll leave this here as well: Just because Japan has this ''squeaky clean'' image of crime doesn't mean that it isn't crime ridden or crime doesn't happen. It's just leagues & fathoms lower than many places elsewhere in the world.

I was in Tokyo a few years ago with a friend and a street tout physically grabbed our arms when we walked by ignoring him. He tried to drag us away into the store (we're both small Asian girls). He only let go after my friend started screaming at him. He then let us go and shouted slurs/derogatory terms at us while everyone stared without helping. This happened in the middle of a crowded street during the day too. Love Japan and Tokyo but the street touts are honestly some of the worst scum I've ever encountered in any country.

The one and only time I was scammed in Japan was after stepping off the airport bus in Shinjuku. Pouring down rain. Guy in a big Cadillac asked me what hotel I was going to. I told him and he said he'd take us for ¥1000. He loaded our bags, we got in the car, he pulled a U turn and stopped. Ok, we're here. The hotel was directly across the street. More of a "taking advantage of" than a scam I guess.

I've got a similar story to the first one. 2005 mine and my brothers first trip of two to Japan. We are out on the town in this big club called vanilla on 3 floors, I went to the bar to get a drink come back and he is gone from the standing table thing where I left him, I thought he had just gone to find a bathroom so I finish my drink and dance some and he doesn't show up I look for him for a bit and then an hour or so I go back to the hotel thinking he will show up, well at 4 in the morning there is a knock on the door there he is barely standing with a cab driver behind him, the cab driver explains he could not pay for the cab but promised I would so I get him in the room go get some money pay the cabbie, I wrestle out of my brother that he lost his card and so I go down to the lobby and get to make a call back to Iceland to Visa and tell them my brother has lost his card and they need to close it, his card had been maxed out but unlike those unlucky ppl in the video visa cancelled most of the charges from the night. But the story doesn't end there I get informed in the morning that someone had called the hotel around noon demanding to speak to my brother giving the room number and name. The hotel staff that I talked to in the night said to them there must be some mistake to that person and that the info did not match, we were then moved to a different room and put under a different name. Needless to say there was quite a bit less nightlife in our trip after this traumatic experiance.

Literally the exact same thing happened to my cousin in Roppongi with around $4k total across 4-5 transactions for be below the amount that usually triggers banks to fraud. Same thing happened, cops had zero interest in getting to the bottom of it. No report lodged, not showing on the reports… BUT, lucky for him, I speak fluent Japanese and lost my shit at the police, got them to put together a report, which then was given to the bank to lodge the fraudulent access claim, which led to him getting his money back. 👍🏻 Hot tip: get a report saying that there was a violation!

General rule of thumb in Japan: If an overly friendly person comes up to you in English, they want your money If an overly friendly person comes up to you in Japanese, they want you to join their cult/religion

I had a really scary experience in harajuku when I was there on a school trip many years ago. Our teacher gave us time to explore and I was with two girls that I wasn't really friends with. This really shady looking guy invited us to his T-shirt shop which had 'many more sizes and styles' than the few on a rack he was standing beside. The girls I was with quickly took his offer even though I tried to tell them not to. I ended up going with them out of fear that something would happen to them if I didn't, he led us down an alleyway and up several flights of stairs into this room with no windows filled with T-shirits and a BIG and HEAVY looking door. The other two walked straight in but I planted myself in the doorway leaning against the door on the wall.The dude looked SO pissed at me and several other workers tried to draw me away to look at their items. They sent us away and told us they're closing as soon as it became obvious I knew something fishy was up. So terrifying to think what might have happened if I didn't do that.

This scam actually happened to me at my home university in Austria. I was sitting in a park when a japanese guy approached me and we had a very nice conversation. He told me that he is working for a company that holds an event at our biggest concert venue and invited me to come. He even said that famous artists from a TV show come and have a performance. I didn't have anything better to do that day and since he seemed really nice I thought "cool why not" and bought tickets for me and my boyfriend. When we got there we realized that the entire event was about religion and it was definitely a cult we were recruited for. So this kind of japanese scam can even reach you in your country.

There is a Japanese youtuber who actually secretly recorded himself getting scammed and the yakuza threatening him with the police. He walked with the yakuza to a police station where the police did absolutely nothing at all until he forced their hand with video and audio proof of the whole situation. These scammers usually get off scot free just because the police don't like to "rock the boat" without 190% undoubtable proof of guilt..

A Dutch journalist once made a series in which he intentionally got scammed in different countries to show the practices. He also got himself into one of these Tokyo bars (and saved a tourist). The episode is on youtube (auto translate subs works pretty well): "Oplichters in het Buitenland - S04E01 Deel 1/5 - Tokyo"

Moral of the story, Crime is very much alive and well in Japan. Its just hidden so perfectly that everyone is able to pretend it doesnt exist, including the cops. And in many cases, this is far more dangerous than situations in other countries.

The "sect" story happened to me in Tokyo. I was walking out of the Tokyo SkyTree and an elderly women approached me. She asked me if I wanted to go see a temple. I was much in my yes-man phase, on a high honestly with everything in Tokyo. So said yes. Deep down I also cursed myself, would I be assassinated in japan and not in my home country? Anyway we walked for a bout 2 minutes before we reached a normal looking building. There, the elderly lady introduced me to 3 approx. 30 years old women, only one of them spoke enough English to get around so it was more a game of telephone with the other two. They were really lovely. They took me inside, gave me a book of prayer and a set of beads (which I still have!). The shrine was pretty I have to admit. We sat on some office chairs and a prayer started. One of the women pointed at the words while they were being chanted so could follow along. Then they took me to a small tatami room where a monk was waiting. I think he baptized me??? I will never know. I just remember they were impressed with my seiza. lol Never was money mentioned once. (Which was surprising) After the whole ordeal, I explained I was going to go back home, that I would stop somewhere to have supper alone, since I was travelling on my own. One of the 3 women wouldn't have it and off we were the four of us in a family restaurant (my first time there and not my last!). I got to know them more, after the meal, we exchanged line and I was off to bed with a nice story to tell. But it's not over! At another point of my trip I was back in Tokyo, the ladies asked me if I wanted to go visit their 'main' temple, thinking about it now, I can't remember for the life of m where it was but they actually RENTED a car and took me along. It was outside of Tokyo, we drove for a while. There, we got to sit n the biggest golden room I ever been into, I think there were at least a thousand people or so. After the prayer, we had lunch on the premises and then they drove me back! Once again, no money was ever discussed! I think i saw them once more ate that for dinner, I gotta say, really amazing and selfless people! I'll never know what their deal was beside allowing me a good time haha! Wherever they are, I hope they're well :)

had this happen to me in kabukicho about seven years ago (spiked drinks, handsy hostesses, $2k charged to my card) - fortunately, my credit card provider reversed the entirety of the charge after calling the bar's listed phone number and finding it was disconnected (canadian banks are apparently quite benevolent at times)

I was almost caught out by a street tout. This happened about 7 years ago and had only been in Japan for about a week. I had missed my last train and was in Chiba city, so was waiting outside the station for the earliest one (I was very very drunk). Someone came up and started chatting, a friendly dude supposedly from Colombia. Anyway we chatted for like 30 minutes about Japan and family and stuff, he seemed like a genuinely cool dude (although I had heard of the street touts, it hadn't at all crossed my mind with him). So we got walking whilst chatting, (sure beat the hell out of sitting outside the station) and then suddenly he said "Hey, actually I know this bar that's still open we could go to, you wanna go?" and red flags started jumping around in my head. Trying to be friendly I was like "Okay, sure!" whilst trying to fight my sobering brain cells screaming at me to get away as soon as possible. We got to a fairly busy crossroad where there was another foreigner standing around who gave the Colombian dude strong eye contact, then a big smile, and they high fived. That confirmed what was going on, and I realised we must be close and it was now or never. I said to him, "Sorry, you know what, I've got to go." So I turned around and started walking the other way. He ran back to me and grabbed my arm tightly (not exactly what I was expecting), and said to me, "Hey you need a drink or some food?" and dragged me into a 7eleven right next to us. He was gripping pretty tight, but I didn't want to get into a fight and possibly end up in a koban for the rest of the night, so I allowed him to drag me into the 7eleven. He was saying "You want a coke, a sandwich?", he grabbed a bottle of coke from the fridge and walked me over to the till. At that point I thought I was in a pretty safe environment with cameras etc, so I jolted my arm from his grip and briskly walked out. He didn't follow, probably because he was still holding a bottle of coke at the till. When you're in Japan for the first time, you definitely can let your guard down due to how friendly people can seem, and how trusting people can be. I've now reverted back to my British cynicism though.

Literally got approached for this today and luckily my buddy had seen your video. 👍 Thanks mate.

That set is truly amazing,you did a excellent job on it

As a 16yr old on a school trip to Japan, we were warned about the touts beforehand. I looked a little older than my age and managed to attract the attention of a tout during our free time. I'm notoriously jumpy due to a childhood of jump scares from my cousin, so when he appeared behind me suddenly I shrieked. He apologised and made a very quick get away. Felt terrible that I'd hurt his feelings until our teacher reminded us what their job was.

I was at Dotonbori in Osaka when a Japanese schoolgirl came running up to me and asked to use my phone because she had to call her parents right away. I said sorry, my phone doesn't work here, which was the truth because I didn't have a Japanese SIM card. But the street was absolutely crowded with Japanese people, and I have to question why she would want to use the phone of the obvious tourist and not a local who spoke Japanese. I feel like I dodged some sort of bullet.

It's astonishing there are so many people who are completely comfortable with harming others.

The scam with drugs in a bar probably happened to me last year in Roppongi. A tout came to me and started persuading me to come to a bar nearby. I was drunk and it was almost the end of my vacation so I was like yeah man let's do it (a bad idea). The bar was hidden on one of the upper floors of some building, and it was a classic hostess bar with everything as you'd expect - free drinks for you, expensive drinks for the girls that spend time entertaining you and ridiculously overpriced champagne (100k yen for a bottle or so). Well, at the beginning it was quite fun, but after a few more drinks I basically blacked out and I don't remember much afterwards. From the moments that I do remember, I know that I indeed felt like a zombie and had no control of what I was doing. I kinda remember using my card to buy the fucking champagne tho. At least a few times. Overall, my stupid little decision to go with the tout cost me around $3k and I have very little recollection of how I even got back to my hotel. Up until I saw this video I didn't realize there were may have been drugs involved, I thought that I just got too drunk. I've never experienced anything even close to this state though, so I'm quite confident some other substance was involved. I guess it could've ended up even worse, but I sure as hell won't be going with a tout anywhere ever again.

The fact that the police didn't care when those two got robbed and sexually molested/assaulted is a great highlight of the Japanese policing and justice system. It's terrible. And the reason they can be is because of low crime rates due to culture etc. But it definitely needs improving.

in other words: If the police doesn't accept and record a crime, there's no crime added to the statistics. Therefore the statistics are insanely good. This however leads to more people believing crimes and rip-offs don't exist in Japan. I think I spot a pattern there

when i was in japan there were some people trying to get my whole group into a bar and they tried like 4 times theyre very persistent and they even tried to offer us a free round of drinks if we went in the 3rd time, funny everything you said about that scam was exactly what happened and im glad i avoided it even though the guys in my group were happy to take him up i convinced them to follow me away. the same night my friends insisted on going to this club, we went and when my friend went with one of the strippers in the back she actually took his wallet out of his pocket while he wasnt paying attention and put it in her purse, luckily my friend was ballsy enough to just open her purse in front of her to check, but i know most people myself included wouldnt have done that and just assumed i lost it before that, definitely be careful, if something feels shady it doesnt matter how safe the country is it probably is shady This was on okinawa

I have heard from military friends that Roponggi is off-limits all because of the Nigerian bar scammers. There are even "neighborhood watch" people standing around in yellow reflective vests near these bars. How has Japan allowed this to continue???

The fact that your bank said that was an authorized transaction is BS. I would definitely look for another bank. It’s called claiming fraud for a reason.

I had to report 2 assaults in Japan and they essentially bully you into not reporting and saying reporting won’t do anything since I didn’t have any substantial proof. Oh I had to persist to submit a report for 2 hours before they caved and let me. But not after berating me and making me talk through and act out what had happened. Gross police work.

THANK YOU! This is exceptionally helpful!

15:10 "whenever someone comes up to me in a very friendly and happy manner I assume it will be a scam" .... can definitely say that is the rule in Britain.... no one in their right mind would be happy walking on the street!!!

It seems to me many tourists try to be too polite. With a tout, don't try to reason with them, say no and walk away. It's best to not even slow your pace, shake your head and keep walking. It's ok to be "rude" to them. I've never had a problem, lived in Tokyo for 10 years and have traveled all over the world.

I have had these guys bother me in Shinjuku. One guy followed me to an ATM and stood behind me asking me if I was a “faggot” because I didn’t want to go to the girly bar he was trying to entice me too. What pissed me off the most, was that outside the 7-11 there was a police sign that said the police would arrest anyone bothering people. Unfortunately this is complete crap. They don’t do anything.

Luckily, I'm in an a situation where I don't drink, and my Japanese wife is my guide , so I've never fallen into those traps. But I can see how people's naivete can get them into trouble. Stay safe people and don't let your guard down, even in Japan. The cutesy, innocent smiles are sometimes a trap.

Love the podcast, British Pete and you are great to listen to!

The drugging happened to me in Tokyo. I called my bank and had the charges reversed by saying "I got charges from a company that doesn't exist on Google. This is fraud."

I think the same precaution applies in _any_ country: If some stranger comes to you and asks you to follow him or her somewhere, politely decline. There's literally zero reason why that would ever be a good idea.

nice to see a video on this topic because people should know about it and be aware

interesting video and thank you for your valuable information

I live in Akasaka, one of the most prestigious and high tier addresses in Japan. Even here, drunk one night after drinking at my local, I was approached by a cute and friendly Taiwanese girl. After a short conversation where I told her about my travels in her country, she told me she’s working at a local bar and asked if I’d like to go. I thought why not, she seems nice and Akasaka has a great reputation, I’ve never had problems here before. She took me to her bar which looked sketchy as hell from minute one. I decided I would only stay for one drink, and the girl also asked for a drink and I said yes. After 30 minutes I came over very tired, and luckily I still had the consciousness to ask for the bill. Pretty much as I did so, another 2 girls entered carrying a clearly drunk and semi-conscious salary man who could not even walk or talk. Immediately they started ordering drinks for him and themselves even though he was basically unconscious. I was beginning to feel like I would be scammed. 2 drinks, one for me and one for the girl came to a whopping 60,000 yen (around $600). I said can I use the restroom first? They said okay. I ran home without paying, but fell unconscious half way in the side streets - in hindsight, I think I must have been drugged. I woke up hours later, a policeman had been tipped off about the unconscious gaijin in the neighborhood and had come to check on me. He took my ID and then helped me get home. My ankle was in a lot of pain. The next day I woke up to the most horrendous headache, much worse than the worst hangover I’ve ever had, and my left ankle was massively swollen and bruised. It took a few days for me to even get out of bed, but when I did get to a doctor he told me it’s lucky that my ankle wasn’t broken and it’s the worst sprain he’s ever seen. It took around 6 weeks to fully recover. I must have fallen hard on my ankle when I passed out, again I think I must have been drugged. Luckily, I made it out without losing any money. But even then, the sprain was hardly worth it. Don’t talk to touts!

If you think about it. Japan would be the perfect place for a scam. Your guard is down and you think you are going to be ok because you hear how safe it is. Just know your surroundings and be safe out there!

Thanks for the really great video. I experienced something similar to the cult story in Tokyo about a decade ago when I first moved to the city. It started at a friend's party, when I met someone who seemed cool to hang out with. We exchanged contact details, and some months later agreed to meet up for lunch at a family restaurant. All seemed perfectly normal, until a few of this person's friends joined us during the meal. Everyone was having good conversation, so it didn't seem strange that they proposed to continue the fun and go "for a coffee" at someone's apartment near by. When we got to the apartment, I found it filled with people chanting buddhist prayers and no sign of coffee, so I decided to make a speedy exit. The story ended with me dashing to the closest train station, with two of these people in close pursuit, shouting out things like "Wait! You don't understand. We can share the secret of true happiness". It was a quite scary at the time, and one of the most bizarre experiences I've ever had. Fortunately, I've never experienced anything else like that in my many years here.

I don’t want you guys to hate Japan, but I hear the same kind of story from my japanese friends. Just don’t believe in every people in Japan. If you have any questions, ask them to some normal citizen who is around you (hoping one of them can speak English) As an English learner, I would love to communicate with foreign people. Hope you guys have a safe trip

Me and my friends almost got into one of these scams when there was an overly friendly guy in Roppongi trying to lure us into a bar.. unfortunately for the guy I am Mexican and somewhat paranoid and told my friends that’s basically how one ends waking up without a kidney. 😅

The video game "Judgment" has a side quest set in the game's version of Kabukichō in which the lead character follows a tout into a bar and gets a hundred thousand yen bill and can't get out of it.

My general rule: If someone aproaches me on the street, he is probably a scamer. When he asks something, I alway reply in my native tongue: "Já vám vůbec nerozumim!" wich means - "I dont understand you at all" in Czech. They usualy go: "Eh?" Maybe sometimes repeat and then leave. What can you do with someone ho you dont understand? Fun fact: once I answered a tout in Morocco this way and he replied also in czech. I gave him some tip because I was amazed and he earned it. From that time I try this on every stranger or tout in foreign country and if they answer me right I give them money. But that never happened again. Sadly. For them. Hahaha!

By the way guys, disable the magnetic band payment on your debit cards. Only use the chip payment. With the chip payment they actually need a PIN code for payments and can't just steal your card

I'm glad you mentioned this, Chris. In 2019, I took a month-long trip to Japan (not my first, but my most extensive) and I had some of your stories in mind when I did. Good thing, too, because when I was visiting Hirosaki, Aomori during the Neputa Matsuri, I'm pretty sure I was targeted by one of these scams. I was on my own, exploring the area around Hirosaki castle, when a young man about my age comes up to me on the street and strikes up a conversation. As you mentioned, this isn't really something that happens in Japan, so I was already a bit confused, but he seemed nice enough. He asked me the same questions you listed - where I was from, what I was doing in Japan - and when he found out I was there for the festival, he said, "My town has a festival going on too. I would like to take you there." Immediately I thought about your experience with the woman in Niigata and politely declined, doing my best to end the conversation as fast as possible and making up a BS reason that I had to go meet some friends back at my hotel (figured he was less likely to do anything weird if he thought people were expecting me). Eventually he gave me a pamphlet for some sort of religious movement and left (still saved it as a souvenir). These types of stories are very helpful for foreigners going to visit, just so we can be aware of what to look for. If I hadn't heard from you and Sharla about some of these scams that target foreigners, it likely never would have crossed my mind.

Moved to Tokyo about a month ago and have already encountered the cults quite a bit. They have definitely evolved beyond just approaching you on the street, I met people via language exchange and dating apps as well that start off with totally normal encounters that end either with Japanese that has all of a sudden gotten very very fast and trying drag you off somewhere or "would you like to come pray with me?" and being handed registration sheets half filled in with the information they already know about you

I was warned to stay far away from Kubukicho by an uncle that lived in Japan. He said exactly what you said about the Nigerians. First day in Japan I had a yakuza guy grab me by the arm and tried to pull me into a sexual setting. It was pretty terrifying and I had to use force to get away. The other yakuza dude was laughing but I didn't find it all too funny. The whole trip I got bombarded by men and women trying to get me sexual favors for $50. You just have to be confident in saying NO. My second trip was a lot better since I brought my wife but then I got hassled by a monk trying to scam with beads and sob stories.

Thanks for this video. I’m preparing for a trip to Japan alone. And now I know what to be aware off 🙌🏻

I hope the pandemic shutting out tourists for years has majorly hurt these scammers financially.

a youtuber called “dark side of japan yuki” intentionally went to one of these bars while secretly recording, so any claims were recorded. in the end he was threatened to be killed and he just said no im leaving. ended up at the police station with the guy asking for a tens of thousands of yen, but he had confirmed the prices on camera before drinking so they settled the bill correctly and they split ways. i think this worked since hes japanese, a foreigner might not be so lucky the video is called I battled Yakuza at a Yakuza rip-off bar in Shinjuku Tokyo Kabukicho

I feel like I’ve liked every video I’ve ever seen on this channel. Always interesting. Always funny. A nice channel.

Theres probably a correlation between low reported crime rates and an indifferent police force

As someone who's spent the past 12 years in Japan, I really want to stress that like Chris said, it's more of a Tokyo/big city thing. (The incident in Niigata took me by surprise!) The pros and cons of big cities and small towns are mirrored; in the cities you get people who can speak English, tourist spots that are more foreign catered, etc. In rural areas, there's not much in the way of tourist support, but less tourists also means less tourist targeted scams. That said, as long as you stay away from anyone who's oddly persistent in taking you somewhere, Japan should be safe and a pleasant experience!

Good to see that Sharmeleon's partner started his own channel, wishing you the best!

Thank you for the information!!! 😮 I will be safe

I'm sure this is going to be a hot take -- I don't drink alcohol when I travel. It would be nice if I could "trust" that the places I'm going to are safe, but there are BAD people out there even in the best hotels. The only way to be safe is to avoid situations where someone could take advantage of you, and abstaining is a big step you can take to make yourself less of a target. The bad actors know that once you've voluntarily had a few, it will be hard if not impossible for you to get them in any trouble for taking advantage of you. Sad but true.

When I was in the US Navy we were briefed about the bar scams specifically in Roppongi and "drink girls" in general, never heard about the cults though. We had a guy who broke the battle buddy rule, went off by himself and came back hours later talking about how he sang karaoke with these really cool tatted up japanese guys. Surprisingly he didn't get scammed lol.

Fun story: Back in 2019 my brother and I were in Shinjuku for a layover. We went to a yakiniku place near the red light district for dinner and when we were walking home we stumbled into an area with a lot of seedy looking bars. We got approached by one of the street greeters who was telling us they had cheap drinks and cute girls and we were both like “naw were good.” He wasn’t taking it and as we were walking away he grabbed my brother by the arm and was like “man I’m telling you you’re gonna love it in there.” My brother, a 6’4” dickhead grabs the dudes arm like how your grandpa would shake your hand and looks this dude dead in the eyes and says “We’re Mormons, and our 5 wives will kill us if they find out.” The dude gets stunned and lets go of my brother and we walk back to our Airbnb. Last thing I heard him say was “Did he say they have five wives?” Laughed my ass off all the way home.

Happy to see you take sponsers Chris!

A friend I have traveled with got a prepaid credit card with a $500 limit from his bank before taking the trip, and this was the only card he would have in his pocket when we went to questionable venues. He figured that even if his pocket was picked he'd only be out $500.

When I researched Japan in 2017 to go, your videos came up a lot. I remember you mentioning somewhere that they are still very much a cash society. I left my card in my hotel room each time we went out at night and paid cash for 90% of everything on my trip. I went off to this bar where girls were overly friendly. Like, almost 'lap dance' friendly. I saw one girl pocket this dude's card and I immediately bailed. Had I not followed your advice, it could have happened to me as well. Thanks for that.

"The police wasn't particularly interested in taking this up... " Probably the reason why Japan is so "safe".

Im a guide in Tokyo and i always warn my guests, got few with the same problems as you did described, the funny thing is that you can see foreign security people walking around shinjuku warning people , and that is amazingly helpful

I met a tout in Shinjuku, not far from the Robot Restaurant. In a matter of seconds they make themselves seem so friendly and welcoming and will shake your hand, ask about where you're from, and invite you to cheap drinks and accompaniment of young women (who were standing behind him closer to the door, wooing at me). I knew what was up, and when I went to release the handshake and he didn't, I calmly and sternly said, "Let go of my hand." He did, the girls pouted at me, and he seemed to know he wasn't going to get me so he didn't try to save it. The whole exchange was 10 seconds or less and I was on my way. All of my other experiences in Japan were awesome and I met a handful of genuinely kind and friendly people who I enjoyed conversation with. It's good to be aware of these scams, but don't let it scare you into doubting everyone!

I got targeted as soon as I walked out of Shinjuku Station after traveling from the Airport. "Come with us for a good time", "Come and party with me and my friends", and "Come and meet my friends" all by Japanese women whose grasp of English was probably limited to those phrases. Being 6' 2" didn't help. I was like a lighthouse in a storm attracting everyone and everything. By far the worst though was the Nigerians. They get right in your face and try to stop you from walking down the street. In the end, I reverted to a common English phrase "Get the f**k out of my way!!". Walking in Shinjuku at night, on my own, I was lucky to walk more than 50 meters without getting propositioned. The interesting thing was that during the day a loudspeaker system announces that what these touts are doing is illegal and to avoid them or report them to the Police. The mixed up world that is Japan

Holy shit, this almost happened to me when I was in Tokyo in 2019, a Nigerian women with ok English latched onto my arm and kept directing myself and my mate to a nightclub we had no interest and she suddenly started asking “Do you want girls” and both of us said “no thanks just exploring and etc…” and then she goes “Oh I can get you boys instead “ I broke myself laughing and asked her just to go away at that point I am terrified to think what could have happened if we gave in and followed her.

Thank you for the video 🙏was planning a night out on our trip in Shinjuku, you know dinner and a few brinks at different bars but its not worth it after seeing the comments . Especially when drinking makes you less aware of stuffing happening around you .

Was in Shinjuku a few years back and I was approach multiple times near several bars and your best bet is to just completely ignore them and keep walking. I saw a lot of people stopping to talk and it not worth the headache. Some even got a bit aggressive after refusing them for those that stopped to talk with them.

“Two monkeys went on a rampage” Goddamnit Connor, Wacky weekend got really out of hand

Good lord, shame on their bank. A situation like that would absolutely be regarded as an unauthorized transaction by our bank and federal credit union alike.

me being japanese i’ve almost been scammed in takeshita street. there’s foreign men in the street who have this paper about their clothing store. they say just looking is okay but after u enter their store they kinda give u the vibe to buy something. i lied i’m busy, i have no money and i said i’ll come next time (which i didn’t lol) and let the store. it’s really common, lately there’s security guys in the street but that’s not stopping them from trying to lure people in their stores. moral of story, don’t follow people into stores or buildings, if someone wants you to do a survey, say no or ask them if you can do it on the spot, if not, chances are they’re gonna take you into their building and make you buy something, and you can’t leave if you dont

Same scam happened to me, my brother and a friend and in Thailand. We are form South Africa and also got pulled in at one of these places. Also experienced something like that in our drinks my brother got effected the most. Luckily i had "some" experience with being drugged and relisted what was going on, got us out of the place. We needed to carry my brother to the hotel and he is a big guy. We really struggled to find the hotel I left my friend and brother at some well lit area wile trying to stay awake. After about 2 hours of searching i got the place and some how managed to get them back to the hotel. we only lost about 4000 baht could have been much worse.

I'm glad this is finally addressed by someone! My partner got scammed in Shinjuku with his friend in 2016, where they followed a tout into a bar. They got drugged, separated and threatened until they made card payments, they lost about $3500 combined. They also tried to go to the police, who were listening at first, but when the police man spotted someone outside (who had clearly followed my partner and his friend) they became completely unhelpful. The next day the boys both felt terrible due to the drugs and basically just fled Tokyo as they still felt very unsafe. Hearing this story completely shook me as I had never heard of things like this happening in Japan!

This happened to me in China. I went to the concierge at my hotel and they had the assistant GM go with me to the Chinese Tourist Police who were excellent and put me in a van with me, the AGM, and 3 cops. We then drove around to the involved bars (and a few others) and they grabbed all the cash they could find (huge amounts of RMB 100 notes, in stacks), the credit card machines, etc. and they gave me ~120% or so of what I'd been charged in cash, as well as detaining all the people involved back at the station. It was pretty amazing. Other people were getting scammed at the same tea shops while we were raiding them and we rescued them (they were...disbelieving at the time, but then I talked to them).

When I first moved to Japan, we were visiting a tourist area and one lady from a small group in the area came up and was asking if she could pray with and for me and my children. She had pamphlets and kept wanting to hold our hands for prayer (I saw them do this with other foreigners there who prayed with them holding hands and with closed eyes). I'm super skeptical having grown up in a big city where scams happen all the time, so I said "no thank you" and she insisted and even my kids were saying, "come on mom she just wants to pray". I ended up walking away saying thank you and that she could pray for me from a distance if she wanted to but I did not want to stay there and hold a stranger's hand while she prayed God knows what in a foreign language. Scam or not, IDK for sure, but it felt very suspicious so I insistently declined. Thanks for this video!!

Great video, thank you. Your “Blade Runner” decor in your studio is very cool. I’m hoping to visit Japan within the next 18 months or so.

People need to understand that no place in this world that is “completely” safe. Low crime rate does not mean “no crime”. Japan is in the safe side of the world but Japan has one of the most bizarre crimes. Low crime rate but bizarre. That’s usually the description I hear from people living in Japan.

As a general rule: learn a few colloquial dismissive phrases in Japanese. Once a tout suspects you aren't a tourist they typically lose interest and go looking for a new target

I think I must be very cynical because every time I'm somewhere abroad and the locals are suspiciously nice to me and interested in me and they tell me I should definitely visit XYZ place, my first thought is ALWAYS: They want to scam me.

I knew about not following the greeters into their bars or restaurants, but this is the first I've heard of the cult scams in Japan. I wonder how widespread this is, because there are often people who seem like they might be in a cult around the station in Matsuyama.

Hi Chris, My son has lived in Japan for around 20 years, and we used to visit every year and stay with him and his family, one time when he picked us up from the airport he stopped at an IKEA store near Tokyo, as I waited for my wife and son at the bottom of the escalator I was approached by a Caucasian women with a Japanese man pushing a trolley, she started asking various questions which ended with her giving me a pamphlet and when I looked, I had gone 6,000 miles only to be approached by a jehovah witness.😤

Unfortunately this exact scenario happened to me. Got drugged. Woke up with £1700 charged to my card (more than I had on there to begin with). Police didn't care. Luckily my bank reimbursed me.

My friends and I went to japan in 2019, we traveled around every few days staying at nine hours capsule hotels. But we haven't gotten into any scams whatsoever luckily. Never talk to random strangers on the streets is a rule we grew up with. When they tried to hand us pamphlets we just deny them and then look away. They usually backed off, we haven't had any persistent one. We also made sure we went in pairs and never alone. So even if we did our separate thing, one has to tag along. We did leave our baggage at nine hours (even if we were too early). They'd be just sitting there in the hall with others. Anyone random could potentially steal them. Pretending it was theirs, not that there was anything precious in there though. But the next time I travel, I do want to put in an Air Tag just in case.

I still cant get over the fact that connor and his equals went on a rampage. Truly horrifying!

I imagine someone stealing my card and trying to swipe it for a $200 transaction Too bad it won't go through because I rarely have more than $60 on it. But also! Always keep a daily limit on your cards, especially when traveling if you just can! It's just a handy safety measure.

Haven't seen a video from you in a minute loving the set! Missing ur apartment to tho.

Yeah my neighbor, also a coworker, warned me of this scam over and over again on our first trip into Tokyo. Basically I took a bus straight up to Utsunomiya from Narita and my company drove me up to Iwate where my job was, so had been living in Japan for over 4 months before even visiting Tokyo. He explained, to be safe just ignore anyone standing in front of a bar or club that starts speaking English to you, especially if they aren't Japanese, and don't go into any bar with someone doing that. And then he told me nightmare stories of people getting roofied and waking up missing all their money and accounts drained. He said he had even read travel advisories about it.

I remember going on vacation to Tokyo 6 years ago and being shocked that people left their laptop, phone and wallet on the table when going to the bathroom. Absolutely unthinkable in Europe

LOL The last scam with the menus you brought up, I was stationed and lived in Okinawa for 6 years and my friends from Sweden were in town. We all went to a bar down in Naha, Okinawa's capital city, and it was our first time in that bar (they also lived in Japan for years in Okinawa and we frequently went out to bars). We walk in and sit down at a table and immediately open the Japanese menus that were already on the table, when a waiter sprints over and replaces our menu's for English ones. However, they forget to grab one of the menus and my buddy almost immediately pointed out how drinks on the English menu were 3-400 yen more than on the Japanese menu. The waiter comes back and we all order beers, but we demand the Japanese price for the beer and he is SHOCKED that we can read the menu and doesn't know how to respond and just says to talk to the manager. So we confront this guy and he is just as shocked that we can read the menu's and he apologizes MULTIPLE times and even gives us a free round of drinks. We drink them and just leave.

I'm grateful for these posts, from you and others, but I'm now starting to dread traveling to Japan alone this fall.

Thank you for letting me know