Each week, here at Osaka.com, we bring you a selection of some of the top stories about Osaka making the local and national news here in Japan. Sometimes it’s serious, sometimes it’s funny, but it’s always direct to you, from Osaka.
Osaka Teens Pay Price for Cannabis Smuggling
Anyone who has ever been through immigration in Japan will probably have some awareness of just how seriously the country takes its zero-tolerance policy towards illicit drugs.
Unfortunately, two Osaka teens apparently didn’t get the message and fell foul of Japan’s drug laws earlier this week.
The two teens who are friends from Kishiwada, in Osaka Prefecture, were detained at Fukuoka Airport. They were returning from a trip to Thailand, when customs officials found suspicious packages in their luggage.
The cardboard boxes purported to contain packet curries. However, further inspection by customs officials revealed 14 kilograms of tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC.
This liquid form of cannabis is said to have strong hallucinogenic qualities, making it popular with recreational drug users. However, there are also dangerous side effects, such as long-term mental damage.
In any case, the substance is strictly controlled in Japan. Suffice to say the 14 kilos these two teens attempted to bring in far exceeds the minimal amounts tolerated in prescription medications.
Teens’ Arrests “First of Their Kind” Since Records Began
The teens’ arrests mark the first time since 2000, when documentation of cases like this began at Japanese airports, that juveniles have been caught smuggling in this way.
Police suspect the pair of teens may be part of a wider criminal group, with links in both Thailand and Japan. Cannabis is a popular choice among illicit drug users in both countries, despite strict controls in both nations.
Police continue to investigate. The teens were arrested on the spot on Tuesday, but the exact nature of the charges they will face remains unclear at this time.
One would suspect that their fates may now depend upon how much information the two teens can give police about the real masterminds behind this operation.
With One Month Left, Osaka Expo Has a Ticket Problem
The long, winding and often difficult saga of the Osaka International Expo finally draws to a close next month. The 6-month long expo will close its doors for the final time on October 13th.
However, there is growing concern this week, that many customers who have purchased tickets for the Expo, won’t actually get to see it before it ends.
As of September 5th (the latest figures available at time of writing) more than 3 million of the tickets purchased for visiting the Expo remain unused.
Expo organizers confirmed that 20.71 million tickets have been sold up to the beginning of this month. However, only 17.47 million of these tickets have actually been redeemed for admission.
Organizers were also keen to emphasize that these tickets are non-refundable. So, anyone planning to visit the event and who has bought a ticket already must do so by October 13th.
The last time an event like this came to Japan, Aichi’s 2005 World Expo, around 5% of tickets purchased went unused. This meant that close to 1 million people paid to attend the Expo, but, for whatever reason, never did.
Sources indicate that the figure is likely to be far higher for the Osaka Expo. The numerous safety concerns, reports of over-crowding and general negativity around the event are possible factors. These may have put some enthusiastic pre-order purchasers off of actually going to the event in the end.
The current reality though is that we simply don’t know. We won’t know the final numbers until a couple of weeks after the Expo closes on October 13th.
And Finally…
It seems there’s never been a better time to invest in Osaka. This week’s publication of the annual land price survey showed significant increases for the city and its surrounding areas.
Osaka attained the same average level of growth as Tokyo. Average land prices in both metropolises rose by 4.3 perfect.
The biggest winner of all though, surprisingly enough was the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.
Certain areas of the island saw increases of as much as 30% in their land price averages. This is due to recent fresh investment both in tourism and manufacturing by foreign investors over the past 12 months.
Osaka’s land price index has shown consistent growth for over a decade now, since it bottomed out in 2008-2009, thanks largely to the global financial crash and its subsequent knock-on effects.
Public sentiment around the city seems to be good, with more people than ever before seeking to invest in Osaka.
That’s all for now but be sure to check back again same time next week for another round of this week in Osaka!
