CONFESSIONS OF A PRISON COOK: A FUSION OF FOOD & CRIME

A former military policeman is  facing a federal narcotics rap  after he allegedly sought to  smuggle several pounds of  methamphetamine to Japan  in the form of 45 #Snickers bars. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/meth-smuggled-as-snickers-579823

During Japan's annual  Taiji #dolphin hunt,  some 1,000 dolphins are  slaughtered  for meat.  Others are selected to be  sold to marine parks.  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/09/wildlife-taiji-dolphin-hunt-begins/

In 2018, the Japanese Yakuza  was down on membership and activities,  prompting them to resort to  #melon theft to make a profit.    https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2153401/times-are-tough-japans-poor-yakuza-gangs-theyre-stealing-melons

Japan's "Poison Candy Gang" dramatically reduced the nation's taste for Valentine's Day confectioneries when the gang has sought to extort money from confectioners by threatening to plant poisoned samples of their products on store shelves unless a ransom is paid. Poison was actually found in #chocolates made by the Morinaga Confectionery Co.  The gang unsuccessfully tried to extort ransom from three other food and candy firms. The elusive 'Man with 21 Faces' gang, which threatened to scatter #candy laced with lethal doses of cyanide across the nation to press its demands for payoffs from confectioners, ridiculed the custom of buying candy for a sweetheart. The packets were marked 'Danger. You'll die if you eat. The Man with 21 Faces.' http://articles.latimes.com/1985-02-10/news/mn-3387_1_poison-candy

An elderly Japanese man was  arrested  after he picked dozens of #persimmons  from a farmer’s tree and then  beat up the farmer for  attempting to stop him.  https://www.tokyoreporter.com/japan-news/national/ibaraki-cops-elderly-man-stole-140-persimmons-beat-up-man/

In 2019, 15 tons of #sweet #potatoes  were stolen from a Japanese man's  storage warehouse.  https://soranews24.com/2019/11/24/15-tons-of-sweet-potatoes-stolen-in-rural-japan-criminal-crew-may-be-targeting-spuds/

In a first of its kind crime, a man was caught in a legal limbo when he was stopped trying to smuggle fertilized eggs from Japanese #Wagyu beef cows into China. https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/qvqezv/japan-wagyu-beef-cattle-crime-theft-sperm

Yunessan Spa House in Hakone, a south-eastern town in Japan, is now offering ramen baths for its clientele. The bath, consisting of ramen pork broth and synthetic noodles, allegedly helps improve patrons’ skin. Ichiro Furuya, the owner of the spa, claims, “Lately people are very concerned about having beautiful skin, and they know the effect of collagen, which is contained in our pork-based broth. At this bath, everybody can have fun and take advantage of the healthy elements of ramen noodles.”