Customs officials in Japan seized 1.04 million counterfeit goods items in 2009, according to Finance Ministry. The total amount seized was up 10.6 percent from the previous year.

86 percent of the counterfeit items originated from China, followed by 6 percent from South Korea.

The most counterfeited good was counterfeit purses, which accounted for 55 percent of all goods seized.

Source:  “Pirated goods halted by customs in 2009 top 1 million,” Japan Today, March 13, 2010.

In 2009, Japanese officials investigated 507 cases of child pornography in the country, double the total from the previous year.

Source:  AFP, “Child porn, ID theft drive record cyber crime in Japan,” Yahoo News, March 4, 2010.

The National Police Agency in Japan announced that there were 3,903 cases of marijuana in Japan in 2009.  The number of cases were up 74 from 2008, and was the fourth straight year of increasing.

Source: “Cannabis cases hit a high in ‘09,” Asahi, February 26, 2010.

The Recording Industry of Association of Japan stated that 400 million music files were illegally downloaded in the country in 2008. 330 million music files were legally downloaded during that same time.

Source:  Rob Schwartz, “Japan To Tackle Music Piracy On Cell Phones,” Billboard.biz, November 20, 2009.

In the first 6 months of 2009, there were 1,446 arrests by police in Japan for marijuana related activities, a 21.3 percent increase from the year before.

Of the 1,446 arrested, 63 percent were people in their teens or twenties.

Source:  Julian Ryall, “Drug conviction for Japanese singer reflects growing trend,” Telegraph, November 9, 2009.

According to the Recording Industry Association of Japan, 407 million tacks of music were illegally downloaded onto mobile phones in Japan in 2008.  The number of pirated tracks is up from the 399 million in 2007.

Source: Rob Schwartz, “Japanese Govt Set To Crack Down On Mobile Piracy,” Billboard.biz, September 8, 2009.

Japan identified Canada as the biggest source of seized ecstasy tablets.  Behind Canada in terms of source countries were the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

Source: “Illegal drugs: Canada’s growing international market,” CBC News, June24, 2009.

It is estimated that car maker Toyota losses an estimated 20 to 30 billion yen ($210 to $320 million) to counterfeit auto parts in China each year.

Source:  Han Jingyi, ““Cracking Down on Counterfeit Goods”: Toyota Corporation’s Policy for the Chinese Market,” China Intellectual Property Magazine, June 2008.