Photo/Illutration The marker outside the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Two men with known yakuza ties were arrested in connection with a blatant act of extorting protection money from a restaurant in the capital.

Police said April 22 that one of the men went to a restaurant that specializes in “yakisoba” fried noodles in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward in January and demanded 10,000 yen ($78) for six 1.5-liter bottles of cola he had with him.

Police arrested Shinichi Akatsu, 50, on suspicion of extorting protection money on behalf of Takayuki Kawamata, 41, a member of a gang affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai syndicate.

Akatsu is not a formal member of any gang, but he and Kawamata are suspected of having extorted money from the same restaurant for about eight years. Police described Akatsu as a “close associate” of the gang to which Kawamata belongs. In addition, Akatsu also demanded protection money from two other establishments in Itabashi Ward.

The Takashimadaira Police Station issued an order to Akatsu last October to cease and desist, but because police felt the two would continue with their actions, the Tokyo metropolitan public safety commission issued its own order the following month asking them to stop.

The pair ignored that order and continued to extort protection money in January, which led to their arrests.

Some gangs have taken to concealing the identities of members to escape designation by police or using individuals not formally part of the gang for their criminal activities. Registered gang members have plummeted in the 30 years since the anti-organized crime law took effect.

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