{
  "id": 7185498,
  "title": "Japan's once-feared corporate racketeers nearly vanish from shareholder meetings",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/japans-once-feared-corporate-racketeers-nearly-vanish-from",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-13T22:00:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Mainichi",
    "slug": "the-mainichi",
    "url": "https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260910/p2a/00m/0na/011000c"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Japan, corporate racketeers, known as \"sokaiya,\" are nearly disappearing from shareholder meetings. Once feared for their extortion tactics during the nation's economic growth, these racketeers have largely vanished from shareholder meetings. In 2026, police reported only one sokaiya at the annual shareholder meetings, the lowest number on record. The 64-year-old former member of a sokaiya group exposed scandals involving executives, demanding their removal during meetings. The crackdown on these criminals intensified in 1997, with the revised Commercial Code making the demand for illicit benefits a criminal offense. By 2025, only about 130 sokaiya remained in Japan, down from approximately 1,700 in 1983. While traditional racketeers have faded, a new form of disruption has emerged.",
  "summary": "TOKYO -- The 2026 shareholder meeting season has drawn to a close in Japan. At the height of the season in June, police confirmed the presence of just",
  "key_points": [
    "Once-feared Japanese corporate racketeers nearly vanish from shareholder meetings.",
    "Only one sokaiya reported at 2026 annual shareholder meetings, lowest on record.",
    "Cracking down intensified in 1997, reducing sokaiya from 1,700 in 1983 to 130 in 2025."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}