Interest
Man Arrested for Selling Fake Yōkai Watch Medals
posted on by Chris Nishijima
The Gunma Prefectural Police arrested a man on November 5 on suspicion of copyright infringement for the illegal printing and sale of fake Yōkai Watch medals. The suspect, 27-year-old salaryman Ryousuke Koyama, resident of Horo in the city of Shirahama, Wakayama, held sales for the medals through online auctions between the months of June and August of this year.
During the time of the auction, Koyama was able to sell medals to five individuals in the Tokyo metropolitan area at a price of 23,927 yen for nine medals (about US $208.50). In addition to this, his highest sale known to date was a bid for 8,050 yen for a single medal (about US $70.17). Due to the extreme popularity of the toys and consequential scarcity in stores, bids for Koyama's medals have been much higher than that of the medals' market price.
The replicated goods themselves are very elaborate, even going so far as having unique QR codes attached to them and recreating the character seals on the front. It is estimated that in all Koyama has sold 51 medals to 31 different individuals throughout Japan for a total of 139,937 yen (about US $1,219.92).
[Via Otakomu]
