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July 12, 2026
 

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GOLD

Tokyo police arrested six people for allegedly smuggling 49 kilograms of gold bars worth about ¥1,075 million from China by hiding the bars inside life-size dolls.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 23, 2026
Six held for alleged gold-smuggling attempt from China
With an estimated worth of over 1 million yen the gold was concealed in life-size dolls.
A miner descends into a hole dug in search of gold in Venezuela in 2010. Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves, is also rich in diamonds, bauxite, coltan and rare earths.
WORLD
Jun 5, 2026
‘Blood gold’: how gangs took control of Venezuela’s mines
Nearly all Venezuelan mining activity is controlled by gangs or by guerrillas from neighboring Colombia.
People wait to enter a gold shop in Hanoi on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 30, 2026
Heavy metal: Soaring gold price a crushing weight in Vietnam
The extraordinary run-up in gold prices has brought an unexpected windfall to many Vietnamese, but at a cost that weighs heavily for many.
One-ounce gold bullion bars lie ready for stamping during production at ABC Refinery in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 13, 2025.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 13, 2026
Trump’s Greenland threat triggers search for shelter beyond gold and defense
Investors fear a geopolitical rift that could end NATO, shatter the global order and damage the dollar.
U.K. gold bullion bars and coins are displayed at Baird & Co. in Hatton Garden in London.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 21, 2025
Two men suspected of smuggling 1 ton of gold into Japan from South Korea
Investigators believe the pair traveled 216 times between South Korea and Japan from 2023 to 2024, smuggling roughly 1 ton of gold worth about ¥10.8 billion.
A Sudanese woman walks past graves of people killed during clashes in Omdurman, Sudan on March 20.
WORLD
Nov 21, 2025
Scramble for Sudan’s resources fuels brutal civil war
The conflict between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has escalated in recent weeks with the RSF’s capture of the major city of El-Fasher in Darfur.
For decades, investors have turned to the yen during market shocks, but that instinct is now under strain.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 9, 2025
Yen’s haven status undercut by gold surge and BOJ rate-hike doubts
For decades, investors have turned to the yen during market shocks, from financial crises to geopolitical blowups.
UK gold bullion bars are stacked at Baird & Co in Hatton Garden in London on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 9, 2025
Gold’s spectacular three-year rally is breaking all the records
Bullion has shaken off its reputation as a barbarous relic and muscled its way back toward the center of the global monetary system.
Bullion reached a record high of $3,508.50 after notching up a sixth day of gains on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 2, 2025
Dollar inches up as gold hovers near record high
The recovery follows five days of selling, ahead of the return of U.S. traders from the Labor Day holiday.
Muddied prospectors pan for gold in Manica province, Mozambique, near the Zimbabwe border, in 2010.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 20, 2025
Mozambique’s illegal miners reap risky rewards but land suffers
Rivers around mining sites are polluted, and mercury has seeped into the soil, creating a nightmare for farmers.
Villagers pan for gold in Bombana district of Indonesia's Southeast Sulawesi province in 2009.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 19, 2025
Indonesia grapples with small-scale illegal gold mining
Local authorities face the challenge of encouraging villagers to keep to less-destructive ways of making money, such as sustainable agriculture.
Peruvian police seized four tons of illegal mercury from Mexico bound for Bolivia, dealing a severe blow to criminal organizations linked to illegal gold mining, customs authorities reported on Thursday.
WORLD
Jul 28, 2025
Smuggled mercury shows extent of illegal Amazon gold mining
Record gold prices have encouraged a flourishing illegal mining trade that damages local nature and biodiversity and is raising significant health concerns.
A gold miner holds up a piece of gold along the Madre de Dios River near Puerto Maldonado, Peru.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 6, 2025
Mining murders show Peru’s struggles with illegal gold rush
Skyrocketing gold prices are creating a further incentive for illegal mining activities in the country.
Anxieties about inflation, debt and the U.S. dollar’s stability — combined with high gold prices — are fueling renewed skepticism, raising the possibility of a Fort Knox audit to confirm if America's gold is still there.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2025
What’s fueling America’s gold bar conspiracy
The U.S. is right where it needs to be for Trump and Musk to tap into a decades-old fear about the country’s precious bullion stored in Fort Knox.
MUFG Bank President Junichi Hanzawa bows in apology in Tokyo on Jan. 17 following alleged massive thefts of customer assets by a former employee.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2025
Ex-MUFG bank worker paid interest to pawnshops to keep gold available to her
The bank worker is suspected of depositing in several pawnshops gold ingots worth several hundred million yen that she had stolen.
Former MUFG Bank employee Yukari Imamura, a suspect in the theft of gold ingots worth ¥260 million, leaves the Nerima Police Station in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 15, 2025
Ex-MUFG Bank employee arrested over theft of 20 kg gold deposits
At least 60 clients have been victims of the safe deposit box thefts, with the total damage expected to exceed ¥1 billion.
Gold samples confiscated by Federal Police in Amazonas state, Brazil, on June 19
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 16, 2024
New technology aids Brazil’s crackdown on illicit Amazon gold trade
A police program is creating a database of samples from across Brazil that are examined to determine the unique composition of elements.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police have seized fake gold grains and notepads passed off as cash that were used to swindle a company executive in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward in October 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 15, 2024
British national arrested for over ¥13 million cash swap swindle
Joe Kpoto, 40, allegedly made off with the cash in a fake gold transaction by passing off a notepad as a stack of banknotes.
The price of gold offered by Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo rose ¥173 from Tuesday to ¥15,104 per gram, including tax.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 30, 2024
Gold prices in Japan top ¥15,000 per gram for the first time
Concerns about political uncertainty following next week’s U.S. presidential election is another reason for people to buy gold.
Counterfeit bills used by men who were arrested on suspicion of stealing cash under the guise of a gold transaction
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 9, 2024
Two Liberian men arrested for alleged fake gold deal in Tokyo
The two are charged with stealing ¥34 million from a 43-year-old secondhand goods dealer in Tokyo in November 2023.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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